Coordination and motor skills are essential for any child to learn — but what happens when a specific population of children struggle with these daily functions? Developmental coordination disorder is a condition that makes it more challenging to learn coordination and motor skills. This neurodevelopmental disorder affects approximately 5-6% of children.

While it technically isn’t classified as a learning disability, it certainly affects a child’s learning capabilities. Children diagnosed with DCD (also commonly referred to as dyspraxia) will have the condition for the entirety of their lives, so it’s necessary for children with DCD to learn about their diagnosis and how to navigate life with it.

How Does DCD Affect My Child?

Your child can still live a happy, fulfilled life with dyspraxia! If you feel your child may have this condition, receiving a diagnosis is critical to better understand their needs.

Early symptoms of developmental coordination disorder include delayed crawling, walking, and self-feeding. You may notice that your child shows signs of DCD when they’re older because they’re noticeably clumsy — constantly dropping things, tripping, running into others, and lacking self-awareness when doing activities.

Children with DCD tend to struggle with certain activities in school, like using scissors, writing, and colouring.

How Can I Help My Child With DCD?

If you suspect your child has DCD, it is important to see your paediatrician to confirm the diagnosis. A comprehensive assessment from a paediatric physiotherapist who can assess for DCD would assist the paediatrician in their diagnosis and is highly recommended. Waitlists for paediatricians can be extensive, so consider starting the therapy journey while you wait.

Occupational therapists and paediatric physiotherapists can get a baseline of what your child is struggling with—school activities, coordination, or lack of specific motor skills—and work on a specialised plan incorporating different helpful activities. More specifically, paediatric physiotherapy can help a child develop and strengthen their coordination and balance.

It’s important to note that children with dyspraxia can be as intelligent as other children; they just need a little more assistance when learning to effectively accomplish tasks that don’t come naturally to them.

If you’re looking to give your child with developmental coordination disorder help, please contact us today! We are an allied health clinic in Western Sydney, Australia. If you are out of the area please connect with us for possible telehealth and home program options. We look forward to working with you and your family.

Your child’s milestones are meaningful — from the beginning of their life, to high school graduation, to landing their first job. You’re likely familiar with prevalent milestones like a baby’s first time crawling or even their first steps, but what are the other significant milestones to check when your child is young? And are they important?

We’re a paediatric allied health clinic in Western Sydney, Australia, specialising in helping children live to their fullest potential. Here’s how you can check your child’s developmental milestones at home!

The Most Important Window: Birth to Five Years

While your child’s milestones are undoubtedly significant throughout their entire life, medical professionals are primarily concerned that children meet specific milestones between birth and five years old. These younger years are crucial in laying foundations for cognitive, social, physical, and communicative development.

1. Cognitive Milestones

   Cognitive milestones include the development of your child’s thoughts, learning abilities, and problem-solving skills. You’ll begin to notice cognitive milestones when your child is around two months old. They should start paying attention to faces and recognizing their loved ones. You may notice that your child is curious about the world at around six months old. Curiosity is expected and encouraged!

   Your one-year-old should understand how different objects work, use them correctly, and follow the basic directions you give them. Your child should understand the basic concept of time and the names of everyday items used in the home by the time they turn five.

2. Social Milestones

   Social milestones include your child’s social skills, how they interact with others, and how they show emotion. Most children enjoy engaging with others around three months old — you’ll likely notice that your child begins to smile when playing and cry when playtime is over. They will start to show interest in other infants use of toys around one-year of age.

   Also around the one-year-old marker, your child should begin showing preferences for people and toys, test their parent’s responses, and repeat sounds. Your child should develop an interest in more complex play with other children and cultivating friendships by the time they’re five years old.

3. Physical Milestones

   Physical milestones are perhaps one of the most recognized milestones, including movement and physical development, like your baby’s first steps! While your child likely won’t begin walking until they’re over a year old, they should have strong reflex movements at one-month-old. They should be able to sit up without assistance at six months old.

   Your child should be able to walk by themselves and kick a ball by age two — and run freely by the age of three! You may notice your child having the time of their life using their bodies and playing on the playground at five years old — hopping, swinging, climbing, and skipping all over the place!

4. Communicative Milestones

   Last but certainly not least, communicative milestones involve language and communication skills. While your child won’t communicate with you much when they’re one month old, you should begin noticing that your child hits communicative milestones around three months old. They’ll start being slightly more communicative with their expressions (communicating nonverbally).

   Remember; while your baby isn’t communicating much for their first 3 months, they are listening and learning the foundations for speech!

   While your child likely won’t speak at seven months old, you should begin checking to see if they recognize your voice, respond to their name and you should hear some babbling. Your child should start taking more interest in language around the time they’re one — ‘no’ might even be their favourite word at this stage! Isn’t that fun? You should check to see if they’re beginning to babble, pay attention to your voice, and even try repeating words or sounds.

Feel free to use our resources to check milestones:

Every parent wants their child to be happy and healthy. Developmental milestones are significant because they track your child’s progress compared to other children their age. You can view developmental milestones as a checklist that ensures your child is developing and progressing at a proper rate. Here are some details to consider concerning your child’s developmental milestones:

What Is a Developmental Milestone?

Developmental milestones are physical, social, cognitive, and communicative points that showcase a child’s growth. Children tend to develop specific skills around a particular age — with most skills building upon one another. You’ve likely noticed that your child’s healthcare team asks about milestones to better track and understand their growth.

Most medical professionals and parents begin to check for milestones when an infant is around one month old. You can expect your baby to smile at the sound of your voice when they’re approximately three months old, sit without support at six months old, and walk around eighteen months old.

It can be hard to recognize the various developmental milestones that should be checked while your child interacts and plays if you don’t know what to look for. The Child Mind Institute offers a comprehensive checklist you can follow at home to ensure your little one is on-track.

What if I Believe My Child Hasn’t Hit a Milestone?

It’s necessary to check your child’s developmental milestones to be cognizant if they’re not ‘checking them off the list’ as expected. While these milestones certainly act as guidelines for parents and your child’s healthcare team, knowing that every child has a different journey is important. Please don’t worry if your child is seemingly not hitting a milestone when they’re supposed to!

If this is the case, you can and should speak to your pediatrician, however waitlists can be 3, 6 or even 10 months. A month is a long time in the developmental path of a young child. While you wait, start the process connect with the allied health professional who’s skills match your concerns.

If your child is less than 3 ½ years, book a Bayley screener or assessment. This process checks motor, language, social and emotional development collectively

If your child is over 3 ½ years, book in for a screener or assessment with a paediatric physiotherapist (motor skills), speech pathologist (speech and language skills), occupational therapist (sensory processing, regulation, skill development, feeding, sleeping), or counsellor (social-emotional development, attachment). Other allied health professionals who may help include; chiropractors, optometrists’, behavioural optometrists, psychologists, dieticians, and homeopaths.