Creative Tutors of Wake County, North Carolina

Developmental Dyspraxia

Developmental Dyspraxia, also called Developmental Co-ordination Disorder and Clumsy Child Syndrome, is an impairment in the brain's ability to motor plan.  People with this impairment have a difficult time planning and implementing both sensory and motor tasks.  Symptoms are varied and Developmental Dyspraxia may co-exist with a variety of learning disabilities such as ADD/ADHD, disabilities with reading, writing, spelling,  grammar and punctuation including dyslexia, speech and language problems, auditory and visual processing disorders, dyscalculia and other math difficulties, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Non-Verbal Learning Disorder, and many more.  As our brains utilize our motor and sensory pathways for learning, it is not surprising that Developmental Dyspraxia, motor planning impairment, is tied to so many learning differences.

Follow up:

Symptoms vary from person to person and not everyone will have every symptom associated with Developmental Dyspraxia. Here is a list of symptoms, which may indicate a child has problems with motor planning:

-May have missed the crawling and rolling over stages as a baby
-Difficulty learning to walk, jump and skip
-Appears clumsy
-Problems with speech, pronouncing sounds/words
-Slow to establish left- or right-handedness
-Has sensory problems with the feel of clothing, textured foods, brushing hair,
light or deep touch, lights, sounds, etc.
-Problems with fine motor activities like holding a pencil, cutting with scissors,
using buttons or zippers, dressing, personal grooming, using feeding utensils,
etc.
-Problems with speech
-Problems in school with reading, writing or math
-Poor coordination and trouble with PE and sports activities
-Vision and perception difficulties
-Problems with short-term memory
-Emotional, behavioral and social skills problems
-Poor posture
-Low self-esteem

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Meet Kim Ashby | Owner

Kim Ashby earned a BS in Nursing from The Catholic University of America and, when she worked outside the home, was a Certified Emergency Nurse with a special interest in trauma nursing. She lives in Raleigh, NC with her husband and three sons. The Ashbys have home schooled their children since 1999. They graduated their oldest son in May 2007. He is attending UNC Wilmington. Kim continues to home school her younger boys. Her oldest son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was in the public school system in the second grade. Her second son has cerebral palsy which has resulted in multiple/global developmental delays. Her youngest son has undiagnosed, mild auditory processing issues.

Kim has co-instructed graduate level courses at UNC Chapel Hill for ST/OT students and Early Intervention students. She is the founder and President of the Board of Directors of GIFTSNC, Inc., a home schooling special needs support group. Kim has presented workshops at a variety of state home school conferences as well as local support group parent meetings and is often a guest speaker at homeschool conferences and is found on many guest speaker lists including Balancing the Sword. She is a Steering Committee member and former Treasurer for Dayspring Home Educators in Cary, NC. She served on the Board of Directors for the Family Support Network of Wake County. She holds a North Carolina Wildlife Permit for Small Mammal Rehabilitation and enjoys working with orphaned and injured wildlife.

"I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." Mark Twain