Beating Dyspraxia with a Hop, Skip and a Jump

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Don’t turn away from this review just because of the word “dyspraxia.” First, what is dyspraxia? Geoff Platt, author of Beating Dyspraxia With a Hop, Skip and a Jump: A Simple Exercise Program for Home and School lists some of the primary problems of dyspraxia to include low muscle tone; easily fatigued muscles; poor coordination, balance, and attention; and hyperactivity. Some of the secondary problems include lack of confidence and self-esteem; avoidance and frustration; and unhappiness and loneliness. So, do I have your attention? Some of these problems might seem more relevant to your child than the word dyspraxia.

Platt states that the term dyspraxia is more widely used in the United Kingdom, while here in the Unites States we sometimes use the term developmental co-ordination disorder. Whatever you want to call it, if you can relate some of the primary and secondary problems listed above to your child, then this may be the book for you.

Part 1

This book is divided into two main parts. The first part introduces dyspraxia, looks at its causes, and addresses the importance of exercise. As adults, we know that exercise is critical for our health and well-being. But Pratt explains that:

For children, exercise is a developmental activity, essential to their physical, physiological, psychological, social and emotional growth. Playing increases their strength and fitness, encourages their hearts and lungs to develop, allows them to build self-image and self-confidence, learn to mix with their peers and deal with success and failure.” (p. 60)

Before leading into his exercise program, Platt presents a chapter on human movement and muscles. He presents diagrams showing the human bones and the muscles, and discusses joints,  muscle tissues, and how muscles work. He then talks about motor control and the nervous system. Platt completes the chapter by presenting things that can affect muscle control, such as epilepsy and cerebral palsy.

Part 2

The second part of the book is devoted to the exercise program. Pratt spends the first chapter in this part explaining why a form of play termed “feral play” works. Feral play is defined as the combination of “features of physical education with the principles of unsupervised play.” (p. 100)  In summary:

Feral play is physical, competitive activity. No breaks are taken for refreshment, drinks, toilet or even injury. It requires, and develops great strength, endurance, fitness, coordination, movement skills and self-confidence. ” (p. 101)

Feral play basically refers to how children played a couple of generations ago. This was when children sought out their friends and did not return home until it was dinner. This chapter ends with a description of resistance training, its history, and the necessary rules to increase strength.

The exercise program is presented next and is based on feral play, i.e., how children would play if left unchaperoned and allowed to play with their friends on their terms. The exercises that are presented are aimed to “eliminate exceptional weakness and ensure that children with dyspraxia are no weaker than their average classmates.” (p. 107) The exercises have been designed to use only minimal equipment that is easy to acquire.

Seven different very basic exercises are shown in a sequence of pictures with a brief description. Two sessions are outlined and the frequency, duration, and intensity of a session are discussed. The last two chapters look at the role of the teacher and the parent during the exercise program and then describes two children who participated in the program.

Conclusion

Based on the book’s cover and the description on the back, I was expecting the focus of the book to be an exercise program that parents could implement at home. Although a program was presented and it can be completed at home, the chapter explaining the program was composed of only nine out of the book’s total 139 pages.

So to put this in perspective, the book can be valuable, but know what you are getting. Pratt presents a lot of information on dyspraxia and has a detailed chart listing eleven professionals who can evaluate children for it and the types of services they provide. When you are done with this book you will have a better understanding of how the body works and why exercise is important.

Note:  Jessica Kingsley Publishers provided me with a complimentary uncorrected galley copy of this book in exchange for being featured on Help! S-O-S for Parents.  The opinions expressed in this post are mine and have not been influenced in any way.