I feel like I get asked this at least once a week. The answer is long and complicated, because like other neurological conditions it functions on a spectrum and not everyone who is diagnosed with DCD/Dyspraxia presents in the same way, though there are some common attributes. But, of course, as soon as you launch into this long-winded explanation people begin tuning out; my husband is always imploring me to find simpler ways to explain things.
The most basic way I’ve found to describe DCD is: in people with developmental coordination disorder, the brain sends faulty signals to the body. It affects gross and fine motor control, and has a host of other potential co-morbidities (including ADHD, Dyslexia, etc.). DCD figures into learning and how one learns, but not intelligence.
I will go into some of these areas in greater detail in future posts, but really, the only story I am able to tell you here is my daughter’s – and she’s going to help me do that. (She loves video cameras more than anyone I know, and is a consummate ham.)
Wednesday is four years and two months old, and just this week she hit a new milestone: walking down stairs without holding onto a railing. To celebrate this milestone and to help illustrate what DCD is and how it affects our lives, we’ve made a short video of Wednesday tackling the front steps of our house.
In July 2018, our daughter was diagnosed with Developmental Coordination Disorder (a.k.a. Dyspraxia). As I scoured the internet looking for as much information as I could find, I discovered that not many people even know what DCD is. In the last three months I’ve had to become both an expert and an advocate. I’ve started this blog to tell the story of our journey and hopefully raise awareness about this condition that affects some 5% of the populace.