Abstract
BackgroundTo allow for accurate and timely diagnosis of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) key stakeholders must be familiar with and be able to identify features of this disorder. No studies to date have investigated the awareness of DCD among key stakeholders in Australia.MethodsAn online survey was complete by 494 Australian participants: primary caregivers (n = 153), teachers (n = 149), allied health professionals (n = 165) and medical professionals (n = 27).ResultsDCD and related terms were among the least known childhood disorders. Approximately half of the sample were familiar with the term DCD but every stakeholder group were more familiar with the term dyspraxia. Allied health professionals demonstrated greater knowledge of the features of DCD, particularly motor features. Every stakeholder group showed poor recognition of the social and psychological effects of DCD. A relatively low percentage of allied health (53%) and medical (33%) professionals reported they had identified or diagnosed DCD and less than 20% of these felt that the DSM‐5 contained adequate information to make a DCD diagnosis. Most teachers (82%) believed they should play a role in identifying early warning signs of this disorder, and 80% believed there are children in the school system who were labelled as lazy or defiant when they have motor skills impairments. Primary caregivers were supportive of a diagnosis of DCD being provided; however, only 16% were confident that a physician would provide an accurate and timely diagnosis.ConclusionKey stakeholders play a unique and important role in the identification of children with DCD. Though most participants acknowledge the role that they play, all stakeholder groups demonstrated poor familiarity with the term DCD and low levels of knowledge about the features of this disorder. Improved familiarity and knowledge of the disorder is needed for access to appropriate services and improved long‐term outcomes for this condition.
Highlights
Affecting one in 20 children, developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a common but underrecognized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired ability to acquire and execute coordinated motor skills quality (American Psychiatric Association, 2013)
Primary caregivers were supportive of a diagnosis of DCD being provided; only 16% were confident that a physician would provide an accurate and timely diagnosis
DCD is well defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5) which specifies the following four diagnostic criteria: (a) motor skills acquisition and execution are significantly below agematched peers, despite opportunities for learning and using these skills; (b) motor difficulties significantly and persistently interfere with age-appropriate activities of daily living, school and play; (c) symptoms begin during early childhood development; and (d) difficulties cannot be attributed to other conditions, such as intellectual disability, visual impairment or other neurological disorders that affect movement (American Psychiatric Association, 2013)
Summary
Affecting one in 20 children, developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is a common but underrecognized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired ability to acquire and execute coordinated motor skills quality (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). In a sample of key stakeholders, Wilson et al (2012) found that only 20% of parents, teachers and medical professionals had knowledge of DCD, highlighting the need for improved awareness of the condition. An estimated 25% of the children with the condition are identified prior to starting school (Gibbs et al, 2007), due to delayed developmental milestones, (e.g., crawling, walking and speech) or significant difficulties with self-care activities, poor ball skills or immature drawing Delays in these early developmental milestones are not always evident and ; identification is more common in the first years of primary school, when parents and teachers recognize that the child is significantly behind their peers and not making necessary improvements in complex skills, such as handwriting and sports (Gibbs et al, 2007; Missiuna, Rivard, & Campbell, 2017). All participants provided informed consent prior to commencing the study
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