Dyspraxia (DCD) and ADHD

If you or your child trips over nothing, struggles with handwriting, or finds everyday tasks like getting dressed take twice as long as they should, you may be dealing with dyspraxia, ADHD, or both.

A structured ADHD assessment can help clarify what is driving the difficulties.
Get clarity now:

ADHD Assessment

Our clinicians offer flexible assessment options to suit your schedule and preferences.

Dyspraxia (DCD) and ADHD

If you or your child trips over nothing, struggles with handwriting, or finds everyday tasks like getting dressed take twice as long as they should, you may be dealing with dyspraxia, ADHD, or both.

A structured ADHD assessment can help clarify what is driving the difficulties.
Get clarity now:

ADHD Assessment

Our clinicians offer flexible assessment options to suit your schedule and preferences.

Is There a Link Between Dyspraxia and ADHD?

Dyspraxia, also known as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), and ADHD are separate neurodevelopmental conditions, but they are among the most commonly co-occurring pair in childhood. Both begin in childhood, affect how the brain processes and organises information, and can make everyday tasks feel disproportionately hard. It is important to note that 50% of people with dyspraxia also meet the criteria for ADHD¹.

Where ADHD affects attention, impulse control, and activity levels, dyspraxia specifically impacts motor planning and coordination. Despite this distinction, their outward signs frequently overlap. A child who is disorganised, slow to complete tasks, or struggles in PE may have one condition, the other, or both at the same time.

Types of Specific Learning Disorders That Co-Occur With ADHD

The DSM-5 groups specific learning disorders into three domains. Each has its own presentation and its own relationship with ADHD. This page covers the full picture, with Dyslexia briefly signposted here as it has a dedicated page.

Dyslexia and ADHD

The most common SLD. Affects reading accuracy, fluency, and spelling.

Between 25–40% of people with ADHD also have dyslexia.

Both conditions impair working memory and processing speed, which is why they are so frequently found together.

Dyscalculia and ADHD

A specific difficulty with number sense, arithmetic, and mathematical reasoning; not explained by low intelligence or poor teaching.

Significantly more common in children with ADHD than in the general population.

Dysgraphia and ADHD

A specific difficulty with the physical act of writing and with translating thoughts into written language.

Closely connected to ADHD because both conditions impair the fine motor control, working memory, and executive planning that writing requires.

Dyspraxia and ADHD Symptoms

Symptoms vary by age and environment. While dyspraxia centres on how the brain plans and executes movement, ADHD affects attention, activity, and impulse control more broadly.

Note: Every person’s experience of dyspraxia and ADHD is different. The patterns below are meant to help you recognise and name what you or your child may be going through, not to replace a professional assessment.

What Are Common Dyspraxia Symptoms?

Dyspraxia affects both fine motor skills (small, precise movements) and gross motor skills (larger whole-body movements), as well as organisation and planning in daily life.

In children:

Appearing unusually clumsy, bumping into objects or people often.
Difficulty with handwriting, drawing, or using scissors.
Struggles with getting dressed, fastening buttons, or tying shoelaces.
Avoiding physical games or sports due to coordination difficulties.
Taking much longer than peers to complete physical tasks.
Difficulty with sequencing tasks, such as following multi-step instructions.

In adults:

Persistent difficulties with tasks requiring manual precision, such as driving or typing.
Poor sense of direction and difficulty navigating unfamiliar spaces.
Feeling physically awkward or uncoordinated in social or sporting situations.
Struggles with organisation, planning, and managing time effectively.
Difficulty learning new physical skills, such as a new sport or instrument.
Mental and physical fatigue from the constant effort of compensating.

What Are Common ADHD Symptoms?

ADHD often feels like a brain that is simultaneously understimulated and overwhelmed. The challenge is regulating focus and energy consistently across different situations.

In children:

Often fidgety or unable to stay seated for expected periods.
Easily distracted by background noise, movement, or thoughts.
Frequently forgets or loses track of instructions and belongings.
Rushes through work, leading to careless errors.
Blurts out answers or struggles to wait their turn.

In adults:

Persistent difficulty with organisation, planning, and meeting deadlines.
Frequently losing items like keys, phones, or documents.
Making impulsive decisions without fully considering consequences.
Feeling internally restless even when sitting still.
Trouble sustaining focus during long tasks or conversations.

How to Know If It Is Dyspraxia, ADHD, or Both

Difficulties with coordination, organisation, and daily tasks can arise from dyspraxia, ADHD, or a combination of both.

Dyspraxia (DCD)

Dyspraxia, formally known as Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), is a neurodevelopmental condition affecting how the brain plans, organises, and executes physical movements. It is not caused by muscle weakness or low intelligence. The brain simply has difficulty sending accurate movement instructions to the body.

In the UK, healthcare professionals tend to use the term DCD, while many individuals and families prefer dyspraxia. Both refer to the same condition.

ADHD

ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition affecting attention, activity levels, and impulse control.

It begins in childhood and frequently continues into adulthood, though how it presents can change significantly with age.

ADHD typically involves three core areas: inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity, and it does not reflect a person’s intelligence or capability.

Symptom / Behavior

ADHD symptoms

Anxiety symptoms

Difficulty with handwriting or drawing

Appearing clumsy or bumping into things

Forgetting instructions or losing belongings

Poor organisation and time management

Difficulty following multi-step instructions

Restlessness or difficulty sitting still

Impulsivity, acting without thinking

Difficulty learning new physical skills

Easily distracted by surroundings

Fatigue from the effort of everyday tasks

Struggles with sports or physical games

Difficulty with planning and sequencing tasks

Emotional frustration or low self-esteem

Seeing overlap in both columns? Many people with undiagnosed ADHD are surprised to find how much of their experience overlaps with dyspraxia. An ADHD assessment is a clear first step toward understanding your full profile.

Dyspraxia and ADHD: Understanding the Overlap

Both conditions can make school, work, and daily independence significantly harder. 1 in 20 school-age children are affected by dyspraxia, making it one of the most common neurodevelopmental conditions³. When they occur together, a person may find that no strategy ever quite works, because both their ability to plan movements and their capacity to stay focused are affected at the same time.

The key difference lies in where the difficulty originates. Dyspraxia is rooted in how the brain coordinates and sequences physical actions. ADHD is rooted in how the brain regulates attention and impulse control. A child with dyspraxia who cannot tie their shoes is struggling with motor planning. A child with ADHD who cannot tie their shoes may be too distracted to complete the steps, even if their hands are capable.

Having both means facing both challenges simultaneously. Research suggests that when ADHD and dyspraxia co-occur, the combined profile tends to be more complex than either condition alone.⁴ A professional assessment is the only reliable way to identify both and ensure support addresses the full picture.

How Dyspraxia and ADHD Can Look Day to Day

Understanding how these conditions present in real situations helps explain why someone can be capable and hardworking yet still struggle with tasks that seem simple to others.

At School

A child with dyspraxia in the classroom may fall behind on written work, not because they lack the ideas, but because getting words onto paper takes enormous physical effort. Their handwriting may be slow, illegible, or painful to produce. When ADHD is also present, sitting still long enough to complete the task adds another layer of challenge, and the combination can make a child appear disruptive or uninterested when they are actually working twice as hard as their peers.

At Home and in Daily Routines

Getting ready in the morning can become a significant source of conflict. Buttons, laces, and the sequencing of tasks like washing and dressing can take far longer than expected. With ADHD in the mix, distractions and forgetfulness mean the routine breaks down entirely, which can be misread as laziness or defiance by those around them.

In Adulthood

Adults with dyspraxia and ADHD often describe the experience as having to think consciously about things other people do automatically. Driving, cooking, navigating new places, and managing a workday all require mental effort that neurotypical adults do not need to invest. The result is a persistent sense of exhaustion, often accompanied by frustration at repeatedly underperforming despite genuine effort.

How Dyspraxia and ADHD Are Diagnosed?

Because these conditions share similar signs, and dyspraxia is often missed when ADHD is already diagnosed, thorough assessment is crucial for anyone suspecting both.

How Dyspraxia Is Assessed

Dyspraxia assessment involves an occupational therapist or paediatrician evaluating motor skills against age expectations. There are no blood tests for DCD, instead, clinicians assess how coordination difficulties impact daily life and rule out other causes. Tools like the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ) help evaluate motor challenges across different settings.

A formal diagnosis requires motor skills below age expectations, meaningful daily life impact, early childhood onset, and symptoms not explained by other conditions.

What an ADHD Assessment Involves

ADHD assessment by a qualified clinician examines patterns of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity across settings. This includes developmental history, standardised rating scales from individuals and family/teachers, and clinical interviews exploring childhood symptom presentation.

Since dyspraxia and ADHD overlap, comprehensive ADHD assessments should explore motor and coordination history for the complete picture.

Support for Dyspraxia and ADHD

Support for both conditions is highly individual. The goal is not to fix a person but to reduce the friction between how their brain works and what daily life demands of them.

Support for Dyspraxia

Dyspraxia support is led by occupational therapy, which works with the individual on the specific tasks causing difficulty, teaching step-by-step approaches to movements and daily routines.

Physical therapy supports balance, strength, and gross motor skills. Practical tools like pencil grips, typed work instead of handwriting, and structured organisational systems can make a meaningful difference in daily functioning at school and at work.

Managing ADHD

ADHD support focuses on building systems that reduce the cognitive load of daily life. This typically includes behavioural strategies, executive function coaching, and structured routines that reduce the need for sustained working memory.

Environmental adjustments, such as breaking complex tasks into smaller visible steps, can significantly reduce daily friction. Medication is one option and can be discussed with a qualified clinician as part of a broader, personalised plan.

When Both Occur Together

When both conditions are present, support works best when it accounts for how they interact.
For example, a strategy designed to improve ADHD organisation also needs to accommodate the motor planning difficulties of dyspraxia. An ADHD assessment is a practical first step to clarify the attention and focus picture.
From there, a referral to occupational therapy for the motor side can build a combined approach that addresses both layers of difficulty at once.

Ready to Get Clarity on Your Symptoms?

If you recognise the patterns on this page in yourself or your child, you do not have to keep guessing. The overlap between ADHD and dyspraxia means that one condition is frequently missed when the other is already diagnosed, and that gap in support can persist for years.

An ADHD assessment is a clear and practical starting point. Understanding whether ADHD is part of the picture gives you concrete information to work with, and can open the door to the right support, whether that is medication, coaching, occupational therapy referrals, or school accommodations.

Ready to Get Clarity on Your Symptoms?

Have Any Questions?

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Can you have both dyspraxia and ADHD?

Yes, and it is very common. Research suggests around 50% of people with dyspraxia also have ADHD.¹ When both are present, daily life tends to be more complex than with either condition alone, which is why a full assessment matters.

What is the difference between dyspraxia and ADHD?

Dyspraxia is primarily a motor planning and coordination condition. ADHD is primarily an attention and impulse regulation condition. They look similar from the outside because both affect organisation, task completion, and daily functioning, but the underlying cause is different. A professional assessment is the only reliable way to tell them apart.

Is dyspraxia the same as DCD?

In the UK, healthcare professionals generally use the term Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), while many individuals and families use dyspraxia. Both refer to the same condition. DCD is the formal clinical diagnosis used in assessments.

How is dyspraxia diagnosed in adults?

Adult dyspraxia is less commonly diagnosed than in children, partly because many adults develop coping strategies that mask the motor difficulties. Assessment typically involves a clinician reviewing coordination history, current functional difficulties, and ruling out other causes. Tools such as the Adult Developmental Coordination Disorders Checklist (ADC) can be a useful starting point.

Do ADHD and dyspraxia look different in girls?

Yes. Both conditions are diagnosed significantly more often in boys, but this reflects a gap in recognition rather than a difference in prevalence. Girls and women are more likely to mask their difficulties and to be misidentified as anxious, disorganised, or clumsy without a clear explanation. If a girl is consistently struggling with coordination or focus and her difficulties are being attributed to personality rather than a condition, it is worth seeking a formal assessment.

Who should I speak to if I think my child has ADHD and dyspraxia?

A good starting point is an ADHD assessment to clarify the attention and focus picture. Your GP can also refer to a paediatrician or occupational therapist who can assess for DCD. Getting clarity on both conditions separately means support can be properly targeted to your child’s specific needs.

References

Germano E. et al. (2010) Comorbidity of ADHD and dyslexia. Developmental Neuropsychology.
Willcutt E.G. et al. (2010) Validity of the executive function theory of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin.
Alexander-Passe N. (2015) The dyslexia experience: difference, disclosure, labelling, discrimination, and stigma. Asia Pacific Journal of Developmental Differences.
Boada R. et al. (2012) Attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder and reading disability: a replication and extension of comorbidity findings. Journal of Developmental and Behavioural Paediatrics.