How do I get my child tested for dyspraxia?

The steps, in order

Dyspraxia and Developmental Co-ordination Disorder (DCD) are the same condition. DCD is the term the NHS and clinicians use for the formal diagnosis, so that is the word you will see on referral forms and reports. Ask your GP, health visitor, or school SENCO for a referral to NHS occupational therapy or community paediatrics; a paediatrician, usually with an OT, makes the formal dyspraxia (DCD) diagnosis, not before age 5.

1. Tell whoever you already deal with: your GP, your health visitor (for a child under 5), the school nurse, or the school SENCO, the teacher in charge of special educational needs. You do not need to go through a doctor first; any of these people can start the referral.
2. Ask for a referral to children's community services, which means NHS children's occupational therapy and, where needed, community paediatrics. Say plainly that you want your child looked at for dyspraxia or DCD.
3. Put the impact in writing. A referral that describes how your child struggles with handwriting, PE, dressing, or co-ordination at school and at home carries more weight, so ask the school to add what it already sees.

Who diagnoses it, and at what age

A formal DCD diagnosis can only be made by a doctor, normally a paediatrician, often working alongside an occupational therapist (OT). An OT is a health professional who helps with the practical skills of daily life. They use a norm-referenced motor assessment of fine and gross motor skills, commonly the Movement ABC, which scores your child against the typical range for their age. The NHS will not usually make a definite diagnosis before a child is 5, because younger children develop co-ordination at very different rates, though DCD can be suspected and supported earlier. For a diagnosis the difficulties must be clearly below the level expected for their age, must affect everyday life and schoolwork, must have started early in development, and must not be better explained by another condition such as cerebral palsy.

The honest trade-off the NHS pages skip

There is no "Right to Choose" shortcut for dyspraxia the way there is for ADHD and autism. DCD is assessed through NHS children's occupational therapy and community paediatrics, and waits for those community services are long, often many months and over a year in some areas as of 2026. If you need answers sooner, a private assessment by a specialist occupational therapist or psychologist is the only fast route, and in 2026 these typically cost about £600 to £950 depending on the depth of the assessment and report. A private report does not replace the NHS route where one is needed for school support, so it is worth starting both.

This page is general information, not clinical or legal advice.