Support motor skills
Support ākonga to develop fine and gross motor skills.
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Develop coordination skills
Develop coordination skills
Professor Amanda Kirby talks about the importance of regular practice and a focus on essential or interesting skills.
Where possible integrate skills activities into classroom routines.
No captions or transcript
Develop motor skills
Develop motor skills
- Focus on essential tasks or skills the student is interested in.
- Break a task down into small steps.
- Support the steps with visuals.
- Teach and practise the steps regularly to build into a movement sequence.
- Provide multiple options to develop essential skills. For example, use small play items to develop fine motor skills for writing.
- Provide alternative means of completing tasks. For example, Velcro™ shoes while learning to tie shoelaces or as an alternative.
Improve balance
Improve balance
Increase opportunities for indoor and outdoor physical activities throughout the school day.
![5995 [IMG-students-on-bars-in-playground-wide-shot.jpg]](https://inclusive-live-storagestack-assetstorages3bucket-3uty0hejzw6u.s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/public/inclusive-education/example-images/IMG-students-on-bars-in-playground-wide-shot__ScaleMaxWidthWzEwODZd.jpg)
Source: Ministry of Education | Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga
Understand how dyspraxia affects handwriting
Understand how dyspraxia affects handwriting
Avoid asking students to copy from the board.
Provide lined paper and easy-to-grip pencils.
Encourage the student to use a tablet to take a photo of handwriting to access at their table.
Closed Captions
Provide support and alternatives for handwriting
Provide support and alternatives for handwriting
Examples of handwriting supports
- pen types, sizes, shapes, lengths and colours
- pen and pencil grips
- surface types, such as paper, whiteboards, laminated sheets
- lined paper to guide alignment
- furniture, such as an angled board, adjustable height tables, chairs for optimal positioning
- support for spacing between letters and words, for example using finger spaces.
Examples of alternatives for handwriting
- keyboards
- onscreen keyboards, such as an iPad keyboard
- voice typing.
Useful resources
Useful resources
Handwriting and dyspraxia
Strategies and tips to support students with dyspraxia.
Publisher: Dyspraxia Foundation
Download PDF
To write or to type – that is the question!
This article discusses how children with dyspraxia or other developmental coordination disorders may benefit from using a computer to write.
Publisher: CanChild, McMaster University
Children with coordination difficulties: a flyer for physical educators
This flyer explains how physical educators can assist children with coordination disorders to perform at school.
Publisher: CanChild, McMaster University
Next steps
More suggestions for implementing the strategy “Key areas to support”:
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Current page Support motor skills
Return to the guide “Dyspraxia and learning”
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How to use this site
Guide to Index of the guide: Dyspraxia and learning
Understand:
Strategies for action:
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Identify needs and how to provide supportShow suggestions for Identify needs and how to provide support
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Key areas to supportShow suggestions for Key areas to support
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Helpful classroom strategies years 1-8Show suggestions for Helpful classroom strategies years 1-8
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Helpful classroom strategies year 9-13Show suggestions for Helpful classroom strategies year 9-13
