In spite of the fact that Developmental dyspraxia (DD) meets quite often in neuropediatric practice, the theory and diagnostics at preschool age is a little developed and is one of difficult interdisciplinary questions of neurology and clinical psychology.

Purpose: Optimization of early diagnosis of a DD at preschool age

Material and methods: To 626 children of 5-6-year age clinical examination regarding dispraksiya identification is conducted. Boys made 78%, girls of 22%. Research was conducted by both continuous, and selective statistical supervision. The clinical diagnosis was established according to criteria of DSM-IV. Occurrence of a DD in our research group made 9,6%. Clinical methods - neurologic and neuropsychological exam were applied; screening test on a DD (Sadovskaya J.E. et al., 2011).

Results: The Test was normed on a sample of 1,500 children between 5 and 7 years of age with the following racial and ethnic composition. By results of implementation of the combined Test for a DD from 626 children 72 (11,5%) the patient didn't cope with a task. To all 72 patients the neuropsychological examination consisting of 26 tasks is conducted, at 60 of 72 patients praxis disorders are confirmed. Test’s Specificity and Sensitivity was 83%.

Conclusion: These findings strongly support the validity of our evaluation measures and the importance of using our Test alone, rather than the use of the whole battery of neuropsychological tests, to improve early identification efforts.