Review of four tests of gross motor development.

Abstract

In 1937, Orton described children with motor coordination difficulties as ‘clumsy’, a term still used today. Other terms used to describe these difficulties include developmental dyspraxia, awkwardness, motor learning problems, and most recently, developmental coordination disorder (DCD). DCD is defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) as a ‘marked impairment in the development of motor coordination [that]... interferes with academic achievement or activities of daily living’. The impaired coordination is present in the absence of a known medical condition such as cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy. The heterogeneity of the motor and cognitive abilities of children included in this classification, and the numerous terms employed to describe them, have hindered systematic accumulation of knowledge about DCD.