Poor memory Learning, thought, and memory difficulties can be indicators of dyspraxia. This may be through poor planning, a lack of organisation, or trouble focusing. They may seem to have trouble with their short-term memory, be forgetful, or tend to lose things.
Dyspraxia is a neurological disorder that impacts an individual's ability to plan and process motor tasks. Individuals with dyspraxia often have language problems, and sometimes a degree of difficulty with thought and perception.
Dyspraxia does not affect your intelligence. It can affect your co-ordination skills – such as tasks requiring balance, playing sports or learning to drive a car. Dyspraxia can also affect your fine motor skills, such as writing or using small objects.
Tend to get stressed, depressed and anxious easily. May have difficulty sleeping. Prone to low self-esteem, emotional outbursts, phobias, fears, obsessions, compulsions and addictive behaviour.
As well as difficulties related to movement and co-ordination, children with DCD can also have other problems such as: difficulty concentrating – they may have a poor attention span and find it difficult to focus on 1 thing for more than a few minutes.
Interestingly, the symptoms of brain fog match many of the diagnostic criteria for Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and are also common with other neurominorities where the executive functions are compromised, such as Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, Tourettes and Autism.
generally it impacts fine motor skills (e.g. holding a pencil) and/or gross motor skills (e.g. riding a bicycle). It can also impact the ability to organise yourself, remember information and control actions. processing differences. They may be sensory avoidant e.g. leaving a room when noises are too loud for them.
Common Dyspraxia strengths
Dyspraxics often learn to develop soft skills such as active listening, empathy, and when to delegate tasks to others. Their desire for people to understand what they deal with ensures that they communicate clearly too. All these result in dyspraxics making good leaders.
The 'typical' child with dyspraxia struggles with handwriting, avoids sport, is disorganised and a bit messy, and can seem naughty or difficult because these difficulties can make it harder for them to do the things they want, need, or are expected to do.
However, this does not mean that they are the same. Fundamentally, autism is a disorder that affects socialization and communication, while dyspraxia affects motor skills and physical coordination. While coinciding symptoms aren't uncommon, the two are considered distinct disorders.
Dyspraxia can also make it harder for people to stay organized and follow instructions. When short-term memory and slow processing are an issue, an adult may need more time to learn something than his or her peers and can struggle to stay on top of assignment deadlines and requests or demands from supervisors.
This suggests that dyspraxia is associated with reduced social skill and empathy, but only in those without a diagnosis of ASC. Cassidy and colleagues suggest that the lack of association between dyspraxia and social skills in the group with autism could be due to under-diagnosis of dyspraxia in this population.
Dyspraxia is most commonly caused by stroke or acquired brain injury. There are 2 types of Dyspraxia: (1) Oral dyspraxia– difficulty with non-verbal tasks - when asked to do so (E.g. please poke out your tongue), however the person can perform non-verbal tasks successfully and automatically (E.g. licking an ice cream).
Acquired apraxia/dyspraxia is usually due to disease affecting the left inferior parietal lobe, the frontal lobes or the corpus callosum. Stroke and dementia are the most common causes but any disease affecting these areas of the brain, including tumours, can be the cause.
Apraxia is usually caused by damage to the parietal lobes or to nerve pathways that connect these lobes to other parts of the brain, such as frontal and/or temporal lobes. These areas store memories of learned sequences of movements. Less often, apraxia results from damage to other areas of the brain.
While they do not get worse over time, their challenges may become more apparent with increasing academic demands. They have to work harder and/or differently than their peers to achieve the same goals. Despite their difficulties, pupils with dyspraxia can and do learn to perform some motor tasks quite well.
Tiredness and fatigue are overwhelming for many adults who have dyspraxia due to the effort it takes in planning, prioritising, processing and performing everyday tasks whilst trying not to get distracted.
Coordination difficulties are the main feature of dyspraxia/DCD, affecting large (gross motor) and small (fine motor) body movements. Children with dyspraxia/DCD can also experience difficulties with organisation, planning, attention, memory and processing speed. Some have difficulties with speech and language.
Sometimes children with dyspraxia are fidgety and restless; they are not comfortable on an ordinary chair. They may appear untidy and not aware of personal hygiene.
Daniel Radcliffe (Actor)
Best known for his titular role in the Harry Potter films, Daniel revealed that he had a mild form of dyspraxia in 2008 in an interview for his Broadway debut in Equus. He was unsuccessful at school and 'he sometimes still has trouble tying his shoelaces.
Dyspraxia as a hidden disability
Dyspraxia is considered to be a hidden disability as the physical signs can be difficult to recognise. Dyspraxia is also less well known and often misunderstood, many people with dyspraxia do not realise they have the condition until later in life.
DCD/dyspraxia is a life-long condition, but its impact varies according to a person's life stage.
Dyspraxia can make it difficult for children to develop social skills, and they may have trouble getting along with peers. Though they are intelligent, these children may seem immature and some may develop phobias and obsessive behavior.
Living with the fear that you could 'screw up' at any moment can play havoc with your mind, and can lead some people with dyspraxia to withdraw from social situations, such as dating.