This is Sean. He was born on the 8th of January 2011. He’s in second class. He has dyspraxia, which is a developmental disorder of the brain in childhood causing difficulty in activities that require coordination and movement. At least one child in every classroom has this disorder. Even though dyspraxia is fairly common, many people have never heard of it.
Here’s Sean playing with his friends, Jamie and Conor. Sean does find it hard to keep up with their pace due to his disorder. Easy games like fishing for ducks are much more easier for Sean, although his coordination is challenged, at least he will not run out of energy quickly.
Sean caught a duck. It took him a while to complete this task as he found it difficult to hold the rod. Sean has trouble with everyday physical tasks. These can include things like jumping, speaking clearly and gripping a pencil.
Once Sean’s friends left, he decided to colour in. He enjoys art in school and he receives great help at school due to his condition. Sean attends a speech and language school where they encourage him to speak clearly and confidently. They do this by teaching music, art, theatre.
Sean took a trip to the playground later that day. Here he is enjoying himself on “the pizza swing.” It took a bit of effort for Sean to climb into the swing as children with dyspraxia tend to struggle with balance and posture.
“I’m the king of the castle.” Sean reaches the top of the ladder and is proud of himself. Sean is encouraged with physical activity. Any kind of play that encourages physical activity helps develop his motor skills.
Sean is a happy and optimistic 7 year old, but things might become more difficult to him when he becomes a teenager. His problems may change as social and organisational difficulties may be more demanding.
Some of Sean’s symptoms include: Poor balance, poor coordination, difficulties with vision,difficulty with reading, writing, speaking, poor social skills, emotional and behavioural problems. He suffers with fatigue quite frequently. But he always remains pleasant and friendly.
In the evening, Sean went to visit his Granddad’s farm. His Granddad offered him a sweet and he later gave him some pocket money for all his help on the farm.
Sean complained of having a toothache shorting after having the sweets. He was also getting tired after a long day. Children don’t outgrow dyspraxia. But occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech therapy can help.
Sean was quite afraid to get too close to the cows.
Sean’s father ensures him that it’s safe to go over to the cows and he assists him on walking over.
Here’s Sean offering to help his brother Dylan fix the electric fence. Anything simple like spending time on the farm is good to get his body moving.
Here are the men at work. Sean tries his best to offer his help to the men trying to fix the fence. He wanted to help and kept asking if there was anything he could do.
Time to go home after a long day. Sean was complaining of being tired so he headed back to the car and went home shortly after. Tiredness is a hidden aspect of dyspraxia. It takes much more effort for a person with dyspraxia to do things in comparison to other people. They have to think about the way they carry out tasks, which come naturally to others. It takes them much longer to do things too. Whether it may be having a conversation or trying to concentrate. This means that they may get tired quicker than other people.