The varying degrees of severity with hidden disabilities make them difficultto detect yet there will be tell-tale signs, such as learning difficulties andsocial behaviour problems. These are becoming more recognized in children andyoung adults, and it has been suggested that up to 20% of the population may beaffected to  some degree. ADD, ADHD, Dyslexia and Dyspraxia all come intothe category of these hidden disabilities.

Today I will focus on Dyspraxia.

 The cause of dyspraxia is not known, yet there appears to be a linkbetween immature neurons in the motor cortex and dyspraxia. There is also aninherent link as it runs in families. It has been associated with developmentaldelays, learning problems and reading difficulties.  

What Is Dyspraxia?

Dyspraxia is a neurologically based developmental disability which ispresent from birth Dyspraxia is a motor planning disorder, not amuscular deficit. A child knows what they want their body to do but can’t gettheir body to do it. There are three (3) types of Developmental Dyspraxia –Oral, Verbal and Motor. A child with Dyspraxia can have one or a combination ofall three types of Dyspraxia and in varying degrees of severityDyspraxia is a hidden handicap. Children with this disability appear the sameas any other child. It is only when a skill is performed that the disability isnoticeable. Dyspraxia is believed to be an immaturity of parts of the motorcortex (area of the brain) that prevents messages from being properlytransmitted to the body. Dyspraxia affects up to 10% of thepopulation with approximately 70% of those affected being boys. Dyspraxiadoes not impact on intelligence, children with Dyspraxia have average or aboveaverage intelligence Dyspraxia can impact on behaviour and social skillsDyspraxia is a specific learning disability

3 Types of Dyspraxia

Oral Dyspraxia – Oral dyspraxia is a difficulty withplanning and executing non-speech sounds, such as blowing, sucking orindividual tongue/lip movements. This may indirectly affect speech and/orswallowing skills. A child with Oral Dyspraxia may dribble profusely, havedifficulty licking an ice-cream and may have a preference for either soft orhard textured foods.

Verbal Dyspraxia – Verbal Dyspraxia is a speech disorderthat affects the programming, sequencing and initiating of movements requiredto make speech sounds.

Children with Verbal Dyspraxia may:

Display highly unintelligible speech Simplify words eg. “bur” for “burgerHave inconsistent speech patterns Move sounds in a word eg. ”tobe” for“boat” Exhibit “lost” or searching movements of the tongue and lips as theyendeavour to find the position to make a sound Have delayed expressive languageAdopt a complex gesture system to aid communication skills Have difficulty withsequencing words, and sounds in words eg. “Pataka”

Motor Dyspraxia - Motor Dyspraxia is a difficulty inplanning, sequencing and then executing the correct movement to perform ageappropriate skills in a smooth and coordinated manner at will or oncommand.

Children with Motor Dyspraxia may have difficulty with:

Learning a new skill Coordinated movement Handwriting Consistent performanceAge appropriate skills Generalising learnt skills Timing and rhythm Learningrules Responding quickly Spatial organisation Problem solving Using appropriatecues Analysing what is needed for task performance Preparing for the next stagein task performance

Developmental dyspraxia, is not considered a medical condition, but it maybe due to immature neuron development. It is a life-long condition that is morecommon in males than females. The concept of developmental dyspraxia hasexisted for more than a century, but differing interpretation of terminologyremains. Current estimates range from 5% – 20% with 2% affected severely.

Therapies for Dyspraxia

Speech pathology is one of the therapies fordyspraxia.  Speech pathologists may choose to follow a motor skilltraining approach which gets people to practice making sounds quickly andaccurately, making it easier to put these in normal speech.  People withdyspraxia may also need practice with listening, in order to ensure that theyare not leaving sounds out when speaking. 

Occupational therapy is another therapy fordyspraxia.  It helps people to improve physical skills and fine motortasks.  Physical therapists can also be of help.  Early interventionis important.

Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) was originally createdin 1975 by Richard Bandler and John Grinder, but since that time, many othershave contributed towards its growth and development. There are severaldescriptions of what NLP actually is, but they all agree that Modelling is acore component, that opens a window into ascertaining how people function.

It explores the relationship between how one thinks (neuro) and communicatesboth verbally and non verbally (linguistic), and patterns of behaviour andemotion (programmes). NLP is a behaviour technique that teaches people how tochange or adopt new behaviours as required and to choose mental and physicalstates of wellbeing. In effect, it is about knowing what is going on insideoneself and others.

Neuro Developmental Therapy (NDT) addresses theshortcomings of the vestibular system by encouraging the development of maturereflexes while the Tomatis Method of sound therapy uses specially modifiedmusic designed to stimulate the cochlear and vestibular systems and strengthenneural connections from the auditory system to the brain.  The theory forusing NDT along with the Tomatis Method draws on the assumption that all typesof dyspraxia stem from the same source.  Instead of treating each area ofimpaired functioning as unrelated, the Tomatis Methods aims to strengthen thestructure of the inner ear while the NDT exercises revisit motor development asit ideally should have been experienced.

Naturopathic Medicine, or Naturopathy, is a practice ofpreventing, assessing and treating conditions of the human mind and body. Byintegrating conventional health sciences with a range of natural therapies andtraditional medicines, naturopathy treats the patient’s mental, emotional andphysical states for a lasting effect.

The foundation of Naturopathy is the philosophy of the “healing power ofnature”. This means that the body has its own healing energy within and withthe help of naturopathic treatment, the body can repair itself and recover fromillness if it is in a healthy and supportive environment.

The Role of the Naturopath

A Naturopath aims to educate, empower and motivate the patient to assumemore personal responsibility for his or her health by adopting a healthyattitude, lifestyle and diet. They do not simply treat the manifestation of adisease and its effects but rather search for the cause and treat it, ratherthan the effect. Prevention of disease is accomplished through naturopathiceducation which builds a lifestyle that supports health and wellbeing.

Benefits of Naturopathy

A Naturopath is trained to employ safe and effective natural therapies thatwill support and stimulate the healing power of nature in the gentlest, leastinvasive and most efficient manner possible. Naturopaths use a range of methodsto assist in the healing process including Herbal Medicine (in this case tosupport the central nervous system and brain)  nutrition – diet andlifestyle recommendations, vitamins and minerals, flower essences, homeopathy,hair, tongue, and nail analysis, Iridology and massage.

Treatments for Dyspraxia include herbal combinations that support the brainand central nervous system, nutritional guidelines to reduce ‘problem’ foods,supplements that have shown to be beneficial are recommended. Flower essencescarefully chosen to support the emotional wellbeing of the individual.

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