Dyspraxia treatment
Dyspraxia treatment is used to treat the developmental coordination disorder (DCD), which impacts an individual’s ability to plan, sequence, and execute coordinated movements.
It can impact both fine motor and gross motor skills as well as daily life skills such as using eating utensils, buttoning a shirt, writing, jumping, running, or biking.
While dyspraxia is a lifelong condition, there are evidence-based approaches that can improve functional skills, confidence, and participation in daily life.
Summary
- Dyspraxia, also known as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), is a lifelong neurological condition that affects motor planning, coordination, and daily functional skills.
- Occupational therapy and physical therapy are the primary evidence-based dyspraxia treatments, addressing fine motor, gross motor, balance, and functional participation. Download my free fine motor skills for preschoolers worksheet.
- Task-oriented, real-life practice combined with motor planning and sensory integration strategies leads to better skill generalization and confidence.
- Early intervention improves long-term functional outcomes by strengthening foundational motor skills, reducing frustration, and supporting academic and social participation. Therapists can manage and organize activities through an EHR like TheraPlatform.
Streamline your practice with One EHR
- Scheduling
- Flexible notes
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- Billing & payments
- Insurance claims
- Client portal
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What is Dyspraxia (Developmental Coordination Disorder)?
“Dyspraxia is a neurological disorder throughout the brain that results in life-long impaired motor, memory, judgment, processing, and other cognitive skills," according to the Dyspraxia Foundation. “It may impair the normal process of learning; thus is a learning difficulty.”
Although dyspraxia often occurs on its own, it does frequently co-occur with other neurological conditions such as ADHD, dyslexia, or ASD. Some may require minimal support, while others require extensive and ongoing support. Underlying issues in dyspraxia involve motor planning, coordination, and often sensory processing.
Role of occupational therapy and physical therapy in dyspraxia treatment
The most effective dyspraxia treatment options include occupational therapy and physical therapy. They both focus on movement and function and serve complementary and collaborative roles.
Occupational therapy in dyspraxia treatment
Occupational therapists focus on skills for everyday life and function:
- Fine motor coordination: Improving handwriting, legibility, and speed, cutting with scissors, and tying shoes, using zippers, and buttoning clothes.
- Visual motor integration: Coordinating the eyes and hands together.
- Bilateral coordination: Using two sides of the body together effectively.
- Task sequencing and planning: Breaking complex tasks into manageable steps.
Physical Therapy (PT) in dyspraxia treatment
Physical therapists focus more on gross motor skills, balance, and overall body coordination. Treatment goals may include:
- Improving posture and core stability
- Enhancing balance and spatial awareness
- Developing motor planning for physical activities such as running, jumping, and climbing
Oftentimes, OT and PTs work together to create a comprehensive and individualized dyspraxia treatment plan. They assess specific functional goals, select interventions supported by research, and regularly adjust strategies based on progress. Collaborations with families, teachers, and other professionals ensure that progress in therapy is carried over into real-world settings.
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Motor planning and sensory integration techniques
Dyspraxia involves difficulties with motor planning, which is the ability to come up with a plan, organize, and carry out a sequence of unfamiliar actions and sensory processing.
Motor planning strategies
Interventions are aimed at improving a child’s ability to anticipate, plan, and execute movement. Evidence suggests that repeated, task-specific practice helps build neural pathways that support motor skills.
Effective techniques
- Task-specific practice: Practicing real-life tasks in motivating contexts, such as tying shoes, using utensils, and riding a bike, leads to better generalization than isolated drills. Research shows that “task‐oriented interventions use specific activities that are meaningful to the children and provide them with an opportunity to practice these activities to improve corresponding motor skills.”
- Backward chaining: Starting with the last step of a task and working backwards to build mastery.
- Visual cues: Using pictures or diagrams to show the steps of a task can support sequencing and execution.
- Verbal self-guidance: Teaching individuals to talk through a task.
Sensory integration techniques
Research has shown that “children with DCD showed significant impairments in visual integration, tactile integration, proprioceptive integration, auditory integration, vestibular integration, and oral integration processes when compared with typically developing children. Evidence also supported that sensory processing impairments were associated with poor motor coordination in DCD.”
This highlights the importance of addressing sensory needs in dyspraxia treatment:
- Proprioceptive input: Activities such as climbing, pulling, pushing, or carrying weighted objects help the brain understand body position in space.
- Vestibular activities: Balance and movement challenges, such as swinging or balancing to support spatial orientation and equilibrium.
- Tactile play: Exploring different textures and touch experiences to build tolerance and integration.
Home exercises
Fine motor skills
- Play-Doh squishing and shaping
- Beading/stringing
- Cutting along lines with scissors or adaptive scissors
- Playing simple board games requiring manipulation
Handwriting
- Tracing letters or shapes
- Using chalk or sidewalk chalk
- Scribble art or drawing with boundaries
Gross motor skills
- Obstacle courses
- Hopscotch and jumping games
- Ball games to practice catching and throwing
- Balance activities using taped lines on the floor
Adaptive tools and environmental supports
- Pencil grips and thicker writing tools for a better grasp
- Slant boards to improve handwriting posture
- Weighted utensil for improved mealtime stability
- Non-slip mats for cutting and art-based activities
- Visual schedules and lists to support sequencing
- Timers and auditory cues to assist in transitions
Free Resources for Therapists
Click below and help yourself to peer-created resources:
How early intervention supports long-term outcomes
Early intervention plays a powerful role in shaping long-term outcomes for children with dyspraxia. When dyspraxia treatment begins early, it helps prevent skill gaps from widening by strengthening foundational motor skills and abilities before academic and social demands increase.
As children experience success with manageable, targeted tasks, their confidence grows, making them more willing to engage in new and challenging activities. Early support also promotes academic readiness since fine motor skills coordination directly impacts skills like handwriting, cutting, and participating in classroom routines.
When motor difficulties are recognized and addressed early, frustration and related behavioral challenges often decrease, which allows children to feel more supported, understood, and empowered with strategies that truly meet their needs.
In addition, early dyspraxia treatment works best when it extends beyond therapy sessions and becomes a collaborative approach. Families, teachers, and therapists work together to reinforce skills across home, school, and therapy, ensuring consistent, meaningful support that boosts confidence, functional gains, and long-term outcomes.
How EHRs can help with documentation
Modern EHR/practice management platforms (such as TheraPlatform) assist greatly with documentation by providing HIPAA‑compliant, integrated systems for note entry, storage, scheduling, and billing. They allow therapists to:
- Use and customize templates (e.g., SOAP, DAP, and others) or build their own to streamline note writing and ensure consistency.
- Link notes to treatment plans, goals, and session history so client progress is easily tracked over time.
- Utilize e-fax and secure document sharing via client portal to safely exchange information with clients or other providers while maintaining confidentiality.
- Leverage dictation and telehealth transcription, which can automatically convert sessions into therapy or assessment notes, saving time and reducing manual entry.
- Take advantage of AI features that streamline documentation by automatically populating intake form data into assessment templates and generating complete therapy and assessment notes from the information you provide, all with a single click.
Watch this video to learn how to save time on therapy notes
Meanwhile, AI‑assisted note tools are emerging which can further help clinicians by:
- Automatically transcribing session audio (if permitted) and highlighting key moments (e.g. emotional shifts, major themes).
- Suggesting draft notes or filling in objective or assessment sections based on observed data, freeing up clinicians’ time.
- Supporting consistency and reducing missing components in notes, which helps from both clinical, legal, and insurance perspectives.
Together, structured SOAP‑type notes, good EHR platforms, and smart AI tools support better therapeutic outcomes, more efficient workflows, and stronger accountability.
Streamline your practice with One EHR
- Scheduling
- Flexible notes
- Template library
- Billing & payments
- Insurance claims
- Client portal
- Telehealth
- E-fax
Resources for occupational therapists
TheraPlatform is an all-in-one EHR, practice management, and teletherapy software built with AI-powered notes for therapists to help them save time on admin tasks. It offers a 30-day risk-free trial with no credit card required and supports different industries and sizes of practices, including occupational therapists in group and solo practices.
More resources
- Therapy resources and worksheets
- Therapy private practice courses
- Ultimate teletherapy ebook
- The Ultimate Insurance Billing Guide for Therapists
- The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Private Therapy Practice
- Insurance billing 101
- Practice management tools
Free video classes
- Free on-demand insurance billing for therapist course
- Free mini video lessons to enhance your private practice
- 9 Admin tasks to automate in your private practice
References
- Miyahara, M., Hillier, S. L., Pridham, L., & Nakagawa, S. (2014). Task-Oriented Interventions for Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.cd010914
- Tran, H.-T., Li, Y.-C., Lin, H.-Y., Lee, S.-D., & Wang, P.-J. (2022). Sensory Processing Impairments in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder. Children, 9 (10), 1443. https://doi.org/10.3390/children9101443
- What is Dyspraxia Dyspraxia Foundation USA. (2021, December 21). https://dyspraxiausa.org/what-is-dyspraxia/
FAQs about Dyspraxia treatment
Is dyspraxia the same as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)?
Yes. Dyspraxia is commonly used to describe Developmental Coordination Disorder and refers to difficulties with motor planning, coordination, and execution of movement.
Can dyspraxia be cured?
Dyspraxia is a lifelong condition, but evidence-based therapies such as occupational and physical therapy can significantly improve functional skills, independence, and confidence.
What therapies are most effective for dyspraxia?
Occupational therapy and physical therapy are the most effective treatments, especially when interventions are task-specific, individualized, and reinforced at home and school.
