A new, free resource launches to help children with dyspraxia learn everyday tasks

Children with dyspraxia who find everyday tasks challenging can now learn them using a new video library containing movement demonstrations performed by other children.

Watch Me Do It, is a resource created by researchers at Manchester Metropolitan University. They found that children with dyspraxia (or developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD) can learn everyday movement skills successfully by watching videos of other children doing them from a first-person viewpoint.

Dyspraxia/DCD, which affects around 5 to 6% of children, causes difficulties with movement co-ordination and can make tasks which need fine motor skills, such as tying shoelaces and opening packets, extremely challenging.

Watch Me Do It hosts videos for 27 everyday movement tasks, including shoelace tying, opening food packaging, such as bag of crisps and a packet of ham, using cutlery and putting toothpaste on a toothbrush. Crucially, all videos have been recorded from a point-of-view, or first-person perspective, using head-mounted cameras. This makes the actions easier to copy because the children observing the videos see and feel the movements from the same viewpoint as when they perform the tasks themselves.

The tasks demonstrated, were chosen after speaking to and surveying children with dyspraxia and their parents, as well as therapists, teachers, and researchers who work with them to find out which everyday movements they want to learn.

Children with dyspraxia/DCD and their families can sometimes have to wait several months or even years to obtain a diagnosis and gain access to formal support. This video library can be used freely by children and families to access research-led support to improve movement skills while awaiting a diagnosis or once a diagnosis has been obtained.

Lead researcher, Dr David Wright, a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Manchester Met, said: “These videos can provide children with confirmed or suspected dyspraxia, and their families, with free access to research-led support resources to help them improve their movement skills, gain confidence, and ensure they don’t fall behind their peers while waiting for a diagnosis. They can also be used by those who have received a dyspraxia diagnosis as part of, or in addition to, their therapist prescribed support. 

“Although Watch Me Do It is aimed at helping children with dyspraxia/DCD, the website contains video demonstrations for various everyday movement tasks that all children need to learn. The website could, therefore, also help children who don’t have movement coordination difficulties, or those who struggle with fine motor control tasks for other reasons. The first-person viewpoint shown in the videos can make it easier to copy the actions compared to when demonstrations are provided by someone opposite or positioned to the side.”

The researchers initially created videos of four different everyday tasks being carried out successfully by another child. All were filmed from a first-person viewpoint. While watching the videos, the participants in the study were encouraged to imagine that they were watching themselves perform the movements that they observed and imagine the feelings of making the movements.

Twenty-eight children with dyspraxia/DCD, aged 7-12, took part in the original study. The team found that children with DCD who had previously struggled with the tasks, showed significant improvements after practising with the videos, led by their parents, four times a week over a four-week period. The findings of the research were published in the journal  PLOS ONE in 2023.

A free, online launch event on 30 September, showcasing the videos and accompanying website, is available for people with dyspraxia/DCD and family members, as well as professionals, practitioners and families. Anyone interested is invited to pre-register for the event here.

There will be opportunities to hear feedback from people who have used the website already, as well as a Q&A with the team.

Both the research and the website were funded by The Waterloo Foundation.