Have you noticed that your child is clumsy? Maybe they have poor motor skills and have found crawling, hopping and skipping especially difficult? Or do they find holding a pen or pencil harder than it should be? These are signs that your child may have dyspraxia.
The condition isn’t always easy to detect and often can go under the radar. Recently in a nationwide poll of teachers, 65% said that awareness of dyspraxia in their school was poor or very poor and 71% said that a lack of awareness affected children’s opportunities and achievements. Along with that, 43% of schools did not have a clear process for identifying students with dyspraxia.
This is why it’s important for parents to be on the lookout and understand dyspraxia symptoms, so you can provide your child with the relevant support and if needed, assistive technology.
Signs in School Children Include:
- Motor skill problems that existed whilst a toddler, such as crawling, walking, running, rolling over are still an issue when the child reaches school age
- Clumsiness
- May have poor organisational and planning skills
- Falls behind their peers with school work
- Finds dressing themselves difficult, especially shoe laces and coat zippers
- Easily distracted
If you think your child could have dyspraxia, express your concerns with your education provider and ask them if they have noticed any problems with your child. It’s important that they are assessed as early as possible, so you may be able to get a referral from the education provider for a psychologist or you can approach a paediatrician or occupational therapist.
Once you have a diagnosis, you can start supporting your child with the relevant provisions and tutoring, so they can get the most out of their education and most importantly, adjust to their environment and flourish!
At iansyst, we offer a plethora of support and technology that can help each individual with their dyspraxia, such as typing tutors, which can teach touch typing and improve quality and quantity of written work, and mind-mapping software that can offer the individual with a framework to planning and organising their work.
If you want to learn more about the range of assistive technology and consultancies that we provide, email us at info@iansyst.co.uk or get in touch on 01223 420 101.