{"h1":"DCD or Childhood Apraxia of Speech: How to Tell","faq":[{"a":"Yes. Because both involve motor planning, some children show difficulties in both body movement and speech. A clinician assessment looks at both areas so support can be tailored, rather than assuming it must be one or the other.","q":"Can my child have both DCD and Childhood Apraxia of Speech?"},{"a":"No. Occasional clumsiness and some unclear speech are completely normal as children develop. It's a persistent pattern that's out of step with same-age peers and gets in the way of daily life that's worth a closer look.","q":"Is clumsiness or unclear speech always a sign of a disorder?"},{"a":"Concerns can be raised early, and developmental checks help guide support at any age. There's no need to wait for a formal label to begin gentle, targeted help — trust your instinct and seek a check if you're worried.","q":"At what age can these be assessed?"}],"lang":"en","slug":"how-do-i-know-if-my-child-has-developmental-coordination-disorder-or-childhood-apraxia-of-speech","title":"DCD vs Childhood Apraxia of Speech","entity":{"key":"dcd-vs-dyspraxia-verbal","kind":"condition","name":"Developmental Coordination Disorder vs Childhood Apraxia of Speech","slug":null},"lenses":[{"kind":"stakeholder","label":"Parent","value":"parent"},{"kind":"domain","label":"Adaptive","value":"adaptive"},{"kind":"intent","label":"Support","value":"support"},{"kind":"lifecycle","label":"Screen","value":"screen"},{"kind":"route","label":"Special-Education","value":"special-education"},{"kind":"empowerment","label":"Early Clarity","value":"early_clarity"}],"parent":{"key":"conditions","label":"Conditions"},"related":[{"lang":"en","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-developmental-coordination-disorder-and-childhood-apraxia-of-speech-in-children","title":"DCD vs Childhood Apraxia of Speech in Children"},{"lang":"en","slug":"how-do-i-know-if-my-child-has-developmental-language-disorder-or-childhood-apraxia-of-speech","title":"DLD vs Childhood Apraxia of Speech"},{"lang":"en","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-developmental-coordination-disorder-and-childhood-apraxia-of-speech-in-young-children","title":"DCD vs Childhood Apraxia of Speech: the difference"},{"lang":"en","slug":"how-does-childhood-apraxia-of-speech-affect-a-child-s-motor-development","title":"How Childhood Apraxia of Speech affects motor development"},{"lang":"en","slug":"how-does-developmental-coordination-disorder-affect-a-child-s-communication-development","title":"How Developmental Coordination Disorder affects communication"},{"lang":"en","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-developmental-language-disorder-and-childhood-apraxia-of-speech-in-children","title":"Developmental Language Disorder vs Childhood Apraxia of Speech in Children"}],"summary":"Developmental Coordination Disorder affects motor planning of the body — clumsiness, difficulty with buttons, cutlery, catching or handwriting — while Childhood Apraxia of Speech affects motor planning of the mouth, making speech inconsistent and hard to understand despite good comprehension. A child can have one or both, and only a qualified clinician can tell which. AbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.","answer_md":"*Two different challenges, two different parts of the body — telling them apart begins with noticing where your child struggles most: the hands and body, or the mouth and speech.*\n\n## In short\nThese are two separate things. **Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)** is about *movement and motor planning of the body* — a child who is clumsy, struggles with buttons, cutlery, catching a ball or learning to ride a bike, beyond what's expected for their age. **Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)** is about *motor planning of speech* — a child who knows what they want to say but whose mouth struggles to make the right sounds in the right order, so words come out inconsistent and hard to understand. A child can have one, the other, or both — and only a qualified clinician can tell which, after watching your child closely.\n\n## How they tend to look\n**Signs that point towards DCD (body movement):**\n- Late or awkward with skills like jumping, hopping, doing up buttons or using cutlery.\n- Bumps into things, drops things, seems clumsy beyond age.\n- Finds handwriting, drawing or dressing effortful and tiring.\n- Avoids physical play or sport because it feels hard.\n\n**Signs that point towards CAS (speech movement):**\n- Says the same word differently each time they try.\n- Searching or groping movements of the lips and tongue before a word.\n- Speech is hard to understand even for familiar listeners.\n- Understands far more than they can say clearly — the gap between comprehension and clear speech is large.\n\nImportant: occasional clumsiness or unclear speech is normal in young children. It's a *persistent pattern* that's out of step with same-age peers — and that gets in the way of daily life — that's worth a closer look.\n\n## When to seek a check\nThere's no single home test that separates DCD from CAS — and many features overlap or co-occur, which is exactly why a structured clinician assessment matters. Seek a developmental check if your child is noticeably behind peers in motor skills *or* if their speech stays hard to understand and inconsistent past toddlerhood. Earlier support generally helps more, so trust your instinct rather than waiting.\n\n## The Pinnacle way\nAbilityScore® is part of Pinnacle’s developmental assessment. Diagnosis, where needed, requires an appropriately qualified healthcare professional — never from an online list or app. Our therapists observe your child's movement and speech directly to build a precise [developmental profile](/ask/what-is-the-abilityscore-and-how-is-it-calculated), then shape support through targeted [occupational therapy](https://www.pinnacleblooms.org/best-occupational-therapy-center-india-proven-improvement-rate) for body coordination and [speech therapy](https://www.pinnacleblooms.org/top-speech-therapy-center-india-proven-improvement-rate) for speech motor planning. Begin anytime at [Pinnacle Blooms Network](/).\n\n## Trusted sources\nWHO ICD-11 (developmental motor coordination disorder; developmental speech sound disorder); American Speech-Language-Hearing Association guidance on Childhood Apraxia of Speech; American Academy of Pediatrics (HealthyChildren.org) developmental milestone guidance.\n\n**Next step —** Unsure which path fits your child? [Book a developmental assessment with a Pinnacle clinician](https://www.pinnacleblooms.org/best-occupational-therapy-center-india-proven-improvement-rate) — we'll look at both movement and speech and guide you clearly.\n\nThis is general information, not a diagnosis — individual assessment and diagnosis require an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.","canonical":"https://pinnacleblooms.org/ask/how-do-i-know-if-my-child-has-developmental-coordination-disorder-or-childhood-apraxia-of-speech","editorial":{"reviewed_at":"2026-06-11T20:12:18.613642+00:00","reviewed_by":null,"developed_by":"SETU Consortium · Pinnacle Blooms Network"},"alternates":[{"href":"https://pinnacleblooms.org/ask/how-do-i-know-if-my-child-has-developmental-coordination-disorder-or-childhood-apraxia-of-speech","lang":"en","indexable":true},{"href":"https://pinnacleblooms.org/ask/how-do-i-know-if-my-child-has-developmental-coordination-disorder-or-childhood-apraxia-of-speech-te","lang":"te","indexable":true}],"dimensions":[{"key":"conditions","label":"Conditions"}],"meta_title":"DCD vs Childhood Apraxia of Speech: How to Tell","meta_robots":"index, follow, max-image-preview:large","everyday_tip":"Keep a short note over a fortnight: when your child struggles, is it their hands and body, or their mouth and speech? Bring that note to a developmental check — it helps a clinician see the pattern quickly.","published_at":"2026-06-10T13:18:00.18205+00:00","reading_paths":[{"key":"understand","items":[{"lang":"en","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-developmental-coordination-disorder-and-childhood-apraxia-of-speech-in-young-children","title":"DCD vs Childhood Apraxia of Speech: the difference","reason":"Linked from this answer"}],"label":"Understand the subject","total":1},{"key":"causes","items":[{"lang":"en","slug":"how-does-developmental-coordination-disorder-affect-a-child-s-communication-development","title":"How Developmental Coordination Disorder affects communication","reason":"Linked from this answer"},{"lang":"en","slug":"how-does-childhood-apraxia-of-speech-affect-a-child-s-motor-development","title":"How Childhood Apraxia of Speech affects motor development","reason":"Linked from this answer"}],"label":"Explore causes & influences","total":2},{"key":"therapy","items":[{"lang":"en","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-developmental-coordination-disorder-and-childhood-apraxia-of-speech-in-children","title":"DCD vs Childhood Apraxia of Speech in Children","reason":"Linked from this answer"},{"lang":"en","slug":"what-is-the-difference-between-developmental-language-disorder-and-childhood-apraxia-of-speech-in-children","title":"Developmental Language Disorder vs Childhood Apraxia of Speech in Children","reason":"Linked from this answer"},{"lang":"en","slug":"how-do-i-know-if-my-child-has-developmental-language-disorder-or-childhood-apraxia-of-speech","title":"DLD vs Childhood Apraxia of Speech","reason":"Linked from this answer"}],"label":"Explore therapy & support","total":3}],"what_to_watch":"Watch for whether the struggle is mainly in the body (clumsiness, buttons, cutlery, catching, handwriting) pointing towards DCD, or mainly in speech (inconsistent words, groping mouth movements, hard-to-understand speech despite good understanding) pointing towards CAS — and a persistent pattern out of step with peers.","authority_links":[{"url":"https://icd.who.int","label":"WHO ICD-11: developmental motor coordination and speech sound disorders"},{"url":"https://www.asha.org","label":"ASHA guidance on Childhood Apraxia of Speech"},{"url":"https://www.healthychildren.org","label":"AAP HealthyChildren.org developmental milestones"}],"last_reviewed_at":"2026-06-10T13:18:00.18205+00:00","meta_description":"Wondering if your child has Developmental Coordination Disorder or Childhood Apraxia of Speech? Learn the key differences and when to seek a check.","related_materials":[],"related_techniques":[]}