Watch me do it

Video library

Video library

A free library of demonstration videos to help dyspraxic children learn everyday movement skills.

Our research has shown that watching video demonstrations recorded from a first-person viewpoint can help dyspraxic children learn everyday movement skills.

As such, we have created a video library containing movement demonstrations for various different everyday movement skills. The skills were chosen after speaking to and surveying dyspraxic children and their parents, as well as therapists, teachers, and researchers who work with dyspraxic children to find out which everyday movements they want to learn. We hope that children will use these dyspraxia support videos alongside physical practice to improve their movement skills.

What is dyspraxia?

Dyspraxia, or developmental coordination disorder (DCD), is a neurological condition that affects movement planning and movement coordination.

Dyspraxia/DCD is quite common. It affects around 5-6% of children, approximately one child in every school classroom. Dyspraxia is a lifelong condition that presents challenges when performing everyday movement tasks, such as dressing, writing, and using some objects. Whilst primarily a movement difficulty, dyspraxia can also affect speech, planning, organisation and memory.

Diagnosis of Dyspraxia/DCD allows children to access therapy and support to help them develop strategies to improve their motor skills. However, it can take a long time to obtain a diagnosis. This video library allows children and families to access research-informed support resources either while awaiting a diagnosis or once a diagnosis has been obtained.

The video library

We have developed a library of movement demonstration videos to help dyspraxic children learn activities of daily living.

Learning using demonstration videos

One of the most common ways to learn new movement skills is to watch demonstrations provided by parents, teachers, or therapists and then practice the movements.

When watching demonstrations, the demonstrator is often positioned opposite or next to the observer. These third-person viewpoints are not always ideal because the viewpoint that the observer has is not the same as the viewpoint they have when performing the movement. This means that the observer has to mentally rotate what they are seeing to match their own viewpoint, and this mental rotation can be quite difficult for dyspraxic children. A solution is to create video demonstrations that are recorded using head-mounted cameras to provide first-person viewpoint demonstrations. This viewpoint is often more appropriate as it matches the viewpoint when performing the movement.

Another issue is that dyspraxic children are often shown demonstrations performed by adults, such as parents, teachers, or therapists. This may not always be ideal as adults look and move differently to children. A solution to this is to have other children provide the demonstrations, as their limbs and movements look similar to the children observing the demonstrations. When combined with a first-person viewpoint, this can create the impression that a child is observing themselves doing the movement.

This website is a collaboration between:

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