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DYSPRAXIA
Secondary coordination Are the needs of teenagers with dyspraxia being overlooked in the drive for early intervention? Sally Payne investigates
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yspraxia, a form of developmental coordination disorder, is a specific learning difficulty affecting the organisation of movement, perception, language and thought. It can also affect speech. Early intervention is vital to help children with dyspraxia develop the fundamental movement skills they need to carry out daily activities such as writing, getting dressed, using cutlery and joining in playground games. Consequently, children aged five to 11 years are the main focus of dyspraxia research, intervention and support. There is, however, increasing evidence that difficulties associated with dyspraxia continue into adolescence and often extend into adulthood. Many young people continue to be disadvantaged by poor
motor coordination and organisational difficulties during adolescence. Such difficulties can have serious consequences at secondary school, as task demands increase and students are expected to take more responsibility for their daily lives and learning. While awareness and understanding of the impact of dyspraxia during adolescence is still limited, receiving appropriate support at secondary school can help teenagers with dyspraxia to reach their academic potential and develop important life skills. This article will discuss some of the main issues faced by secondary school students with dyspraxia, alongside some revealing comments from students themselves which were gathered as part of a recently completed doctoral research project undertaken by the author. This qualitative study, involving 16 interviews with nine young people aged 13 to 15 years examined the impact of dyspraxia on teenagers’ daily lives from their own contemporaneous perspective.
What do students struggle with?
Finding the right sport for the dyspraxic teenager can be a big help.
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Teenagers with dyspraxia have a marked impairment of their motor coordination. This means that they have to work hard to carry out some physical activities that their peers manage easily. Despite this, by their mid-teens most young people with dyspraxia have mastered basic self-care activities through repeated practice as part of their daily routine, even if the end result isn’t quite to the standard that they had hoped to achieve. Whilst many teenagers with dyspraxia are able to
Students often have to decide whether to prioritise the quantity or quality of their writing in any given situation tie their shoe laces for example, they might struggle to pull them tight so they come undone quickly. It is often easier to avoid laces altogether. “It takes more effort and practice to get stuff not like perfect, but to a standard that’s OK.” Poor gross motor skills can affect teenagers’ willingness to engage in sports and other physical activities that might expose their coordination difficulties. This could have implications both socially and for their long-term health and fitness. “If it was a team sport with people that I didn’t know particularly well, then I wouldn’t particularly want to get involved in case I got it wrong.” Handwriting is a particular challenge for teenagers with poor fine motor control and using an immature pencil grip can lead to pain and fatigue when writing. However, putting in more effort rarely improves the amount or legibility of work produced and students often have to decide whether to prioritise the quantity or quality of their writing in any given situation. Teenagers have to work hard to produce work that reflects their academic potential and can be very disheartened by teachers whose >> SENISSUE72