Developmental Coordination Disorder Experience Difficulties Research Articles

The nature of coordination and control problems in children with developmental coordination disorder during ball catching: A systematic review.

The aim of this review was to examine what is presently known about the nature of motor coordination and control problems in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) during ball catching and to provide directions for future research. A systematic literature search was conducted using four electronic databases (PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO and Web of Science), which identified 15 eligible studies. The results of the included studies were discussed, structured around the target population characteristics, the task used to measure motor coordination and control aspects, and the type of outcome. Children with DCD experience difficulties with both motor coordination and control during ball catching. They have been suggested to apply four compensation strategies to overcome these difficulties: a later initiation of the reaching phase, an earlier initiation of the grasping phase, a higher degree of coupling of the joints both intra- and inter-limb, and fixating the joints. However, despite these compensation strategies, children with DCD still caught fewer balls than typically developing children in all studies. This was especially due to a higher amount of grasping errors, which indicates a problem with the timing of the grasping phase. Directions for future research and practical implications were discussed.

Self-Regulatory Skill Among Children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder: An Exploratory Study

ABSTRACTAim: Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) experience difficulty learning and performing everyday motor tasks due to poor motor coordination. Recent research applying a cognitive learning paradigm has argued that children with DCD have less effective cognitive and metacognitive skills with which to effectively acquire motor skills. However, there is currently limited research examining individual differences in children's use of self-regulatory and metacognitive skill during motor learning. This exploratory study aimed to compare the self-regulatory performance of children with and without DCD. Methods: Using a mixed methods approach, this study observed and compared the self-regulatory behavior of 15 children with and without DCD, aged between 7 and 9 years, during socially mediated motor practice. Observation was conducted using a quantitative coding scheme and qualitative analysis of video-recorded sessions. This paper will focus on the results of quantitative analysis, while data arising from the qualitative analysis will be used to support quantitative findings. Results: In general, findings indicate that children with DCD exhibit less independent and more ineffective self-regulatory skill during motor learning than their typically developing peers. In addition, children with DCD rely more heavily on external support for effective regulation and are more likely to exhibit negative patterns of motivational regulation. Conclusions: These findings provide further support for the notion that children with DCD experience difficulty effectively self-regulating motor learning. Implications for practice and directions for future research are discussed.

Procedural learning in development and in Developmental Coordination Disorder

A variety of motor skills are acquired progressively during childhood, such as eating with cutlery, tying shoelaces, writing, and riding a bicycle. Through repeated practice, these skills gradually become automated and can be performed without awareness or fatigue. They represent what one calls “routines”—that is, procedural skills. There is general agreement that procedural learning capacities are present early in childhood and that they play a critical role in the development of children's cognitive capacities. However, few studies have brought empirical data confirming this assumption, and many questions remain regarding the cognitive mechanisms that sustain procedural learning in children. First, we present several researches, which explore the development of procedural learning during childhood. Our studies focused on two broad categories of tasks: sequence learning (such as serial reaction time) and perceptuomotor adaptation (for example, mirror drawing). The second purpose of this presentation was to explore the possibility of a procedural learning deficit among children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). This developmental condition, which affects 6% of primary school children, is characterized by poor motor skills in the absence of neurological or intellectual dysfunction. However, despite the fact that children with DCD experience difficulties learning motor skills in everyday life, to date, and quite surprisingly, motor procedural learning in developmental coordination disorder has received very little attention.

CO-OP Intervention for Young Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Children with developmental coordination disorder experience difficulties with fine and gross motor tasks that affect their occupational performance. Research has found the Cognitive Orientation to daily Occupational Performance (CO-OP) measure to be an effective approach for improving skills in daily occupations with children between 7 and 12 years old who have developmental coordination disorder. The purpose of this single-case design study was to determine the effectiveness of using the CO-OP approach with children ages 5 to 7 years. Four children chose three different goals to work on during therapy. Child and parent Canadian Occupational Performance Measure ratings and performance observation ratings at follow-up demonstrated the effectiveness of the CO-OP approach, supporting the use of the CO-OP with younger children and suggesting further research on the CO-OP with younger children is warranted.