Dyspraxia — clinically called Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) — is a lifelong condition affecting movement, coordination and the planning of physical tasks. It is not about intelligence or effort. Around 5% of UK children have it, and it often travels alongside ADHD, autism or dyslexia.
What it looks like day to day
- Bumping into furniture, falling more often than peers
- Slow or messy handwriting; gripping the pen too tight
- Trouble with buttons, zips, laces, cutlery
- Difficulty learning to ride a bike, catch a ball, swim
- Getting lost in familiar places; left/right confusion
- "Floppy" posture or fidgeting just to stay upright
- Big effort = big tiredness. Exhausted after school for reasons no one can see.
What helps at home
Dressing
- Buy clothes a size up with elastic waists for school
- Velcro shoes are not babyish — they're brilliant
- Lay out clothes in order, top to bottom
- Practise one new skill (e.g. buttons) when not in a rush — Saturday morning, not Monday before school
Eating
- Bendy cutlery and a non-slip mat make a huge difference
- Two-handled cups for younger children
- Cut food slightly smaller than you would for a typical child of the same age
Handwriting
- A sloped writing surface (a lever-arch file works)
- Triangular pencil grips or fountain pens (they need less pressure)
- Lined paper with a wider gap
- Type as much as possible from Year 4 onwards — schools must allow a laptop as a reasonable adjustment when handwriting is a barrier to learning
Bike, ball, balance
- Balance bikes well into age 6-7 are fine — pedals can come later
- Big soft beach balls beat tennis balls for catching practice
- Trampolines, swings and climbing frames all help proprioception
At school
Ask for a meeting with the SENCo. Request:
- Movement breaks every 20-30 minutes
- A scribe or laptop for longer pieces of work
- Reduced copying from the board (provide printed notes)
- PE differentiation — alternative activities, not skipping PE entirely
- A seat near the front and away from busy walkways
The school may refer to an Occupational Therapist via the GP. OT input is gold for dyspraxia — request it early.
Protecting confidence
Dyspraxic children spend most of their day doing the things they find hardest, in front of peers. By age 7, many start to believe they are "clumsy", "stupid" or "lazy". None of this is true, and our biggest job at home is rewriting that story.
- Celebrate effort visibly: "That took so much practice — well done."
- Find one thing they are brilliant at and protect time for it weekly
- Talk openly about dyspraxia using the right word — secrets create shame
- Show them famous dyspraxic adults (Daniel Radcliffe, Cara Delevingne, Florence Welch)
Quick wins for this week
- Swap one fiddly clothing item for Velcro or elastic
- Add a sloped writing surface to the homework spot
- Book a swim lesson or trampoline session — both build core strength
- Tell them: "Your brain is brilliant. Your body just takes a different route to the same place."
When to seek extra help
If daily tasks are dominating life, ask the GP for an OT referral. The Dyspraxia Foundation UK (dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk) has parent guides, school packs and a helpline. Many children also benefit from short blocks of physiotherapy.