Learn more about the term dyspraxia and the motor skills challenges it refers to.

What Is Dyspraxia?
Dyspraxia refers to trouble with movement. That includes difficulty in four key skills:

These challenges usually don’t exist on their own. Kids with motor skills difficulties often have other challenges, too. These include:

It’s important to know that dyspraxia is not an official diagnosis. DCD is the official diagnosis for motor skills challenges. Explore signs of DCD at different ages.

Who Uses the Term Dyspraxia"

The term dyspraxia has been around for decades, but it’s being used less and less. That’s because it doesn’t have a set definition and it isn’t an official diagnosis. Still, you may hear the term from some professionals and from other families.

In the U.K., the term dyspraxia is used more often. Sometimes they use the term to include other challenges beyond trouble with motor skills. For example, they might include trouble with social skills or attention under their definition of dyspraxia.

Some people in the U.S. may also view it that way. They may use the term dyspraxia because they feel it best describes their child’s difficulties.
But most professionals no longer use the term. Evaluators use DCD when they make a diagnosis. But they typically talk to families about areas of difficulty, not labels. Schools and specialists also typically focus on challenges and services, without giving the difficulties a name.

What Can Help Kids Improve Motor Skills:
If your child struggles with motor skills, there are lots of ways you can help. Working with the school and with specialists can help your child get the best possible help. There are two types of professionals who often work with kids who struggle with motor skills. They are occupational therapists (OTs) and physical therapists (PTs). OTs work on fine motor skills and the ability to do everyday tasks, like holding a pencil and cutting with scissors. They might also work on gross motor skills, like the ability to catch or kick a ball. And they help kids with motor planning challenges that get in the way of daily tasks, like washing hands.Physical therapists, meanwhile, work on building body strength, if that’s part of a child’s trouble with movement.
At school, your child might be able to get these services. The school might also provide accommodations. These are supports to help your child learn the same material as the rest of the class. One example is speech-to-text technology, or getting notes from the teacher instead of having to copy them off the board. You’ll have to request an evaluation to find out if your child is eligible for some or all of these things.
There are many strategies you can use at home, too. Playing board games, cooking together, and tossing a ball around are ways to make practicing motor skills fun. You can also work with your child on self-care routines, like brushing teeth, getting dressed, and tying shoes.

If you think your child is struggling with movement, learn about steps you can take to find out. If you just learned that your child has motor skills challenges, discover what you can do next. Share success stories with your child. And read how one mother learned to cope with her daughter’s difficulties.

Dyscalculia: Dyscalculia defines a range of difficulties in math, such as the inability to understand numbers’ meanings, measurements, patterns, mathematical terms and the application of mathematic principals. Early clues include a young child’s inability to group items by size or color, recognize patterns or understand the meaning or order of numbers. 
Common signs of dyscalculia include trouble:

Dysgraphia: Challenges in the skills needed to produce writing. That includes handwriting, typing, and spelling. An issue with a set of skills known as transcription. One of the main signs of dysgraphia is messy handwriting. These are some of the key handwriting skills kids may struggle with:

Therapy: Occupational Therapists can work with kids to improve fine motor skills and motor planning.
Physical therapy can help with arm position and posture. Kids may also get assistive technology.
**specific learning disorder with impairment in written expression: trouble expressing thoughts in writing, rather than transcription difficulties.

Perceptual Disabilities: Perceptual disabilities occur at the stage of Input. It is important to understand that perceptual disabilities have nothing to do with visual or auditory acuity: a person with perceptual disabilities may have perfect sight and hearing. It is how they perceive what they see and hear that causes the problem. This may be hard to understand for people who are used to the word perceive meaning the same as see and hear but it is necessary to distinguish the meanings in order to understand the problem.

Perceptual disabilities are distinguished by the sensory area affected.

Perceptual disorders may result from a variety of causes. Some researchers have identified a disorder known as Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) or sometimes Sensory Integrative Disorder (SID) that may be among the conditions that result in perceptual disorders. Note that the first name given is preferred by some because the second has been confused with the abbreviations SIDS for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. SPD has two manifestations: sensory modulation and sensory discrimination. These researchers connect the realm of sensory discrimination of SPD with perceptual disabilities. Research in this area is ongoing.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) defines perceptual disabilities as a specific learning disability. The law says (34 Code of Federal Regulations.)

A Specific Learning Disability is  a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

Not included in the meaning of the term are learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, of mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage. Because of this designation, children with perceptual disabilities are eligible for special education services.

Auditory Processing Disorder: A condition in which a child has trouble accurately processing and interpreting information he hears. Often referred to as APD, this condition makes it difficult to recognize subtle differences in the way words sound. Kids with APD may have trouble filtering out background noise or listening to and following multi-step directions. Also called central auditory processing disorder.

Trouble understanding what people say, you may have heard the term auditory processing disorder (APD). It’s one name for problems recognizing the sounds in speech. The challenges aren’t related to hearing. People hear the sounds others make when speaking. But they have trouble processing and making sense of those sounds in the brain.

There are four auditory processing skills that people with APD may struggle with:

Here are some common signs of auditory processing disorder:

Therapy: Speech Therapy

Nonverbal Learning Disability: NVLD is a brain-based condition that affects skills like abstract thinking and spatial relationships. While NVLD can affect your child’s learning in many ways, it creates an even bigger challenge when it comes to your child’s social life. NVLD affects a child’s social skills, but not his speech or writing skills.
kids with NVLD have trouble understanding communication that isn’t verbal. That includes body language, tone of voice and facial expressions. NVLD is not recognized as a disability covered by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
The condition will have some impact on the following skills:

Minimal Brain Dysfunction:
Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD) is an obsolete term used in the early 1960s to describe what we know today as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD.) The original term was changed in the late 1960s to Hyperkinetic Disorder of Childhood, later on to Attention Deficit Disorder, and most recently to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder.
Minimal Brain Dysfunction (MBD) or ADHD refers to an impairment of brain functions that affects the area of the brain associated with perception, behavior, and academic ability. More specifically, ADHD affects one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using spoken or written language, and is characterized by dyslexia, difficulty in writing, hyperactivity, or mental retardation.

Brain Injury:
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a form of nondegenerative acquired brain injury resulting from a bump, blow, or jolt to the head (or body) or a penetrating head injury that disrupts normal brain function (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015).

TBI can cause brain damage that is focal (e.g., gunshot wound), diffuse (e.g., shaken baby syndrome), or both. Symptoms can vary depending on site of lesion, extent of damage to the brain, and the child's age or stage of development.

The functional impact of TBI in children can be different than in adults—deficits may not be immediately apparent because the pediatric brain is still developing. TBI in children is a chronic disease process rather than a one-time event, because symptoms may change and unfold over time (DePompei & Tyler, in press; Masel & DeWitt, 2010).
TBI can result from a primary injury or a secondary injury (see common classifications of TBI for more details). Severity of TBI may be categorized as mild, moderate, or severe, based on the extent and nature of injury, duration of loss of consciousness, posttraumatic amnesia (PTA; loss of memory for events immediately following injury), and severity of confusion at initial assessment during the acute phase of injury

In rare cases, a person can develop hemophilia later in life.  The majority of cases involve middle-aged or elderly people, or young women who have recently given birth or are in the later stages of pregnancy.  This condition often resolves with appropriate treatment.
Even though hemophilia runs in families, some families have no prior history of family members with hemophilia. Sometimes, there are carrier females in the family, but no affected boys, just by chance. However, about one-third of the time, the baby with hemophilia is the first one in the family to be affected with a mutation in the gene for the clotting factor.

Hemophilia can result in:

Tourette Syndrome: Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a condition of the nervous system. TS causes people to have “tics.”  Tics are sudden twitches, movements, or sounds that people do repeatedly. People who have tics cannot stop their body from doing these things. For example, a person might keep blinking over and over again. Or, a person might make a grunting sound unwillingly.
Having tics is a little bit like having hiccups. Even though you might not want to hiccup, your body does it anyway. Sometimes people can stop themselves from doing a certain tic for awhile, but it’s hard. Eventually the person has to do the tic.

Types of Tics:

There are two types of tics—motor and vocal

Motor Tics- Motor tics are movements of the body. Examples of motor tics include blinking, shrugging the shoulders, or jerking an arm.

Vocal Tics- Vocal tics are sounds that a person makes with his or her voice. Examples of vocal tics include humming, clearing the throat, or yelling out a word or phrase.

Tics can be either simple or complex:

Simple Tics- Simple tics involve just a few parts of the body. Examples of simple tics include squinting the eyes or sniffing.

Complex Tics- Complex tics usually involve several different parts of the body and can have a pattern. An example of a complex tic is bobbing the head while jerking an arm, and then jumping up.

Other Concerns and Conditions: TS often occurs with other conditions (called co-occurring conditions). Almost 9 out of 10 children diagnosed with TS, 86% also have been diagnosed with at least one additional mental, behavioral, or developmental condition. The two most common conditions are attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). It is important to find out if a person with TS has any other conditions, and treat those conditions properly.

Diabetes:

Epilepsy: Epilepsy is a common disorder of the brain that causes recurring seizures. Epilepsy affects people of all ages, but children and older adults are more likely to have epilepsy. Seizures are the main sign of epilepsy and most people can control this with treatment. Some seizures can look like staring spells while other seizures can cause a person to collapse, stiffen or shake, and become unaware of what’s going on around them. Many times the cause is unknown.

ADHD/ADD: Short for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. A condition characterized by symptoms that include inattention, hyperactivity and impulsivity. But not all of these need to be present for a child to be diagnosed with ADHD. ADHD is a brain-based condition that can make it difficult for kids to concentrate, consider consequences and control their impulses.
When it comes to paying attention, there are three main difficulties for kids with ADHD:

Asthma:

Heart Condition:

Lead Poisoning:
Initially, lead poisoning can be hard to detect — even people who seem healthy can have high blood levels of lead. Signs and symptoms usually don't appear until dangerous amounts have accumulated.

Signs and symptoms of lead poisoning in children include:

Leukemia: Childhood leukemia, the most common type of cancer in children and teens, is a cancer of the white blood cells. Abnormal white blood cells form in the bone marrow. They quickly travel through the bloodstream and crowd out healthy cells. This raises the body's chances of infection and other problems. 

Doctors don't know exactly what causes most cases of childhood leukemia. But certain things may raise the chances of getting it. Keep in mind, though, that having one of these things does not necessarily mean a child will get leukemia. In fact, most children with leukemia don't have any known risk factors.

The risk for childhood leukemia increases if your child has:

Nephritis: Nephritis is an older term used to clinically denote a child with hypertension, decreased renal function, hematuria, and edema. Technically, nephritis suggests a noninfectious inflammatory process that involves the nephron; glomerulonephritis (GN) generally is a more precise term. (See Etiology.)

Diseases that produce GN are usually classified as primary (ie, diseases in which the kidney is the primarily affected organ) or secondary (ie, systemic disorders that involve the kidneys in addition to other organs, such as systemic lupus erythematosus [SLE]). (See Differentials, Workup.)

Currently, most children with hematuria and decreased renal function who do not have a presentation consistent with postinfectious GN receive a renal biopsy, leading to a specific pathologic diagnosis. In these cases, the general terms GN and nephritis are not specific enough to be very useful for treatment or prognosis. (See Etiology, Workup.)

The term nephritis is also applied to a group of unrelated inflammatory disorders known collectively as tubulointerstitial nephritis (TIN). TIN initially affects mainly the interstitium and renal tubules.

Nephritis is a condition in which the nephrons, the functional units of the kidneys, become inflamed. This inflammation, which is also known as glomerulonephritis, can adversely affect kidney function. The kidneys are bean-shaped organs that filter the blood circulating the body to remove excess water and waste products from it. There are many types of nephritis with a range of causes. While some types occur suddenly, others develop as part of a chronic condition and require ongoing management.

When you have a child with Nephrotic Syndrome, there are many considerations when it comes to school. Many children with Nephrotic Syndrome don’t qualify for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP), but could benefit from a few accommodations in school and a 504 Health Plan may be able to help.  

Rheumatic Fever:
Rheumatic fever is an inflammatory disease which may develop after an infection with streptococcus bacteria (such as strep throat or scarlet fever) and can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain.
Rheumatic fever is common worldwide and is responsible for many cases of damaged heart valves. While it is far less common in the U.S. since the beginning of the 20th century, there have been a few outbreaks since the 1980s. Rheumatic fever primarily affects children between ages 6 and 15 and occurs approximately 20 days after strep throat or scarlet fever. In up to a third of cases, the underlying strep infection may not have caused any symptoms.

Symptoms of rheumatic fever include fever, joint pain, migratory arthritis -- involving primarily knees, elbows, ankles, and wrists, joint swelling; redness or warmth, abdominal pain, skin rash (erythema marginatum), skin nodules, sydenham's chorea -- emotional instability, muscular weakness and rapid, uncoordinated jerky movements affecting primarily the face, feet and hands, epistaxis (nosebleeds), cardiac (heart) involvement which may be asymptomatic or may result in shortness of breath, and chest pain.

Given the different manifestations of this disease, there is no specific test which can definitively establish a diagnosis. In addition to a careful physical examination of heart sounds, skin, and joints, blood samples may be taken as part of the evaluation. These include tests for recurrent strep infection (ASO or antiDNAse B), complete blood counts, and sedimentation rate (ESR). As part of the cardiac evaluation, an electrocardiogram may also be done.

In order to standardize the diagnosis of rheumatic fever, several minor and major criteria have been developed. These criteria, in conjunction with evidence of recent streptococcal infection, establish a diagnosis of rheumatic fever.
The management of acute rheumatic fever is geared towards the reduction of inflammation with anti-inflammatory medications such as aspirin or corticosteroids. Individuals with positive cultures for strep throat should also be treated with antibiotics. Another important cornerstone in treating rheumatic fever includes the continuous use of low dose antibiotics (such as penicillin, sulfadiazine, or erythromycin) to prevent recurrence.

The recurrence of rheumatic fever is relatively common in the absence of maintenance of low dose antibiotics, especially during the first 3 to 5 years after the first episode of rheumatic fever. Heart complications may be long-term and severe, particularly if the heart valves are involved.

Sickle Cell Anemia:
Sickle cell disease is an inherited disorder of the red blood cells. In sickle cell disease, the red blood cells become distorted and look C-shaped, like a sickle. Sickle cells die early, which leads to anemia. Signs of anemia include:

Also, these sickle-shaped blood cells tend to get stuck in narrow blood vessels and clog blood flow. This can cause severe pain and organ damage. People with sickle cell disease are at risk for some bacterial infections.

Students with sickle cell disease may miss class time or be absent for doctor visits or hospital stays. Give these students special consideration regarding missed instruction, assignments, and testing. Chronic fatigue or pain can make it appear that students aren't motivated to learn. 

Here are some common aspects of anxiety:

The bad feelings associated with anxiety can come from something specific, like algebra. Or anxiety can be a more general sense of uneasiness that affects much of everyday life.
Frequent and intense feelings of anxiety that can sometimes be a diagnosable medical condition, like generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and separation anxiety disorder.

Kids spend more time than not feeling anxious. These intense feelings continue for an extended period of time. And they’re out of proportion to what’s going on. They also interfere with everyday functioning.

With an anxiety problem, anxious feelings can sometimes come out of the blue. There may be no specific event or situation that triggers them.
Kids with generalized anxiety disorder worry about many things—school, sports activities, things taking place far in the future, current events like war and school shootings, and what others think of them.

Their intense feelings may lead them to refuse to go to school, avoid social situations, withdraw from activities, not get along with family, and get irritable for no clear reason. Physical symptoms include headaches, stomachaches, fidgeting, trouble sleeping, and nightmares.

Kids with social anxiety disorder may be fearful of meeting new people. They might avoid doing things or interacting with others because they’re afraid of being judged.

Kids with separation anxiety disorder get very distressed when they’re away from home or not with a parent or caregiver. They might cling to parents, refuse to sleep alone, and avoid sleepovers and playdates.

Schizophrenia: Schizophrenia symptoms include distorted thoughts, hallucinations, and feelings of fright and paranoia. Psychiatrists evaluate symptoms, tests, and medical history, and prescribe medications and psychotherapy for treatment. Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe mental disorder that affects the way a person thinks, acts, expresses emotions, perceives reality, and relates to others. Though schizophrenia isn’t as common as other major mental illnesses, it can be the most chronic and disabling. People with schizophrenia often have problems doing well in society, at work, at school, and in relationships. They might feel frightened and withdrawn, and could appear to have lost touch with reality. This lifelong disease can’t be cured but can be controlled with proper treatment.

Bipolar Disorder: Bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, is a mental illness that brings severe high and low moods and changes in sleep, energy, thinking, and behavior. People who have bipolar disorder can have periods in which they feel overly happy and energized and other periods of feeling very sad, hopeless, and sluggish. In between those periods, they usually feel normal. You can think of the highs and the lows as two "poles" of mood, which is why it's called "bipolar" disorder.

Obsessive Compulsive  Disorder: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental illness that causes repeated unwanted thoughts or sensations (obsessions) or the urge to do something over and over again (compulsions). Some people can have both obsessions and compulsions

OCD isn’t about habits like biting your nails or thinking negative thoughts. An obsessive thought might be that certain numbers or colors are “good” or “bad.” A compulsive habit might be to wash your hands seven times after touching something that could be dirty. Although you may not want to think or do these things, you feel powerless to stop.

Depression: Frequent and intense feelings of sadness that are out of proportion to what’s going on. These feelings happen often and make it hard to function at home, in school, and with friends. Depression is not a passing mood. It tends to include feeling hopeless and worthless. Kids who are feeling so down that they have trouble functioning for two weeks or more may need to be treated for depression. 
Therapy:  Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help kids look at negative thoughts and replace them with positive thinking. Professionals might also recommend antidepressant medication. Research shows the best way to treat depression in kids is a combination of CBT and medication.

*(Some of these may also be covered under “other health impairment.)

There are three main types of language disorder:

Language disorders are often developmental. They start in early childhood and continue into adulthood. But they can also be caused by a brain injury or illness. The signs of expressive language problems can show up very early. Kids are often late to talk and use very few words once they start. Signs of receptive language problems appear a little later. Kids may have trouble following directions, too. When other people talk, they may not respond — or they may respond in ways that are off-topic. Who can diagnose: speech-language pathologists.

SLPs figure out what kind of language problem a student has. They determine what’s causing it and decide on the best treatment. SLPs may help kids build skills by working with them one-on-one, in small groups, or in the classroom.

SLPs can help with:

SLPs can help treat:

According to Dyslexia Action, Dyslexia is a specific learning difficulty that primarily affects the ability to learn, read and spell. It often runs in families and stems from a difficulty in processing the sounds in words.

Assistive technology offers a way for dyslexics to save time and overcome some of the issues they may encounter because of their dyslexia, such as slow note taking or unreadable handwriting, and allows them to use their time for all the things in which they are gifted.

Two technologies that facilitate this process are the Livescribe smartpen and Dragon Naturally Speaking. Each aid is designed to make the learning process easier and each offers support to the dyslexic student in different ways.

ASD is a brain-based disorder characterized by social-communication challenges and restricted repetitive behaviors, activities, and interests.

The Centers for Disease Control describes ASDs as:“a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges. There is often nothing about how people with ASD look that sets them apart from other people, but people with ASD may communicate, interact, behave, and learn in ways that are different from most other people. The learning, thinking, and problem-solving abilities of people with ASD can range from gifted to severely challenged. Some people with ASD need a lot of help in their daily lives; others need less.”

Learning technologies for ASD primarily exist for children because it has the potential to show better effects when started earlier.

This condition affects the ability to acquire arithmetical skills. Dyscalculia learners may have difficulty understanding simple number concepts, lack an intuitive group of numbers & and have problems learning number facts and procedures.

Types of Assistive technology for dyscalculia and other numeracy difficulties are - Calculators, electronic math games and worksheets, math flashcards and manipulatives, “talking" calculators, alternative keyboards, graphic organizers, proofreading software, word processors, speech recognition and synthesis software, spellcheckers

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a group of behavioral symptoms that include inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) is a type of ADHD. Common symptoms include short attention span, restlessness, being easily distracted, constant fidgeting. Additional symptoms include sleep disorders and learning disorders. But no effect on intelligence.
Choice of AT for ADHD should be focused on the core symptoms or behaviors (like impulsivity, inattention, hyperactivity and distraction) that are being seen that interfere with studies, learning and homework.

Most commonly used AT for ADHD are noise cancelling ear phones or ear plugs can be used for those who are easily distracted by external noises when they try to study. Auditory or vibrating alarms can be used for reminder deadlines or to schedule a 30 minute study time for example.

A broad range of visual abilities and needs are comprised in Visual Impairments. Since each person is unique, what works well for one student may not work well for another. Selection of AT should be the result of a team process that takes into consideration feedback from family, educators, paraprofessionals, and the student.

Examples of low tech tools for students with visual impairments might include enlarged text or raised line paper, while high tech tools may encompass digital tools that “read” to the student, connect to a braille display, or even incorporate GPS.

“Hearing impairment, or deafness, is when your hearing is affected by a condition or injury. Some people are born with a hearing loss while others may develop it as they get older. Most commonly, hearing loss happens with age or is caused by loud noises.” (NHS Choices, 2011).

A variety of technologies are available to support hearing impairments depending on the level of impairment, with hearing aids and induction loops being perhaps the most well known. However, many of these technologies can be considered to provide access to learning rather than being assistive learning technologies

Mobility Impairments
The term ‘mobility impairment’ may cover a range of conditions relating to physical disabilities, including difficulties with dexterity and coordination. Most physical impairments are not considered to be learning difficulties, although learning (and particularly access to learning) may be difficult. Learning through physical 'hands-on' manipulation of objects can also be made difficult, which can affect learning some concepts which would normally benefit from tangible feedback. The degree to which an assistive technology to support mobility impairments can be classed as a learning technology might perhaps be related to the type of motor skills which they aim to compensate for – for example, a wheelchair would not normally be counted as a learning technology, although it enables access to learning, but voice recognition or literacy support for users with cerebral palsy might be.

“Dyspraxia, also known as developmental co-ordination disorder, is a disability that affects movement and co-ordination. It is thought to be caused by a disruption in the way messages from the brain are transmitted to the body. Dyspraxia is characterized by difficulty in planning smooth, coordinated movements. This leads to: clumsiness; lack of co-ordination; problems with language, perception and thought” (NHS Choices, 2010).
Dyspraxia is a specific learning difficulty which is relatively common in US. With difficulties in coordination and movement, there is evidence that learners with dyspraxia may also experience lower levels of independence and difficulties in interacting with peers (Bart et al., 2011). Yet despite this, there seems to be very little research literature on technology to support dyspraxia.

Low tech solutions can often be the most effective for students with learning disabilities. Utilizing colors via highlighters, colored paper, or color coding systems for different subjects can help to organize information in a manner that is easier understood by students who have difficulty with organization.
For students with dysgraphia there are options such as pencil grips and raised line paper. These can help a student lacking fine motor skills properly hold a pencil to write or can guide the student's writing by allowing them to feel when they have crossed a line on their paper.