Identify DCD and explain the praxis story clearly
Differentiate DCD and dyspraxia terminology, recognise practical screening indicators and explain motor planning as a neurological difference rather than carelessness, laziness or lack of practice.
Live Zoom trainingLearn with Kerry in real time - 60min class and 30min Q&A
Case-based reasoningFollow Finn throughout the session *composite teaching case used throughout the SenseUp Series
Workbook includedSupport notes and slides to follow along. Bonus Resource for LIVE attendees - Practical OT or Parent Resource(s) dropped during the session!
Certificate included for PD/EU pointsAttend Live / Watch the replay, complete the feedback form and your certificate is sent straight to your inbox.
Why DCD and praxis need a wider clinical lens
The child described as clumsy may be working harder than anyone else in the room.
Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and dyspraxia are not minor motor difficulties. They affect how a child plans, sequences and executes movement, how safe motor challenge feels, and how easily they can participate in the ordinary occupations of childhood. This masterclass connects the sensory nervous system, praxis, autonomic state and occupation rather than treating motor performance in isolation.
The motor difficulty is being attributed to carelessness, low motivation or another diagnosis.
DCD is frequently missed, particularly when autism or ADHD is already part of the clinical picture. Screening specifically for coordination, praxis and motor planning can change the interpretation completely.
Motor tasks have become a predictable source of threat.
Repeated difficulty with handwriting, PE, bike riding, dressing or ball skills can narrow the child's window of tolerance for motor challenge. Avoidance may be an intelligent nervous system response to a history of public failure.
The sensory foundations of movement are not being considered.
Proprioceptive, vestibular, tactile-haptic and visual-motor processing all contribute to coordinated action. Praxis uses that sensory information to ideate, plan and sequence movement.
The child needs agency, not just another motor programme.
Bottom-up sensory work and top-down CO-OP principles can work together: support the nervous system foundations while helping the child identify meaningful goals and build their own motor problem-solving strategies.
What you will learn
Connect the sensory nervous system, praxis and occupation in DCD
Build a more complete DCD picture across sensory-motor foundations, motor planning, autonomic state, self-concept and participation, then consider how bottom-up sensory approaches and top-down CO-OP principles can work together.
Map the sensory foundations of coordination
Consider proprioception, vestibular processing, tactile-haptic feedback, visual-motor integration and bilateral coordination as contributors to the sensory information available for praxis and coordinated movement.
Understand the motor failure loop through autonomic state
Recognise how repeated motor failure can build anticipatory threat, avoidance and shutdown. Create the conditions for safe motor challenge before expecting new learning or strategy use.
Integrate bottom-up and top-down intervention
Use sensory integration to support the nervous system foundations while applying CO-OP-style Goal, Plan, Do, Check thinking to personally meaningful occupations chosen with the child.
Evidence base
What is the evidence base for The SenseUp Approach™?
The SenseUp Approach draws on three bodies of peer-reviewed research as its evidence base.
Ayres Sensory Integration®
First, and primary, is the Ayres Sensory Integration® literature, which is a substantial evidence base including randomised controlled trials, systematic reviews, and longitudinal studies spanning from Ayres' original work in the 1970s through to recent systematic reviews (Acuña et al., 2025; Schaaf et al., 2018).
Polyvagal theory, trauma and sensory processing
Second, The SenseUp Approach draws on Polyvagal Theory as a clinical lens, alongside research examining the relationship between trauma and sensory processing (Porges, 2022; Machingura et al., 2024).
Occupational science and occupation-centred practice
Third is occupational science and the WFOT's definition of occupational therapy, which grounds all four levels of the SenseUp Model 360™ in the evidence for occupation-centred practice.
The SenseUp Model™
In keeping with the three-pillar model of evidence-based practice, The SenseUp Approach also recognises practitioner expertise and client and family values as equally important pillars alongside research evidence.
The SenseUp Model™ integrates current research across neuroscience, sensory processing (all eight sensory systems), trauma-informed care, and occupational participation into one systematic approach for challenges. This isn't about choosing between therapy approaches or sensory strategies - it's about seeing how nervous system safety can create a foundation for engagement, regulation and participation.
When you understand how these pieces connect, clinical reasoning becomes clearer and intervention planning honours what the child's body actually needs.