Winston Churchill “did poorly in school and worse in exams; …was disorganized, accident-prone and sloppy…”
“…I was on the whole considerably discouraged…. All my contemporaries and even younger boys seemed in every way better adapted to the conditions of our little world. They were far better both at the games and at the lessons. It is not pleasant to feel oneself so completely outclassed and left behind at the very beginning of the race.”
Winston Churchill, My Early Life, 1930.
Many parents of normal children will say that their children have some of these problems, but if your child has Dyspraxia, either diagnosed or not, you will know the difference because their sensory integration and balance is not established.
Older children are usually verbally adept and converse well with adults. They may be ostracized by their own peer group because they do not fit in.
Often their clumsiness will make them targets of slighting or bullying and the social part of school (not the academics) will cause them more stress. Many people with dyspraxia also have strong visual strengths and may also be diagnosed as dyslexia.
Students with Dyspraxia can be of average or high intelligence but are often behaviorally immature. They may cleverly avoid doing those tasks that are difficult or even impossible for them. They may find it difficult to reason out problems and think logically. They try hard to fit in to the socially accepted behavior when at school but often throw release frustration when at home.
If you know someone who seems to not know where they are in relation to their environment, someone who trips over lines on the sidewalk, bumps into desks at school, seems to spill a lot at the table, has a hard time coordinating footwork in sports or dance, parks too close to cars one side of their car – you may know someone who has the hallmarks of Dyspraxia. At MES we work with the missing foundations that cause the symptoms of Dyspraxia – helping the client to understand their place in the environment, build the skills to navigate it with ease, and open the opportunity to change their relationships & standing within their peer group.
These are some of the problems seen with Dyspraxia:
- Clumsiness
- Poor posture
- Walk awkwardly
- Confused about which hand to use
- Difficulties throwing or catching a ball
- Sensitive to touch
- Find some clothes uncomfortable
- Poor short term memory, they often forget tasks learned the previous day
- Poor body awareness
- Reading and writing difficulties
- Cannot hold a pen or pencil properly
- Poor sense of direction
- Cannot hop, skip or ride a bike
- Slow to learn to dress or feed themselves
- Cannot answer simple questions even though they know the answers
- Speech problems, slow to learn to speak or speech may be incoherent
- Phobias or obsessive behavior
- Impatience
- Intolerance to having hair or teeth brushed, or nails and hair cut
