Dyspraxia - DCD Therapy Edgbaston Birmingham

DYSPRAXIA THERAPY EDGBASTON,BIRMINGHAM

What is dyspraxia?

Dyspraxia (historically known to doctors as ‘clumsy child syndrome’) is a developmental co-ordination disorder that can have an effect on basic and fine motor skills, organisation and spatial awareness. Sufferers often have trouble placing themselves in space and time, struggle with basic everyday tasks and are often viewed as clumsy. But this clumsiness is not just absent mindedness on their part – but instead a result of an abnormality in brain function. While doctors are able to identify it, they struggle when it comes to measuring and treating the underlying causes of the condition.Dyspraxia originates in the brain stem, with a small group of cells known as the inferior olivary nucleus. The brain stem separates into two sides, and the group of cells on each side of the divide send electrical impulses to the cerebellum, up into the brain and back again. These impulses control movement, and allow us to do things like fastening a button with both hands at the same time. But in a person suffering from dyspraxia, these impulses are out of sync, and this can cause issues in movement. On top of this – the cerebellum sends impulses to the posterior parietal lobe (which controls spatial awareness), and these communications are also interrupted or delayed, causing the clumsiness commonly associated with dyspraxia. While we typically are aware of where our limbs are all the time, with dyspraxia this awareness is not present – meaning you could literally trip over your own feet because your brain isn’t aware of where your feet are. Dyspraxia, a form of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a common disorder affecting fine and/or gross motor coordination in children and adults. It may also affect speech. DCD is a lifelong condition, formally recognised by international organisations including the World Health Organisation. DCD is distinct from other motor disorders such as cerebral palsy and stroke, and occurs across the range of intellectual abilities. Individuals may vary in how their difficulties present: these may change over time depending on environmental demands and life experiences. An individual’s coordination difficulties may affect participation and functioning of everyday life skills in education, work and employment. Children may present with difficulties with self-care, writing, typing, riding a bike and play as well as other educational and recreational activities. In adulthood many of these difficulties will continue, as well as learning new skills at home, in education and work, such as driving a car and DIY. There may be a range of co-occurring difficulties which can also have serious negative impacts on daily life. These include social and emotional difficulties as well as problems with time management, planning and personal organisation, and these may also affect an adult’s education or employment experiences. Many people with DCD also experience difficulties with memory, perception and processing. While DCD is often regarded as an umbrella term to cover motor coordination difficulties, dyspraxia refers to those people who have additional problems planning, organising and carrying out movements in the right order in everyday situations. Dyspraxia can also affect articulation and speech, perception and thought. What causes dyspraxia? Although the exact causes of dyspraxia are unknown, it is thought to be caused by a disruption in the way messages from the brain are transmitted to the body. This affects a person’s ability to perform movements in a smooth, coordinated way

Symptoms of Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia is present from birth, and it is usually spotted in children between the ages of 3 and 5. Children will be more accident prone than their classmates, often bumping into other children, walking into walls or even falling off their chairs for no apparent reason. They will often struggle with fine motor skills like writing, and will find sports very difficult due to the high level of co-ordination needed. It is at this age that a lot of dyspraxics start to be teased and taunted by their peers, who do not understand the trouble they are having.As adults, the condition has a large impact on day to day life. It’s common to have issues with organisation, and dyspraxics will often find themselves repeating words or sentences due to difficulties organising the content and sequence of their speech. Various sensory sensitivities start to set in, and this can manifest in many ways. Poor visual perception, difficulty distinguishing specific sounds from background noise and over or under sensitivity to light, pain, touch and temperature affect a large amount of sufferers. Difficulty in motor skills continues, along with all the problems encountered in childhood. This can make simple tasks like using public transport, getting ready in the morning or making a sandwich extremely difficult.While you cannot cure dyspraxia, there are a number of methods and treatments designed to help sufferers cope with the symptoms and improve their day to day lives. Neuroplasticity is the idea that the brain changes throughout life, and even in adulthood you are able to work with the brain to aid healthy development, learning, memory and recover from brain damage – the perfect therapy for a dyspraxia sufferer. It is well-known that Hypnotherapy can help with giving up smoking, controlling weight, gaining confidence etc. but it can also be effective for helping concentration, relieving anxiety, learning and improving sports, musical instruments, public-speaking etc. Hypnotherapy can be effectively applied to people with dyspraxia, for relieving some of the symptoms, and programmes have been developed that address some of the issues faced when, walking, eating (particularly in front of other people), learning to drive, passing the driving test and many more. Hypnotherapy is a very powerful tool that can, and does, make a positive difference to many people’s lives. Even if you have dyspraxia, you could be one of those people. Research has shown that our unconscious mind makes 90% of our decisions and that behaviours are established at a very young age. The unconscious mind’s primary function is to protect us. However, behaviours learned at a young age are not always helpful in dealing with issues that we face as adults. Although our conscious mind knows how to deal with situations rationally, the unconscious mind which is the driving force, can create a raft of limiting and unhelpful behaviours because of early programming.

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