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Dyspraxia - What's That?
Over the past few years we have all become familiar with the term
Dyslexia but increasingly of late a new term "Dyspraxia" has cropped
up and more and more children would appear to suffer from it. The
word "Dyspraxia" is derived from two sources: Dys comes from the
Latin and has come to mean a difficulty with something and praxis
from the Greek means action or activity. It is therefore a disorder
of movement involving impairment of the ability to carry out a motor
activity in the absence of paralysis or impairment of the primary
motor pathways (nerves) controlling movement.
Dyspraxia, sometimes in the past called the "clumsy child syndrome"
is an umbrella term used to describe children who share similar
symptoms but whose aetiology (cause) is variable.
To read case studies detailing dyspraxia click
here
Researchers into the causes of these worrying conditions have established
a significant genetic link. If there is a history of Dyslexia or
Dyspraxia on the mothers' side of the family there is a c. 37% chance
that the disorder will be passed on. However, if it is on the fathers
side of the family the likelihood rises to 60% plus. Not all children
with Dyspraxia come with a parental history and other factors have
been implicated ranging from maternal stress during pregnancy, birth
trauma and developmental delay.
Another interesting and vital point to consider is that of what
is called co-morbidity. It has been found that a child primarily
diagnosed as suffering from say Dyspraxia may also demonstrate aspects
of Dyslexia, Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit Hyperactive
Disorder, Obsessional Compulsive Disorder and later Tourette's Syndrome.
So the condition would seem to be inter-related and have a common
underlying mechanism of symptom production.
Recently neuroscientists have discovered that the human body has
natural timing devices or systems. Everything the human brain does
requires very precise natural timing and this unconscious capability
is critical to our brains ability to plan and sequence thoughts
and actions and connect them to their consequences. Thus, natural
timing generated in the brainstem and thalamus of the brain is an
important foundation of our ability to attend, learn, process information
and physically execute actions. Both the cerebellum (back of the
brain) and the prefrontal lobes (very front of the brain) rely upon
this natural, spontaneously generated pulsation to make sense of
both incoming sensory information and to generate appropriate motor
responses. It literally puts us in step with the rest of the world,
blending our inner self with our environment.
Can this system that literally turns the motor system on and off
thus forming the foundation to this essential timing be assessed
and if defective treated? The answer is yes. New computer assisted
technology can assess the functioning of the timing devices, compare
left and right and then if appropriate generate a treatment regime
to reinstate the natural rhythm.
Other computer generated tests can compare the brains processing
speeds, again left v right and double check that the treatment has
achieved its goal.
As our knowledge of how the brain functions increases with the
development of more sophisticated research methods and technologies,
so our understanding of its disorders underpins our treatment rationales.
So how can we help? Click
here
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