What Is Dyspraxia? Understanding Traits, Challenges & Strengths
- Kaitlyn Boudreault
- Jun 27
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 28
Do you have a difficult time with balance, coordination, or tasks that involve movement?
You may be experiencing dyspraxia, also known as developmental coordination disorder (DCD), which can impact how your brain plans and coordinates movements.
DCD is not clumsiness or a lack of effort, but it is a legitimate lifelong condition. If you are experiencing DCD, a strengths-based coach or therapist could support you in developing strategies that fit your movement needs.
In this blog, we’ll explore what dyspraxia is, how it presents in everyday life, possible causes, and strategies that can help support individuals with dyspraxia in reaching their full potential.
What Is Dyspraxia?
Dyspraxia is a chronic neurodevelopmental and motor condition that begins in childhood. It affects the planning, coordination, and execution of fine and gross motor movements.
You may also go through lifelong challenges with judgment, perception, information processing, and other cognitive skills.
These challenges are not the result of muscle weakness but brain differences in the processing of movement and spatial information.
Someone with dyspraxia may experience challenges in various aspects of their lives, including communication, work, and social activities. For example, you may find it challenging to ride a bike, write, hold down a conversation, or fasten buttons.
Interestingly, dyspraxia may also be used by healthcare providers to describe motor issues that occur later in life and result from stroke, brain injury, or other damage to the brain. This is referred to as acquired dyspraxia.
Dyspraxia Versus Apraxia
Apraxia and dyspraxia both involve challenges with movement, but the extent of the challenges is different between them.
If you have apraxia, you understand instructions related to movement and have a willingness to move. But you have completely lost the ability to perform a movement.
Whereas, with dyspraxia, you partially lose the ability to do things with accuracy.
What Causes Dyspraxia?
The exact cause of dyspraxia isn’t fully understood, but some research suggests that there may be a unique interplay between the following:
Genetic factors
Premature birth or low birth weight
Brain differences affecting areas involved in motor coordination
One thing that we do know is that dyspraxia is not due to a lack of intelligence or an inability to exert effort.
Who Does Dyspraxia Affect?
Dyspraxia can occur in anyone, but some individuals are more at risk of developing it, including
Males
Those who are born prematurely before the 37th week of pregnancy
Those born with a very low birth weight (4 pounds)
Those with a family history of DCD
Signs of Dyspraxia
Dyspraxia can show up and affect people differently. So, no two individuals with dyspraxia will have the same symptoms. But there are some common traits, which include
Speech and language:
May talk without stopping
Speech or sentences that are unclear or disorganized, with difficulty saying certain sounds or words
Repeat themselves often
Trouble following multi-step instructions
Limited or no ability to control the pitch, volume, and rate of their speech
Social communication skills:
Difficulty listening to people and following along with conversations, especially in large groups
Difficulty imitating movements
Challenges with recognizing and understanding nonverbal cues
Difficulty judging the tone or pitch of a person’s voice in social situations
Cognitive skills:
Challenges with planning and organizing thoughts
Poor focusing skills
Difficulty with math, reading, and spelling
Fine motor skills:
Limited ability to complete tasks that require two hands (e.g., difficulty using utensils, cleaning, or cooking)
Difficulty with typing, writing, and drawing
Challenges with personal hygiene or other self-care activities
Gross motor skills:
Poor posture, coordination, and balance
Difficulty with sports that involve movement
Poor hand-eye coordination
Difficulty driving a car
Trouble participating in extracurricular activities that involve movement
Clumsy gait and walking, including a tendency to fall and bump into things or fall over.
If you have dyspraxia, you may also find it difficult to reach developmental milestones that align with your age group. This may cause you to experience frustration when you try to engage in fine or gross motor skills.
Dyspraxia usually doesn’t exist by itself. Many individuals with dyspraxia also experience co-occurring neurodivergences, including
Sensory Processing Challenges
These co-occurring neurodivergences impact how you process information, regulate emotions, and interact with the world, which can make daily living difficult.
How Does Dyspraxia Affect a Person?
Developmental coordination disorder may impact your life in different areas.
If you are a student, you may find that your schoolwork and success in the classroom are impacted because it may be difficult to write, speak clearly, or organize things.
For professionals, this can impact your career prospects and success in the workplace, as it may be difficult to type, write, speak, or participate in activities that rely heavily on fine or gross motor movements.
Dyspraxia can also affect your ability to participate in hobbies and extracurricular activities or to engage in everyday tasks, such as showering, brushing your teeth, or playing sports.
As a result of all of these challenges, it is important that people receive accommodations in school and the workplace.
This support may involve the use of an individualized education plan (IEP) in the classroom. These accommodations may help you get access to the right support services to support your success.
Strengths of People with Dyspraxia
Despite the challenges that come with dyspraxia, dyspraxic individuals may also have a variety of strengths that they can use to their advantage, including
Creative thinking
High emotional intelligence
Strong verbal skills
Determined and resilient
Outside-the-box problem solvers
Empathy and intuition
How Is Dyspraxia Diagnosed?
If you notice the signs of dyspraxia in yourself or someone you love, the first step would be to reach out to a healthcare provider who can diagnose and identify the condition.
Dyspraxia is usually diagnosed and identified by a medical doctor, such as a family doctor, neuropsychologist, or psychiatrist.
However, other professionals can assess and treat DCD, including
Speech therapists
Physical therapists
Occupational therapists
Psychologists
How Is Dyspraxia Treated?
There’s no cure for dyspraxia, but neurodiversity-affirming therapy and coaching can support someone with dyspraxia, in conjunction with physical therapy and occupational therapy.
You can work with your health provider to develop an individualized treatment plan that will help you identify your motor skills challenges and strategies that could fit your needs to improve your motor skills and coordination.
Strategies for Dyspraxia
Strategy: Environmental Supports
Creating predictable, structured environments helps reduce cognitive overload and physical frustration.
Use checklists and visual cues.
Organize tools/materials in predictable spots.
Allow extra time for physical tasks.
Reduce distractions in learning or work spaces.
Strategy: Body & Movement
Repetition, gentle encouragement, and body awareness can help build confidence and coordination over time.
Practice movement-based therapies and participate in various fitness activities.
Use supportive footwear and tools.
Break tasks into small steps.
Use movement breaks to reset attention.
Strategy: Emotional + Social Tools
Patience and emotional validation go a long way in helping dyspraxic individuals thrive.
Normalize frustration and celebrate effort.
Teach self-advocacy skills.
Build routines that emphasize predictability.
Use strength-based praise.
Book a Free Consultation
Do you struggle with coordination, handwriting, or motor tasks? Blue Sky Learning offers neurodiversity-affirming therapy and coaching to support individuals with dyspraxia and co-occurring needs.
Our team can help develop personalized strategies that build confidence, reduce overwhelm, and celebrate your unique strengths.
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