I thought that I would use the next several Thursday Thirteens to tell you about various neurological and mental disorders that I have encountered over the past several years as a teacher as well as some that my own son has been diagnosed with. I hope you will join me and learn a little about each of these disorders and the impact it has on our children, our families and our society and world.

Thirteen Things about Motor Coordination Disorder My son has been diagnosed as having Motor Coordination Disorder. 1. Motor Coordination disorder has been around for many years. It has gone by many names, with the most common being Dyspraxia and Clumsy Child Syndrome. 2. It is a neurological disorder that is characterized by an impairment or immaturity in the organization of movement. In other words it is a motor planning disorder. 3. It can take many forms and it is estimated that up to 10 percent of the population may have one form or another. 4. It is a life long disorder that can affect all areas of a person's development. 5. A child with Motor Coordination disorder can have difficulties in three different ways: forming an idea for using movement in a certain planned way; planning the movement; and executing the movement. The child can have problems with one or all of these ways. 6. Motor Coordination Disorder can affect one or all areas of development: Not only physical, but also emotional, linguistic, social skills and sensory. 7. A child may have poor balance and coordination, they may be clumsy and have poor posture. 8. The child may have problems with speech, language, reading and writing. 9. The child may have problems with perception such as poor understanding of the messages that their senses convey and difficulty in relating those message to actions and planning and organizing their thoughts. 10. For a child to be diagnosed with Motor Coordination Disorder, three criterion must be meet: Motor preformance that falls substantially below the expected level for age and intelligence; motor preformance that interferes with academic achievement or activities of daily living; no known general medical cause such as cerebral palsy, and does not meet the criteria for prevasive developmental disorder (PDD). 11. Children with Motor Coordination Disorder have normal intelligence for their age but may have difficulty in both processing information and communicating what they know or understand. 12. A child with Motor Coordination Disorder is late in reaching milestones, may not be able to run, hop, jump as their peers do, they may have poor pencil grip, are slow and hesitant in most actions and often are anxious and easily distracted. 13. Physical Education teachers, Occupational Therapists, speech and language therapists as well as general education teachers play an important role in helping the child. Information for the above list came from the following resources: "Dyspraxia" by G. Brookes (2005); "Developmental Coordination Disorder: Issues, Identification, and Intervention" by J.E. Clark, et. all; The Dyspraxia Foundation Website; and NINDS Developmental Dyspraxia Information Page Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Laura 2. Pass the Torch 3. You're next!

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