How to identify dyspraxia in primary school children: 10 signs for teachers

Dyspraxia (also known as developmental coordination disorder, or DCD) affects coordination, motor skills, and visual-spatial processing. From threading needles to throwing cricket balls.

As I described in a recent blog, dyspraxia is far less understood than the ‘big three’ forms of neurodiversity: autism, ADHD and dyslexia. For primary school teachers that matters. Early warning signs are often missed.

Below I’ve listed ten practical indicators to spot in kids aged four to eleven, based on my lived experience and my daughter’s. From the classroom to the school hall to those memorable school trips.

1) Difficulties with PE equipment

Is a child struggling with items of PE apparatus or equipment their peers use with ease?

Back in the 1980s, climbing ropes were ubiquitous features of British schools’ PE lessons. I found these bewilderingly difficult.

If a child in your class consistently struggles with physical tasks others find straight-forward, keep an eye out for whether anything else on this list rings the dyspraxia bell.

2) Writing speed doesn’t match ability

Does a child produce good-quality work but slowly? Does their skill significantly outweigh their pace?

This may indicate that they have ‘the dyspraxic pen grip’, making handwriting physically uncomfortable – and leading to pain and fatigue.

It was one of the first things the assessor checked during my daughter’s diagnostic assessment. She’s now been recommended 25% extra time for those exams with extended writing tasks. If only it had been identified ten years earlier at infant school…

3) A messy return from lunchtime

Does the child consistently return from the lunch hall with their face resembling a Jackson Pollock painting? It could be another indication of DCD.

Difficulties with fine motor skills and figuring out mechanical features can also manifest in awkward engagement with Tupperware, lunchboxes and water bottles.

4) Scissor struggles

40 years on, I can still see in my mind’s eye the tiny pairs of scissors we used at infant school. My mum had much bigger scissors at home – designed for adult hands, but which, ironically, I found marginally easier to use.

Many dyspraxics struggle with cutting, so look out for jagged lines.

5) Wonky arts and crafts

Scissors bring me neatly to arts and crafts (or not so neatly, as the case may be).

Making Christmas cards in the classroom with glitter, glue and coloured card during December is a cherished memory of the festive season – but my efforts were always messier than my peers’.

Sellotape too. How I struggled (struggle) with Sellotape. In fact, I’ll write a whole separate blog on wrapping presents at some point…

6) Team games challenges

Team games can be truly troubling for a dyspraxic. Throwing, kicking and hitting balls can be a significant challenge alone. But in team sports, there’s the broader visual-spatial factor of coordinating your movements and choices with those of your team mates.

Look out for overarm throwing, too. Both my daughter and I can throw underarm but struggle with overarm – hence why despite a deep love of cricket I never played for a team.

7) Activity-specific avoidance

Does your class have a child who’s generally enthusiastic and engaged but becomes uncomfortable or flat-out avoidant during particular activities?

If the avoidance-inducing activities involve significant levels of fine and/or gross motor skills, dyspraxia may explain why.

8) Letting others take the lead on school trips

Many dyspraxics struggle when visiting new places (though this can fade once they’ve settled in).

A child who’s reasonably confident in the familiar environment of the school may become quieter and more dependent on peers when experiencing the extra cognitive load that comes with a novel environment. Processing all that new visual-spatial information is tiring.

Keep an eye out on those day trips to museums, zoos and theme parks. The processing burden may zap too much bandwidth for dyspraxic kids to be their normal selves.

9) Noticeable fatigue by the end of the day

Dyspraxics face heightened cognitive effort throughout the day. Many of us fade by late afternoon or evening.

Does a child in your class begin the day brightly but appear more tired than their peers by the end of the day? Are they better spellers at 10am than 2pm?

10) Difficulties with dressing (shoelaces, zips and buttons)

Finally, does the child take longer to get ready for PE than the rest of the class? Are they unusually slow in getting dressed afterwards?

Once they’re dressed, are the buttons in the wrong holes? Jumpers back to front? Shoelaces still undone?

These are common indicators of coordination challenges – including mistakes that come from the pressure to dress at the same pace as the rest.

Look for patterns

A sole indicator from the list above is unlikely to indicate dyspraxia. But a constellation of factors is probably worth exploring further.

And remember: dyspraxic children can sometimes excel in specific physical tasks. Just because Messy Matt or Clumsy Cleo can strike a football with the majesty of Harry Kane doesn’t discount dyspraxia.

Final thought

If something doesn’t add up, be curious. Spotting dyspraxia early can have a profound impact on self-esteem, access and attainment.

You might just change that child’s life.

(Dyspraxia’s diagnostic criteria are listed here for the convenience of any teachers who want to refer to them.)