Developmental Coordination Disorder in Children

Objective

In this article, a motor skill disorder called developmental coordination disorder (DCD), that is usually first diagnosed during childhood, is explained and discussed. In the year 1987, DCD was formally recognized as a distinct disorder in children by the American Psychiatric Association (APA). DCD is a generalized term for the children who have some degrees of impairment in the development of motor coordination and therefore have difficulties with physical skills which significantly interfere with their academic achievements and /or performing everyday activities. As they develop, other age-related tasks are also below average. Because these impairment & conditions are often associated with emotional distress, they can seriously interfere with the person's everyday life and social relationships. Reviews indicate that most of the training rocedures have only a limited effect on the development of general coordination, and that they have no effect at all on academic progress.

This includes approaches based on assumed underlying deficiencies such as sensory integration deficits and kinesthetic functioning deficits, as well as the more traditional perceptual - motor training. One new approach is Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP), based on problem - solving strategies and guided discovery of the child and task specific strategies. The aim of this article was to inform, promote and disseminate more information about some difficulties in applying the diagnostic criteria for DCD. Also, a brief review of the researches on the intervention methods is presented.