Harry Potter is a hero to a generation of kids and their parents who are fans of the books. But the actor Daniel Radcliffe, who plays the clever wizard in the Harry Potter movies, has also become a hero, of sorts. He’s speaking out for kids with dyspraxia, a condition that makes it hard to plan and coordinate physical movement.
Radcliffe, who has a mild form of dyspraxia, knows the challenges it can bring. As a child, he had trouble with handwriting and tying his shoelaces. His early school years were very difficult because as he says “I was awful at everything, with no discernible talent.”
In a recent Facebook chat with The Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy blog, Radcliffe offered encouragement to a 10-year-old girl with dyspraxia.
“Do not let it stop you,” he said. “It has never held me back, and some of the smartest people I know are people who have learning disabilities. The fact that some things are more of a struggle will only make you more determined, harder working and more imaginative in the solutions you find to problems.”
Dyspraxia is not as well-known as other learning and attention issues, such as dyslexia and ADHD. But it’s quite common and often co-occurs with those issues. Between 6 and 10 percent of all children show signs of dyspraxia, with boys being more likely to have it than girls.
So what is dyspraxia?
Dyspraxia isn’t a sign of muscle weakness or of low intelligence. It’s a brain-based condition that makes it hard to plan and coordinate physical movement. Children with dyspraxia tend to struggle with balance and posture. They may appear clumsy, uncoordinated or out of touch with their environment.
Dyspraxia goes by many names: developmental coordination disorder, motor learning difficulty, motor planning difficulty and apraxia of speech. It can affect the development of gross motor skills like walking or jumping. It can also affect fine motor skills. These include things like the hand movements needed to write clearly and the mouth and tongue movements needed to pronounce words correctly.
Dyspraxia can affect social skills too. Children with dyspraxia may behave immaturely even though they typically have average or above-average intelligence.
Kids don’t outgrow dyspraxia. But occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy and other tools and strategies can help. Kids can learn to work around areas of weakness and build on their strengths.
Different Kinds of Dyspraxia
Dyspraxia can affect different kinds of movement. Professionals you speak to might break it down into these categories:
Radcliffe, who has a mild form of dyspraxia, knows the challenges it can bring. As a child, he had trouble with handwriting and tying his shoelaces. His early school years were very difficult because as he says “I was awful at everything, with no discernible talent.”
In a recent Facebook chat with The Wall Street Journal’s Speakeasy blog, Radcliffe offered encouragement to a 10-year-old girl with dyspraxia.
“Do not let it stop you,” he said. “It has never held me back, and some of the smartest people I know are people who have learning disabilities. The fact that some things are more of a struggle will only make you more determined, harder working and more imaginative in the solutions you find to problems.”
Dyspraxia is not as well-known as other learning and attention issues, such as dyslexia and ADHD. But it’s quite common and often co-occurs with those issues. Between 6 and 10 percent of all children show signs of dyspraxia, with boys being more likely to have it than girls.
So what is dyspraxia?
Dyspraxia isn’t a sign of muscle weakness or of low intelligence. It’s a brain-based condition that makes it hard to plan and coordinate physical movement. Children with dyspraxia tend to struggle with balance and posture. They may appear clumsy, uncoordinated or out of touch with their environment.
Dyspraxia goes by many names: developmental coordination disorder, motor learning difficulty, motor planning difficulty and apraxia of speech. It can affect the development of gross motor skills like walking or jumping. It can also affect fine motor skills. These include things like the hand movements needed to write clearly and the mouth and tongue movements needed to pronounce words correctly.
Dyspraxia can affect social skills too. Children with dyspraxia may behave immaturely even though they typically have average or above-average intelligence.
Kids don’t outgrow dyspraxia. But occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy and other tools and strategies can help. Kids can learn to work around areas of weakness and build on their strengths.
Different Kinds of Dyspraxia
Dyspraxia can affect different kinds of movement. Professionals you speak to might break it down into these categories:
- Ideomotor dyspraxia: Makes it hard to complete single-step motor tasks such as combing hair and waving goodbye.
- Ideational dyspraxia: Makes it more difficult to perform a sequence of movements, like brushing teeth or making a bed.
- Oromotor dyspraxia, also called verbal apraxia or apraxia of speech: Makes it difficult to coordinate muscle movements needed to pronounce words. Kids with dyspraxia may have speech that is slurred and difficult to understand because they’re unable to enunciate.
- Constructional dyspraxia: Makes it harder to understand spatial relationships. Kids with this type of dyspraxia may have difficulty copying geometric drawings or using building blocks.
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