Dyspraxia: Developmental Co-ordination Disorder

Newly revised and updated this is the definitive parents’ guide to dyspraxia, also known as Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD). Dyspraxia affects one seventh of all children. Dyspraxia is a condition that causes co-ordination problems. It is a hidden handicap, the children who suffer from it look the same as their friends but are dismissed as ‘clumsy’ rather than treated as children coping with a learning difficulty. Dyspraxia can often go undiagnosed until adulthood and is often mistaken for other conditions, such as autism, dyslexia or attention deficit disorder.

In this practical and authoritative book Amanda Kirby asks the questions parents would like answered, gives a comprehensive outline of what dyspraxia is and how it can affect a child and offers practical advice on how to help a child overcome this problem throughout their life from pre-school to adulthood. There are techniques that can be used by parents in the home to improve a child’s co-ordination, as well as positive ways to cope with the emotional reaction of both parents and children to the diagnosis of dyspraxia.

What parents need most of all is information – information about causes, symptoms and other possible conditions, practical ways to improve your child’s condition and how to help them to live independently as adults. This book will fulfil the need for relevant information for parents and teachers, medical professionals and play leaders, in a concise, readable and comprehensive way.

Dr Amanda Kirby is the UK’s leading authority on Dyspraxia, and the mother of a dyspraxic child. She founded the Dyscovery Centre to help other families whose children have motor co-ordination difficulties.

"The first wide-ranging and popular guide for parents and others who wrestle daily with the difficulties… It is both immensely practical and written from the heart."
- Daily Telegraph

"A must for all practitioners and parents of children with dyspraxia and development co-ordination disorder (DCD)… Dr Kirby’s practical experiences and observations of children and adults with dyspraxia is highly accessible and readable, successfully dealing with a very complex subject."
- Dyslexia Contact, British Dyslexia Association