Dyspraxia in adults: signs, symptoms and what to look for

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Dyspraxia, also known as developmental coordination disorder (DCD), is a lifelong form of neurodivergence that can affect coordination, organisation, visual-spatial awareness and everyday tasks.

Although dyspraxia is often identified during childhood, many adults reach their twenties, thirties or beyond before discovering that it may explain difficulties they have experienced throughout their lives. I was diagnosed at 35, for example.

Adults with dyspraxia can develop effective coping strategies – including avoidance – meaning the underlying difficulties are not always obvious to others. These coping strategies may also mask inner turmoil. Others may appear capable in general but may surprisingly struggle with certain tasks, such as those that require visual-spatial skills.

If you’re wondering whether your own experiences might be consistent with dyspraxia, it can be helpful to look for patterns across different areas of adult life. Dyspraxia affects adults in different ways, but there are some common areas where difficulties may appear.

Fine motor skills

  • Difficulty with tasks such as tying shoelaces, fastening buttons, or using small tools

  • Awkward or uncomfortable handwriting, particularly when writing for extended periods

  • Difficulty with tasks requiring manual precision, such as using scissors, saws and screwdrivers

  • Struggles with practical tasks such as DIY, cooking, or assembling furniture

  • Frequently dropping, spilling, or knocking things over

Gross motor and coordination difficulties

  • Appearing clumsy or uncoordinated

  • Difficulty learning or performing certain physical skills

  • Struggles with activities such as cycling, dancing, or particular sports

  • Difficulty throwing, catching, kicking or hitting objects accurately

  • Finding some physical activities significantly more tiring than others

Visual-spatial difficulties

  • Difficulty finding your way around unfamiliar buildings or places

  • Feeling disorientated when entering a new environment

  • Difficulty judging distances, positioning or spatial relationships – such as driving a car

  • Struggling to visualise how objects will fit together

  • Finding three-dimensional tasks particularly challenging

Visual-spatial difficulties can be particularly revealing because someone may be perfectly capable of understanding a problem intellectually while finding the physical or spatial execution surprisingly difficult.

Organisation and planning difficulties

  • Difficulty organising possessions, paperwork or tasks, such as the layout of a room

  • Struggling to follow or remember multi-step instructions, particularly when the instructions were given verbally

  • Difficulty working out the order in which several tasks should be completed

  • Frequently losing or forgetting items

  • Finding changes to established routines unexpectedly difficult, at least during the settling-in period

Some adults develop elaborate systems to compensate for these difficulties. Being highly organised does not necessarily rule out dyspraxia; in some cases, the organisation itself may be a coping strategy.

Verbal processing difficulties

Some adults with dyspraxia experience difficulties with verbal processing or word retrieval, particularly when tired or under pressure.

You may find that you know exactly what you want to say but struggle to retrieve the right word quickly, or that following a series of verbally delivered instructions is much harder than following the same information when it is written down.

Dyspraxic fatigue

Fatigue is another experience commonly reported by dyspraxic adults.

Everyday activities that require coordination, navigation, planning and visual-spatial processing can require considerably more conscious effort than they appear to require for other people.

This can mean feeling relatively energetic at the beginning of the day but becoming increasingly exhausted as the day progresses.

For some people, the effect becomes particularly noticeable in the evening, when there is little cognitive energy left for socialising or other activities.

Dyspraxia in adults: every person is different

Dyspraxia exists on a spectrum, meaning its impact can vary considerably from one adult to another.

It is also common to have surprising exceptions.

A dyspraxic adult may struggle with most team sports but be good at one particular sport. Someone with generally poor fine motor skills may nevertheless have learned to perform a particular practical task extremely well through repetition and practice.

Being good at a particular coordination-requiring skill therefore does not necessarily rule out dyspraxia. The key thing is the overall picture.

Strengths and abilities in adults with dyspraxia

Dyspraxia is often discussed primarily in terms of difficulties. But a person's abilities cannot be inferred from their diagnosis.

Dyspraxic adults may have considerable strengths in areas such as:

  • Creativity and imagination

  • Verbal reasoning and communication

  • Persistence and determination

  • Problem-solving

  • Developing highly effective coping strategies

  • Particular academic, professional, artistic or physical abilities

Most importantly, dyspraxia does not determine intelligence. Dyspraxic people exist across the full range of intellectual ability.

A person can therefore be highly capable academically or professionally while finding apparently simple physical or spatial tasks unusually difficult.

Dyspraxia at work: common challenges

Work can make dyspraxia more noticeable, particularly when someone enters an unfamiliar environment or is expected to perform tasks that rely heavily on coordination, navigation or organisation.

Adults with dyspraxia may experience:

  • Difficulty finding their way around unfamiliar workplaces

  • Challenges using equipment or machinery

  • Difficulty taking notes by hand while listening

  • Problems following complex verbal instructions

  • Increased fatigue towards the end of the working day

  • Difficulty adapting quickly to changes in physical surroundings

  • Anxiety about practical tasks or activities involving physical coordination

  • Challenges organising multiple competing tasks

These difficulties can sometimes be misunderstood as carelessness, poor organisation or lack of confidence.

Reasonable adjustments and appropriate support can make a significant difference.

Dyspraxia in everyday adult life

The effects of dyspraxia do not stop when someone leaves school or work.

Adults may encounter difficulties with everyday activities such as:

  • Cooking and using kitchen equipment

  • DIY and assembling furniture

  • Driving or navigating unfamiliar routes

  • Moving house and organising possessions

  • Getting around unfamiliar buildings

  • Using public transport and map-reading

  • Managing several practical tasks at once

  • Participating in certain social or recreational activities

Some of these difficulties may seem trivial individually. The cumulative effect can be much greater.

A person who has spent decades consciously concentrating on tasks that other people perform automatically may experience considerable mental and physical fatigue.

When to seek advice about dyspraxia in adults

It is possible to have some of the characteristics described above without having dyspraxia. Many people struggle with individual tasks, and there is considerable variation in how adults develop and perform different skills.

However, if difficulties have been persistent since childhood and affect several areas of life – particularly coordination, visual-spatial processing and everyday activities – it may be worth exploring whether dyspraxia could explain the pattern.

A formal assessment can help establish whether the difficulties are consistent with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and whether other explanations need to be considered.

For some adults, receiving a diagnosis can be transformative. It can provide an explanation for difficulties that have previously seemed unrelated, and may help them identify appropriate strategies, adjustments and support.

Learn more

If you'd like to understand dyspraxia in more detail, you can read what dyspraxia is, including the diagnostic criteria for Developmental Coordination Disorder. You can also read about dyspraxia in children here.

My blog

I write about dyspraxia from a lived-experience perspective, drawing on both my own experiences and, where relevant, those of my daughter.

Some of my adult-life posts may be particularly useful: