All About Dyspraxia: A Practical Guide for Primary Teachers

1 Introduction 3

Defining ‘dyspraxia’ 4

Formal diagnosis 7

How DCD is diagnosed 8

Possible causes 9

Prevalence 9

Long term – adulthood 10

2 Ideation 12

3 Planning 14

4 Doing 17

5 Co-occurring conditions 19

6 Impact on mental health and behaviour 22

7 Recognising strengths 25

8 Reframing behaviour 29

Choice and avoidance 29

Inattention or difficulty with planning 30

Looking at past behaviour 31

9 Teaching new skills 33

10 Generalisation 38

11 Sensory needs 41

Sensitive responses 41

Slower responses 43

Sensory seeking 44

12 Organisation skills 46

Classroom set-up 46

Belongings 47

Task set-up 48

Telling the time 48

Start of the year transition 49

13 Transitions throughout the day 51

14 Play and unstructured time 53

15 Early years classrooms (reception and nursery) 55

16 Fine motor skills 59

Early skills 59

Essential fine motor skills for school 60

General fine motor skills 61

Making things harder for older learners 62

17 Handwriting skills 63

Pre-writing 63

Transcription 64

Composition 66

18 PE 69

19 Creative subjects 73

Supporting ideation 73

Supporting planning 74

Supporting doing 75

Safety with tools 75

20 Homework 77

21 Technology and assistive tools 79

22 Transition to secondary school 83

23 Self-care skills 86

General tips 87

When things change 87

Liaison with home 88

24 Partnering with parents 90

Initial support for parents 91

Implementing support 94

Extracurricular activity ideas 96

Biography

Kim Griffin is a paediatric occupational therapist with over 20 years of experience supporting children, their families and teachers. She is the founder of GriffinOT and the author of Success with Sensory Supports. Her current research focus is supporting student self-regulation in mainstream schools.

“All About Dyspraxia is an essential and timely resource for educators. With waiting lists growing, this book meets an urgent need for practical, accessible guidance. Its strength lies in expertly dismantling misconceptions and moving ‘beyond clumsiness’ to illuminate the true physical and behavioural signs of dyspraxia. The insightful sections on concurrent conditions and myth-busting are invaluable for accurate recognition and intervention. Most importantly, this book provides teachers with the actionable strategies we need while championing the crucial partnership with parents. This is a must-have guide that will undoubtedly transform classroom support for children.”

- Sarah Watkins, associate lecturer, University of Worcester, UK, and author of Outdoor Play for Healthy Little Minds and 99 Eco-Activities for Your Primary School

“All About Dyspraxia provides myth-busting advocacy of dyspraxia/DCD.  It expands knowledge and understanding of dyspraxia/DCD beyond a simple assumption of clumsiness and co-ordination difficulties, integrating the stages of ideation, planning and doing into all activities.  The book is well structured with a clear, insightful and accessible writing style and it contains an excellent array of practical strategies for teachers including subject specific suggestions for supported action.  It is a great resource with practical application.”

- Judith Carter, educational psychologist, author and director of Willow Tree Learning

"When you've got limited time to read up on things, but you know you've just got to do something to help that child in your class, what you need is a quick go-to resource that tells you the important things you need to know but also gives you really practical strategies to help.  This book does both. You feel reassured it's been written by someone who knows what they're talking about when it comes to dyspraxia and who also has insight into the demands of teaching. This book is a great addition to your inclusive toolkit.'

- Pippa McLean, former teacher and SENCO, author of The Pocket Diary of a SENCO and Could Do Better

“As the mother of an adult with dyspraxia, I truly wish I’d had this book when my daughter was younger. It’s clear, well explained, and full of real-life examples that make everything so much easier to understand. I am a specialist teacher who has been in this field for many years, and I learned a huge amount about dyspraxia through this book. I found it especially helpful that the book considers co-occurring conditions and uses practical frameworks, like the ideation/planning/doing model. I really appreciated the connections it draws between executive functioning difficulties, sensory processing, and the importance of breaking things down into smaller, manageable steps. The strategies suggested are straightforward yet effective. They show that with a few simple adaptations and a bit of understanding about how the child with dyspraxia learns best, real progress can be made.  It’s also great to see how technology can play a supportive role. This book is a fantastic resource, and I can recommend it to anyone supporting a dyspraxic child.”

- Lynn McCann, Autism, ADHD and PDA Specialist Teacher, Author and Speaker

"All About Dyspraxia is a resource which will be helpful for early career practitioners who wish to enhance their classroom inclusive approaches. This book provides a good, underpinning understanding of what dyspraxia/developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD) is and how it can impact a learner’s social, emotional and academic development. The author clearly identifies how dyspraxia can co-occur with other neurodiverse conditions and the way this might impact on learners’ ability to learn and socialise.  All About Dyspraxia offers practical solutions and new ways for a practitioner to ensure a learner with dyspraxia can access, engage and succeed in their classroom."

- Sue Soan, Author, Editor and Education Consultant