Dyspraxia and apraxia sound alike and are often confused. Both involve planning and carrying out movements, and both are frequently brushed off as clumsiness or unclear speech. They are different, though, and understanding the difference helps people get the right support at school, at work and in healthcare.
What is dyspraxia?
Dyspraxia, also known as developmental coordination disorder (DCD), is a lifelong difference in how the brain coordinates movement. The NHS describes it as present from birth. It can affect fine motor skills, such as handwriting, typing or tying laces, and gross motor skills, such as balance, driving or sport.
Dyspraxia isn’t only about movement. Many dyspraxic people also describe differences in organising and planning, learning new skills, remembering information and handling busy social situations. It often runs in families, and it commonly co-occurs with ADHD, dyslexia or autism.
Plenty of dyspraxic adults develop creative ways of getting things done in a world that wasn’t designed with them in mind. Our lived experience piece on dyspraxia at work shares some of them.
What is apraxia?
Apraxia is a difficulty planning and carrying out purposeful movements, even though the person knows what they want to do and has the physical strength to do it. There are two quite different situations to know about.
Acquired apraxia
Acquired apraxia happens after damage to the brain, most often from a stroke, head injury, tumour or neurological illness. It usually affects adults who could previously do the movement without difficulty. Apraxia of speech is one form, where the person knows what they want to say but finds it hard to coordinate the mouth movements to say it. According to the US National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, some people recover speech on their own and others need speech and language therapy.
Childhood apraxia of speech
Childhood apraxia of speech, sometimes called verbal dyspraxia in the UK, is present from birth. It affects the planning of the precise movements needed for clear, consistent speech. It is different from a simple speech delay, and children usually need regular speech and language therapy. Its causes are not fully understood, although it often appears in families with a history of communication differences.
Where dyspraxia and apraxia overlap
The link is motor planning: working out and sequencing the movements needed to do something. Both involve a gap between knowing what you want to do and the body doing it smoothly.
The overlap is clearest with speech. Some dyspraxic people have speech that is affected by the same planning differences, which is why the term verbal dyspraxia exists. And the NHS notes that dyspraxia-like difficulties can also result from a stroke or head injury, which is where acquired apraxia comes in.
The key differences
The simplest way to tell them apart is timing and cause:
- dyspraxia is developmental and lifelong, present from birth, and affects coordination and often organisation more broadly
- acquired apraxia follows damage to the brain and affects movements a person could previously do
- childhood apraxia of speech is developmental but specific to the movements needed for speech
A person can be dyspraxic and also have speech differences, so the labels are not always neat. A proper assessment from an occupational therapist, speech and language therapist or specialist is the best route to clarity. If you think you might be dyspraxic, our guide on how dyspraxia is diagnosed explains the process, and I think I’m dyspraxic in my late 20s covers what to do next as an adult.
Everyday life and work
The biggest barriers usually come from environments and assumptions. Dyspraxic people are often labelled clumsy, lazy or disorganised, when their brains are simply processing movement and planning differently. People with apraxia of speech can be misjudged because of how they speak, even when they know exactly what they want to say.
At work, fast paced environments, handwritten forms, crowded spaces and meetings that reward quick verbal answers can all create friction. Simple changes make a real difference:
- written instructions and agendas shared in advance
- speech to text and text to speech software, keyboard shortcuts and adapted equipment
- a quieter, uncluttered workspace
- extra time for tasks that rely on fine motor skills or spoken presentations
- other ways to contribute in meetings, such as chat or written follow ups
These are typical reasonable adjustments, and in the UK the Access to Work scheme can help pay for equipment and support. If you are thinking about raising your needs with your employer, read how to talk to your employer about being neurodivergent.
Moving past the stigma
Dyspraxia and apraxia are not about effort or intelligence. They are differences in how the brain plans movement and speech. When schools, workplaces and services understand that, people can show what they are capable of. Our wider guide to neurodiversity in the workplace explains how employers can build that understanding.
How Enna can help
If you are dyspraxic and looking for an employer that will work with you rather than against you, browse the Enna jobs board and set up job alerts for roles that suit you.
Employers who want to support dyspraxic staff well can book a workplace needs assessment to pinpoint the right tools and adjustments, or train managers through reasonable adjustments: putting it into practice.
