Developmental Dyspraxia is neurobiological disorder which occurs more commonly in boys than girls (4:1). The disorder has been described as Developmental Motor Coordination Disorder, Minimal Brain disorder or dysfunction.
Developmental Dyspraxia is characterized by the inability to identify, plan, execute motor movements on demand without a known sensory deficit. These same movements can be evident spontaneously which often appears that ” the children are stubborn or willful when asked to produce an action or word or even a sound.” Children may appear clumsy, or disorganized when the actual problem is planning deficit or the inability to produce organized, well executed movements on demand and rapidly.
Motor planning deficiencies may occur in speech domain and this results in significant speech delay with inconsistent distortions, misarticulations and omissions of sounds. This is called Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) and is often accompanied with developmental dyspraxia.
Children with X and Y disorders have an increased risk for developmental dyspraxia and Childhood Apraxia of Speech (www.apraxia-kids.com). Every child, who has been diagnosed with developmental dyspraxia, should be considered for chromosomal analysis so that X and Y chromosomal disorders can be ruled out.