Dyspraxia (Developmental Coordination Disorder, DCD)/dis-PRAK-see-uh/

Dyspraxia/DCD impacts motor planning, balance, and sequencing.

Common experiences:

• Clumsiness or frequent bumping into things
• Slow/effortful handwriting; hand fatigue
• Difficulty organizing multi‑step tasks
• PE/sports challenges; coordination fatigue

It often co‑occurs with dysgraphia, SPD, ADHD, and dyslexia. Supports focus on environment, tools, and step scaffolds — not just practice.

Strengths include persistence, creativity, and problem‑solving. Occupational therapy (OT) and accommodations (keyboards, breaks, visual steps) are pivotal in school/work.

Quick Tips

• Use keyboards or speech‑to‑text; allow extra time; reduce copying from board
• Break tasks into steps with visuals; stabilize paper and use grips
• Prefer low‑clutter, predictable layouts; seated PE options

Do / Don't

• Do: assess task demands; adapt tools/environment first
• Do: praise effort and strategy use
• Don't: equate speed with ability; avoid penalizing for handwriting

Evidence supports task‑oriented interventions, environmental adaptations, and assistive tools; pure drill has limited transfer to real tasks.

Called Dyspraxie/DCD in DACH; overlaps with Dysgraphie.