Identifying dyspraxia symptoms in children: series introduction
When you start suspecting there are qualitative differences in aspects of your child’s development, it can be hard to know what to look for – or where to start, especially given the glut of information available online. I’m well aware that there are many symptom-spotting guides for parents of children who may have autism, ADHD, and dyslexia – but seemingly far fewer focused on dyspraxia.
Welcome, therefore, to part one of a five-part series aimed at helping parents identify potential signs of dyspraxia (also known as Developmental Coordination Disorder, or DCD) across different stages of growing up. I have based each part of this quintet on both my own experience of dyspraxia and my daughter’s – as well as taking into account other dyspraxics’ descriptions of their childhoods and adolescences, such as Rosemary Richings’ DCD insights in her excellent book.
From toddlerhood through to the conclusion of adolescence, I’ll describe how dyspraxia can present during child and adolescent development, with a focus on home and family life. If your interest is more on childhood dyspraxia in educational settings, I have already written a pair of symptom-spotting posts for teachers: dyspraxia in primary school and dyspraxia in secondary school.
When my daughter was small, I found myself watching her development through a dual lens. Part of me was just a dad enjoying watching his child grow up; another part of me – having lived with dyspraxia my whole life – was quietly paying attention to how she navigated the physical, visual-spatial world. I’ve written before about how I realised my child might have dyspraxia, but those very early years before school entry carry their own unique set of subtle signs.
In the pre-school years (or early years, as we often call this stage here in the UK), identifying dyspraxia can be tricky. Toddlers are naturally unsteady, messy, and unpredictable regardless of where you live in the world. Development happens in bursts, and every child moves at their own pace.
However, dyspraxia isn't just about being slightly unsteady on your feet. It's a neurological condition that affects how the brain plans, sequences, and executes physical movements; and how it processes the visual-spatial data it receives via its senses. In early childhood, this often shows up not as a lack of effort, but as a persistent difficulty with skills that other children seem to pick up through basic repetition.
If you’re wondering whether your toddler or pre-schooler might be showing early signs of dyspraxia, it might be helpful to consider them across a few key categories:
Gross motor milestones
These are the ‘big’ movements, that I think of as being visible from a distance.
Travel can be a major clue: noticeable delays in crawling, walking, or running, or an awkward, unusual gait during these movements.
A toddler who actively avoids using playground equipment that their peers are drawn to might offer another hint, as can a persistent reluctance to try balance bikes or tricycles
Fine motor skills in self-care
These are the ‘fiddly’ skills – those that require a closer view to analyse. Watching your little one consume their food and drink can be a tell-tale area. My daughter didn’t find cutlery easy to use, which was an early clue to her dyspraxia. Difficulties with mastering the control of cups and beakers is another indicator to look out for.
Another fine-motor area to pay attention to is when you begin to encourage independence with dressing. Does your child find these skills disproportionately hard to develop? Does it seem overly effortful? Do they develop strong resistance or frustration following persistent failure with buttons, zips, or socks?
Frequent bumps and falls
In a less enlightened, less linguistically sensitive age, DCD was known by some as ‘clumsy child syndrome’. I guess this label stemmed from the frequent bumps and falls that many dyspraxics experience well into adulthood. While bumps and tumbles are an inevitable aspect of toddlerhood, your intuition is likely to raise a red flag if the frequency seems beyond the norm. Maybe if you’ve had previous children you have a yardstick by which to compare and contrast.
Ask yourself these questions: Does your child frequently bump into doorframes and other static features of your home environment? Do they misjudge spatial distance? Do they struggle to navigate around familiar, stationary furniture?
Fine Motor Skills: Manipulating Objects
Observe closely how they manipulate objects when playing and engaging in creative activities. Do they struggle with simple age-appropriate puzzles? Is stacking blocks a challenge? Do they find connecting pieces of Duplo frustrating?
Crayons can be particularly revealing, as a spectrum of difficulty often manifests here. Prominent dyspraxia advocate Rosemary Richings describes how simply holding pens (and, presumably, crayons) was painful for her as a child. Others – my daughter and me included – adopt what my daughter’s diagnostician described as the classic ‘dyspraxic grip’, where extended drawing or colouring quickly becomes painful, making output slow and tiring.
Accumulation of observations
It’s important to stress that seeing one or two of these traits doesn't automatically mean your child is dyspraxic. But if you notice a consistent pattern where physical coordination and spatial processing seem significantly more taxing for your child than their peers, it’s worth making a few quiet notes and perhaps speaking to a GP, health visitor, or occupational therapist. Speak to staff at your child’s nursery, crèche or kindergarten – have they noticed any discernible developmental differences?
In this early stage, you don't need all the answers. The goal isn't to rush for a formal label immediately, but to start observing with empathy – and finding simple ways to make their physical world a little easier to navigate.
That said, if your child does have DCD, the earlier it’s discovered, the sooner appropriate therapies and accommodations can be considered, likely making their journey through childhood – including, crucially, school – smoother, more enjoyable, and more child-centred.
Coming up next:
When children transition from home into their first formal classroom environment, the physical and visual-spatial demands on them increase dramatically. Read the next instalment in this five-part series Identifying Dyspraxia in the Infant School Years (Ages 4 to 7), where we’ll consider key areas, including pencil grip, PE changing routines, and classroom fatigue.
