Welcome to the launch of what I hope will be a successful attempt to bring awareness, support and resources to parents, teachers and families with children diagnosed with DCD (Developmental Coordination Disorder), ADHD and other related conditions and disorders.
The inspiration for creating this site is two fold. First, my middle daughter who was diagnosed at the age of 18 months with an Expressive Language Delay and by the age of 5 was formerly assessed and diagnosed with DCD (developmental coordination disorder); by the age of 11 further formal assessment diagnosed her with ADHD-Inattentive Type; secondly, out of a frustration for a lack of resources, supports and education for parents, teachers and families of children with DCD and ADHD.
I am not an expert on DCD and ADHD by any means. I am a parent and educator with a passion to helping my children become the best they can be. I continually advocate for all of my daughters, but specifically for my middle daughter. I actively seek out the latest research on DCD and ADHS as well as services and supports offered through our health system, community and school system. I am well read in the subject matter and possess and ever growing personal library of books and resources on DCD, ADHD as well as other learning disabilities, sensory and developmental conditions. I work very closely with my daughter's teachers, school support workers, school administrator and community health team which includes but is not limited to a speech and language pathologist, occupational therapist, and her pediatrician.
Developmental Co-ordination Disorder Explained
What is DCD
– It is impairment, an immaturity, or disorganization of movement. Associated
with this there may be problems with language, eye movements, perception,
thought, specific learning difficulty, personality and behaviour, and
variability.
Other Names
– Clumsy Child Syndrome, Perseptuo-motor Dysfunction, Minimal Brain
Dysfunction, Motor-learning Difficulty, Sensory-integrative Dysfunction,
Spatial Problems, Visuo-motor Difficulties or more specifically Dyspraxia or
Dyslexia.
Movement –
Gross and fine motor skills are unintelligible in early years. Language may be
impaired or late to develop.
Eye Movements – There may be difficulty with controlling movements of the eyes to
follow a moving object or difficulty looking quickly and effectively from
object to object. This may effect eye/hand coordination.
Perception
– There is poor registration and interpretation of the messages that the senses
convey, and difficulty in translating those messages into appropriate actions.
Thought –
The child may have normal intelligence, but have great difficulty in planning
and organizing thoughts. Those with moderate learning difficulties may have
these problems to a greater extent.
Specific Learning Difficulty – There may be problems with reading; writing; spelling;
reversals e.g. formation of numbers/letters, or reverses order of letters in
words; numbers e.g. rote learning.
Personality and Behaviour – They may display behaviour problems, e.g. restless and
lacking controls, and/or unhappiness, loneliness, poor self-esteem, lack of
confidence, or behaviour problems due to frustration. Secondary emotional
problems may develop.
Variability
– Children have “good days and bad days” where they can do things better than
at other times.
If you think your child is excessively clumsy,
discuss it!
Where do I go for help?
Pre-School
– Talk to your GP and Community Health Nurse. A referral should be made to a
community pediatrician. Assessment can then be made by an occupational
therapist, a physiotherapist, a speech and language therapist or a
psychologist, whichever is deemed appropriate.
School Age Children – Talk to your GP and Community Health Nurse. Referrals for assessment can be made through
your GP or school medical officer. Hospital referral may be required for
special tests or treatment.
How would I recognize a child with
Developmental Co-ordination Disorder?
The Pre-school Child may show some of these
features:
- Late motor milestones
e.g. sitting, crawling, walking.
- Balance problems i.e.
unreasonably afraid or conversely unaware of danger in precarious
situations.
- Poor coordination e.g.
crawling, pedaling a bike, catching and kicking a ball etc.
- May not be able to run,
hop or jump.
- Poor pencil grip.
- Poor at dressing i.e. organization
and/or fastening buttons or tying shoe laces.
- Drawing is very immature
or avoided.
- Persistent immature
speech.
- Has difficulty learning
anything instinctively, must be taught skills.
- Slow and hesitant in
most actions.
- Cannot do jigsaws or
shape sorting games.
- Has no understanding of
in/on/behind/in front of etc.
- Commonly anxious and easily distracted.
- Finds it difficult to
keep friends or judge how to behave in company.
The School Age Child
- All the problems of the
pre-school child may still be present with little or no improvement.
- Difficulty learning to
use scissors or rulers.
- PE is avoided.
- The child does badly in
class but significantly better on a one-to-one basis.
- Attention span is poor
and the child reacts to all stimuli without discrimination.
- May have trouble with
maths and reading.
- Great difficulty may be
experienced in copying from the blackboard.
- Writing is laborious and
immature.
- Unable to remember
and/or follow instructions.
- Generally poorly organized.
- The child is not clearly
right or let handed i.e. reaches with whichever hand is nearer.
What about the future?
There is no magic “cure”, though the child may
improve in some areas with growing maturity and with access to the appropriate
therapy to develop skills. Some children respond more completely to treatment
than others. Learning will take time and lots of practice and encouragement
will be needed. Success leads to success; children work best when they do well.
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