Helping Children with Dyspraxia

Maureen Boon

Maureen Boon is the headteacher of an independent school for children with physical disabilities. The school is also a centre which provides weekly therapy for children with movement and associated disorders such as cerebral palsy and dyspraxia.

Helping Children with Dyspraxia caught my attention from page one with the question, ‘What is Dyspraxia?’ and Boon quite rightly goes on to say that if you ask professionals what dyspraxia is, you get different answers, depending on their fields of expertise. She gives examples which highlight the problem for parents who are desperate to understand their children’s condition, and who find themselves being sidetracked with comments such as, ‘She is a late developer’ ‘He’s just clumsy’ and ‘Don’t worry so much’. This is no consolation for parents who cannot put their finger on just what is wrong and are looking for help for their child. The second question asked is, ‘What Causes Dyspraxia?’ Again, this is a difficult one to answer, a grey area which can be a torment for some parents who would like a cut-and-dried answer.

This book is full of information. Did you know that boys are four times more likely to be affected by dyspraxia than girls? There are also helpful guidelines about how a child with dyspraxia can be identified, and assessed. There are tips on how parents and teachers can help a child, and we are reminded that a child with dyspraxia often has to put in an enormous amount of effort to do something that another child can do easily. So remember to give credit for effort expended along the way. There are tips to help pre-schoolers, secondary school children and tips for school leavers and suggestions for games to play and activities which will help a child.

Does the dyspraxia continue as a young person matures? Again, researchers have come up with different answers, but is seems likely that many dyspraxic children do overcome the early motor difficulties and develop coping strategies to deal effectively with organizational problems, although some do not.

Read Helping Children With Dyspraxia because it is a clear and sensible guide through a difficult terrain written by someone who has worked with children with movement disorders for over twenty years.

© Jill Curtis 2002

Jessica Kingsley Publishers  

paperback   £9.95    $15.95    ISBN 1853028819

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