Dyspraxia: Coping At School As A 'Clumsy Child'

Dyspraxia: Coping At School As A 'Clumsy Child'
India Carmody

Most children dread the start of a new school term, but for children with dyspraxia, the return to the classroom can provoke overwhelming levels of fear and anxiety.

For India Carmody, 15, from Hertfordshire, the stress of trying to cope at school with undiagnosed dyspraxia caused her to suffer from severe migraines.

India's mum Lucy, 46, explains: "It's not the lessons that India struggles with, it's the organisation. It's getting to her lessons with the right books, at the right time, in the right room and trying to remember the teacher's name.

"The things that you and I take for granted can send her into a tailspin.

"India also suffers from stress-related chronic migraines and the effects are cumulative. She'd have two days off with a migraine because she'd been so stressed, and then she'd realise that she now had no idea what was going on in school, which is obviously stressful. It snowballed. Her attendance record last term was about 25 of parents and carers of teenagers with dyspraxia said their child feels anxious due to issues such as being late for lessons, forgetting appointments, losing books or equipment and poor presentation of their written work.

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