Autism, Dyspraxia, or Both? (Developmental Coordination Disorder)

There's been some interest in whether the motor deficits commonly seen in autism are due to dyspraxia co-morbidity or whether autism has its own specific motor deficits. We'll be looking into developmental coordination disorder, which is the actual DSM-5 diagnosis for what many simply call "dyspraxia" and its relation with autism. We will go into apraxia or developmental dyspraxia in a different video.

References/Further Reading:

[criticalmaz]

I've always been quite clumsy and uncoordinated, but then in my twenties a funny thing started to happen: I was so used to knocking things over that I developed quick enough reflexes to catch them again before they hit the ground. I mean, it's not 100% but it's resulted in a few Spider-Man moments.

[thecrookedtrail]

I'm ASD with Level 3 movement disorder and really appreciate you covering this topic 🙏🏼

[Koda_Grey]

My situation is so complicated due to the fact that I’m a blind autistic. I struggle a lot with both fine motor and gross motor skills. It’s just been extremely hard for doctors to assess what is it’s own condition or what is correlation to my pre existing conditions.

[JAMESGREGORYKULP]

Hey Stephanie don't feel bad. I bump into things like doorways. And I bump into things in stores. I have a hard time with telling how far I am from an object. I even somehow manage to trip over my own feet.

[TentoesMe]

ASD guy here. Rather clumsy. The only motions I make quickly are stimms! I got to be in gymnastics and trampoline as a kid, and I LOVED the feeling of throwing my body around and making my motions fluid and graceful. After the dismount, I'd trip over my own feet.

[belindaslatter]

Very interesting to learn about dyspraxia and autism as I'm an autistic athlete. I've also got a comorbidity of intellectual disability so that definitely affects the way I learn to move my body like sometimes I could watch someone do it then I try it I completely screwed up just like what you said but for me I'm more of a kinesthetic learner comes to being an athlete and video footage of myself helps.

[shmeleu]

For those who are not afraid to be touched, it helped me if they controlled me like a doll and moved me instead of me a couple of times, then I finally understood how to make a movement.

[pathighminded]

I grew up with this. I'm 36 now. Mine was shown mostly as a speech impediment. Great video, very informative TY

[Misshowzat]

I'll have to watch the video later but just wanted to say Happy Christmas Eve and many Christmas blessings. Thank you for hosting open dialogue & informing us about things in the community. I've learned a lot this year, including two different ways to watch Detective Conan.

[musicmama]

My son was diagnosed with dyspraxia when he went to an OT for SPD evaluation. He wasn't terribly late in achieving milestones, and not clumsy or overly uncoordinated. However, he has always been a person who prefers to be sedentary instead of being active. As he's gotten older, we discovered dyslexia and profound dysgraphia. I feel like his motor planning deficit isn't fine motor or gross motor, it's actually dividing real-life tasks into individual steps. It's also having a thought, and getting that thought to paper (or typed). I wonder if that's part of dyspraxia too?

[margaritacastillo]

Thank you again for making complex academics entertaining! The wrist movement story had me lol-ing! I think the greatest asset in anyone the ability to not take yourself too seriously. It sounds like you work pretty hard at learning your environment which allows you to come around this sooner then later. You are a great inspiration to your audience that our quirks don’t define us and are just a moment in time. I think your awesome and look forward to your videos several time a week!! Thank you Stephanie

[kaishawna]

I would love to see a video about apraxia because it's common with non speakers. I'm not sure if apraxia is temporary or a permanent thing. I know there are non speakers who have apraxia.

[carolinelabbott]

A very good video. Helpful for me to understand better, folks with Dyspraxia.
Very clear spoken with your life experience with the golf. The research is interesting too.

[Saturndecat]

Ive spent my entire life with difficulty in motor function and balance. But ive never had any help or anything. This video helped me realise what's what.

[aleisterlilywhite]

Oh my god, the first time I tried kick boxing I cried because I couldn’t get my body to do what my brain was telling it to do. I had to stay after and practice moving my feet, arms, and torso all in the same way everyone else could do it so easily. Also, high school marching band. No. Just no.

This was all before I knew dyspraxia was a thing. Now I’m much kinder to myself instead of how I used to beat myself up.

[katielangsner]

Huh. I knew I had visual processing (and some auditory) issues and difficulty imitating what someone else did just by watching what they do, and I've noticed that high sensory intake can slow down motor processing. But, I also have spatial processing issues, slower neuromuscular feedback and difficulty adapting motor movements (I was diagnosed with cerebral palsy when I was 5 and autism this past December). I have learned to anticipate the need to adapt motions rather than try to change in the moment, and when I don't anticipate I pay the price.

[tudormiller]

Hi Stephanie! I've recently been diagnosed with ADHD, but I've always felt i was Dyspraxic and Autistic, because of the symptoms I've experienced growing up and still as an adult. I love your channel watching from London UK 🇬🇧

[jahbrianawilliams]

Throughout my teen years, I would always bump into things especially when I turned a corner, it’s less frequent in my adulthood because I specially pay attention when I turn a corner. And when walking, It’s almost always unnatural, I have to consciously pay attention to my body to walk correctly.

[EmiFromMars]

I was diagnosed with dyspraxia age 7. Im 35 now and last week was told by dr its extremely likely im autistic too..been a bit of a mind f to say the least so this video was SO useful to me, thank you so much

[cheyennepetersen]

I did dance in high school and college and I love it but it was hard to make auditions to get into higher levels because I had the same issue of trying to mimic people, even when we had mirrors and I didn't have to mentally flip anything. So I'm curious about dyspraxia because like I did dance, I wasn't bad, but I could never go anywhere with it like some of the other girls