Dyspraxia Training

This training was undertaken during the Professional Practice phase 1A. The whole teaching staff of Baines Endowed primary school attended this session to further their knowledge about Dyspraxia. The Edge Hill trainees were given the opportunity to attend and I believe any training opportunities should be taken as it is a chance for us to understand more about the role of a teacher and the knowledge can only help us in the future.

Other reason include-

• Help possible undiagnosed children with dyspraxia and recognise the signs and symptoms

• To better our understanding of how their brain works differently

The definition of Dyspraxia is someone who is impaired with the organisation of movement.

Personal impact-

I personally have valued the training because I had no previous knowledge of Dyspraxia nor understood what it meant and how a child diagnosed with this is different to a child without. This knowledge will have a great impact on my teaching career as it will influence my decisions on the layout of my classroom, the seating plan and how to prevent a sensory overload for the children.

Top tips-

• Less is best, break everything down into smaller steps

• Core skills must be developed in order for the children to progress in their handwriting

• Always warm up the fingers before writing

• Mind mapping and colour is really useful

• Children often respond to a weight on their body to increase their spacial awareness

• Never demonstrate and talk at the same time

• Children with Dyspraxia can't cope with light touches

• Most don't understand body language, no inference

Children with Dyspraxia are often very intelligent but don't like to cross the middle line, they will move the page rather than use their hand to draw on the other side of paper. They can also randomly fall off their chair for no apparent reason.

Helpline- Movementmatters.org.uk

Impact in school-

1 to 3 children in a class could have Dyspraxia tendencies. This fact suggests that there are more children in school that could be suffering due to uneducated teachers that haven't received training. 1 to 4 girls to boys, boys experience explosive frustration that can be seen and labelled as bad behaviour and this is masked as a coping strategy. On the other hand girls are diagnosed less commonly but they seem to have a worse case of Dyspraxia. The expert stated that the quicker it is found the better as the window of opportunity is between the young ages of 5 and 7. 15 minutes worth of exercise each morning will help children with Dyspraxia. Physical education exercises the brain and nerves whilst developing core muscles. It is crucial that Early Years teachers are trained as they will recognise the symptoms first, usually a child will have a delay in their development and will be slightly behind with their targets and goals. The easiest way to diagnose a child is through observation and a screen test.

#TS2 #TS8 #PartTwo #TS5