With dyspraxia or DCD (Developmental Coordination Disorder), messages from the brain are not transmitted properly to the body. As a result, for example, movement coordination is not as good. So it is not a muscle disease, but it has to do with transmission of information from the brain. Generally it involves problems with mobility, but everyone is different and individuals with dyspraxia face a combination of different abilities and limitations. Dyspraxia or DCD (Developmental Coordination Disorder) is characterised by different aspects that also do interact.

Characteristics of dyspraxia or DCD

Dyspraxia or DCD (Developmental Coordination Disorder) is characterised by different aspects that also exist in relation to one another.

• The primary characteristic of dyspraxia or DCD is a persistent difficulty with learning and/or quickly executing coordinated motor skills. Performing coordinated movements quickly and accurately is often difficult – take writing, for example, but this also includes carrying out procedures in a laboratory.
• Dyspraxia causes problems in connection with identifying tasks and subtasks and putting these in chronological order. In other words, it affects not only motor skills but also the ability to organise and carry out various day-to-day tasks. Planning can present a serious challenge, especially when you have just moved into student housing and have to combine a new degree programme with learning to be independent in a domestic setting. Because of this, study results are sometimes disappointing. In terms of the effects on planning and organising, there is some overlap with ADD/ADHD, but with dyspraxia, the underlying problem is that people have trouble automatically performing actions. As a result, steps that seem logical to others require extra attention. People with dyspraxia also tend to have a poor time perception, making it difficult for them to estimate how long a task will take them.
• When they are students, the problems with organisation can create a great deal of fatigue, causing them to need rest. However, it is not always so easy to communicate your limits to other people.
• This is a disability that is invisible to other people, but things can sometimes go wrong and lead to feelings of shame. You want to participate in activities together with your peers. You want to be a social, active, assertive and organised student – but you are not always able to do everything you want. This causes stress and lowers your self-confidence.
• Students with dyspraxia are sometimes judged harshly based on their lack of organisation and assertiveness, even though these are genuinely the result of their disability. It is important to ask for help in these areas when you need it.
• Many educational institutions are unfamiliar with dyspraxia, and the public sometimes fails to realise that it is a disorder that continues to affect people in adulthood. There is also a strong focus on the motor aspect, leading to the mistaken conclusion that children and adults with dyspraxia are simply ‘clumsy’.