Dyspraxia (Developmental Coordination Disorder): Understanding Students’ Requirements

Students with a Specific Learning Difficulty (SpLD), such as dyslexia and/or dyspraxia (Developmental Coordination Disorder; DCD), are more likely to leave Higher Education without completing their course and with poorer grades than their typically developing peers (Sumner et al., 2021). In comparison to students with dyslexia, very little is known about how confident students with dyspraxia are with their study capabilities, nor about their academic experiences (Sumner et al., 2021). Kirby et al. (2008) suggest that students with dyspraxia report higher levels of difficulty than those with dyslexia. 

Kirby et al. (2008) found that, despite differences in the strengths and weakness reported by students with dyspraxia and those with dyslexia, the support provided was similar for both groups and not dependent on their diagnosis. There is a dearth of research into the appropriate support provision for students with dyspraxia in higher education. 

This project is gathering data, using surveys, interviews and focus groups, from undergraduate students with dyspraxia (DCD) in order to gain a student voice in understanding how dyspraxia affects students at the Open University. We will use this to embed knowledge of the needs and experiences of students with dyspraxia into Open University practices. We aim to provide guidance to tutors and student support teams to inform them of the specific support requirements of students with dyspraxia. We also plan to produce guidance for module teams to embed knowledge of the requirements of students with dyspraxia into module design, tuition delivery and assessment.