Dyspraxia And Sensory Processing: Are They Related?

Dyspraxia, usually referred to as developmental coordination disorder, is a motor-based difficulty with everyday tasks such as tying shoelaces, eating with a knife and fork, managing buttons and many more. This is typically caused by delayed motor skills and motor planning ability. Despite its name, dyspraxia is more than just a motor coordination disorder. Many children with dyspraxia also have difficulty with certain academic tasks, organisational skills and/or social skills.

Understanding and processing information from our environment is a vital part of everyday living. This skill, known as sensory processing helps us makes sense of the information we get from our senses, including our body and movement senses. We use this important information to determine how to respond and react in the world. Unfortunately, at least 7% of people have a hard time making accurate sense of this information and this can result in a sensory processing disorder (SPD) which can affect everyday activity. Sensory processing disorder is usually treated with sensory integration therapy by a specially trained occupational therapist.

So, is there a link between sensory processing and dyspraxia? Well, due to the historical challenges in assessments and classifications, research in the past has not been able to draw definitive conclusions either way, although newer research is suggesting that there may be a correlation. An increase in awareness of both dyspraxia and sensory processing is likely responsible for this. Now, researchers are often including sensory processing assessments in studies of children with dyspraxia.

Nonetheless, paediatric occupational therapists have argued for a link between these two for some time. This is a logical conclusion to draw. Since processing sensory information affects how we use our body, it's easy to see why difficulty processing sensory information can result in difficult organising and using the body. Examples of tasks which rely on good sensory processing might be something like handwriting: in order to write neatly and accurately, we need to understand how we are holding a pencil, where we are positioning our letters, exactly how far and in which direction to draw our lines, etc. Another example might be doing up buttons: We would need to feel the button in our hands, move the button to be pointing forward and thread the button exactly into the hole, which we are holding with our other hand. Thus, we can easily see how important it is to have good understanding of our sensory systems in order to effectively carry out these tasks.

What are the implications of this? Well, understanding the cause of difficulties can help us address them more effectively. Helping children understand the information they receive from their environment and their body can help them use their body more effectively which can lead to better skills in everyday tasks. Therefore, including sensory integration therapy into a child's intervention programme can be beneficial for a child.

Catherine Milford is an Irish-based occupational therapist and psychologist specialising in dyspraxia. You can learn more about dyspraxia by visiting the dyspraxia information website - [http://dyspraxia.eu].

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Causes of Dyspraxia

The causes of dysphraxia still remain largely elusive. While it is a common condition, with about ten percent of the population of the earth having it, it's exact mechanisms are still poorly understood. Dysphraxia is one of a heterogeneous range of developmental disorders affecting the initiation, organization, and performance of action.

It is a diagnosis of exclusion which involves the partial loss of the ability to coordinate and perform certain movements and gestures. Children who have it may be very slow in learning to walk and talk, and even to crawl. It is similar to such conditions as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson's disease in the way it affects a child's movements, yet it is something entirely different from those things at its most basic level.

The diagnosis of developmental dysphraxia has existed for more than a century, but differing interpretations of the terminology remain. The Dyspraxia Foundation defines developmental dysphraxia as "an impairment or immaturity of the organization of movement." Essentially, it is a disorder in the way that the brain processes information, which results in messages not being properly or fully transmitted. The term dysphraxia comes from the word praxis, which means "doing" or "acting." Not only is this condition associated with difficulty in moving and speaking, it also causes problems in long and short-term memory and in learning in general. It is not mental retardation, as many children with it are basically quite bright, but it is a disability that affects a child's ability to process information correctly.

Dysphraxia is a life-long condition that is more common in males than in females, with a ratio of approximately 4 males to every female. The exact proportion of people with the disorder is unknown since the disorder can be difficult to detect due to a lack of specific laboratory tests, thus making diagnosis of the condition one of elimination of all other possible diseases or injuries. Because of the problems that this disease causes, it can be difficult for a child at school, so many parents with children with this condition opt for home schooling. Reading, writing, playground games, and remembering to do homework (as well as remembering what was learned) are all problematic. Even art class can be a struggle, and physical education class usually has to be skipped altogether.

Whilst most of the general population experience these problems to some extent, they have a much more significant impact on the lives of dysphraxic people. However, many dysphraxics have excellent long-term memories, despite poor short-term memory. Also, many dysphraxics benefit from working in a structured environment, as repeating the same routine minimizes difficulty with time-management and allows them to commit procedures to long-term memory. People with dysphraxia may have sensory integration dysfunction, including abnormal oversensitivity or under sensitivity to physical stimuli, such as touch, light, and sound. Under sensitivity to stimuli may also cause problems. Dysphraxics who are not sensitive to pain may injure themselves without realizing it, and so should be monitored closely. Each case is different, and while the causes of dysphraxia are unknown, the treatments for it are getting better.

Click here to learn more about dyspraxia symptoms in children and how you can help your child at DyspraxiaSymptoms.com.

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