Dyspraxia- What you need to know

Does your child have Dyspraxia?

• Is your child struggling when he tries to speak?
• Frustrated?
• Clumsy?
• Difficult to understand?

The child with Dyspraxia

What is Dyspraxia?

• It is a disorder that affects the child's ability to easily learn the muscle movements required for speech.
• Children with dyspraxia know what they want to say- but they cannot co-ordinate the muscle movement easily.
• Dysarthria can also affect their communication skills as these children can often become frustrated when they are not understood.
• Children with dyspraxia can also have difficulty with other movements e.g. those needed for dressing, riding a bike, writing and playing football.
• There are many reasons why a child does not develop speech and language, dyspraxia is only one of them.

Dyspraxia - What to look out for:

• Poor sucking and chewing as a baby.
• A messy eater.
• Infrequent crying.
• A quiet baby.
• Grunting and pointing rather that talking.
• Using sounds instead of speech.
• Lack of co-ordination.
• Struggling to speak.
• Difficult to understand.
• Can say familiar words but not unfamiliar ones.