ABSTRACT
This chapter describes the teacher awareness of dyspraxia, developmental co-ordination disorder (DCD) and dysgraphia is crucial. DCD is diagnosed in children who, for no known medical reason, fail to acquire adequate motor skills. A child with dyspraxia has specific difficulties in learning new movement patterns, yet learning handwriting involves the development of many new movement patterns. Many researchers have acknowledged the importance of fine motor development and have included fine motor skills as a component in studies and assessments focused on school readiness and scholastic adjustment. Fine motor skills are an important foundational skill and can positively impact a student's progress in school. The Manchester Motor Skills Programme (MMSP) has been developed in response to a lack of assessment tools and intervention programmes for use in schools. The assessment of motor behaviour is an important and integral part of the intervention process and the nature of the initial assessment can influence the form that an intervention takes.
