Dyspraxia in Primary Schools 
The Dyspraxic child may have displayed many of the symptoms listed below and some will have been evident before the age of 3.
- Irritability at birth
- Poor feeding
- Poor sleeping
- Engages in high levels of motor activity, constantly waving arms and legs
- Slow to achieve milestones such as sitting (often after the age of 8 months), crawling (some never crawl), walking, hopping, jumping, walking up and down stairs
- Constantly tripping and falling over
- Limited ability to concentrate on specific tasks and is easily distracted
- Unaware of external dangers e.g. jumping from a high wall or from the top of a climbing frame, walking towards a busy road
- Often frightened and will not climb on apparatus
- Delayed acquisition of language
- A classroom observation will enable the teacher to determine whether there are certain activities which the child finds difficulty or avoids. Areas which present particular difficulties to the child are:
- Development of perceptual skills (finds form boards, shape sorters and constructional toys difficult to assemble)
- Laterality remains unestablished so the child will use the right hand to complete tasks on the right side of the body and the left hand to complete tasks on the left side
- Games lessons/music and movement classes are often difficult. The child has difficulty with ball skills and other eye hand and eye foot co-ordination activities
- Listening skills may be poor and the child may not respond to sequential commands
- Immature social skills
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