Identifying subtypes among children with developmental coordination disorder and mathematical learning disabilities,...

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology

Background:

• Previous research indicates a link between motor and mathematical skills.
• The existence of distinct subtypes within developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and mathematical learning disability (MLD) is not well-established.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify homogeneous subgroups within children exhibiting DCD and/or MLD based on motor and mathematical skills.
• To investigate the relationship between specific motor and mathematical skill deficits.

Main Methods:

• Employed data-driven model-based clustering on a sample of children with and without DCD and/or MLD.
• Assessed motor skills, mathematical abilities (number fact retrieval, procedural calculation), and visual-motor integration.

Main Results:

• Identified a motor-impaired subgroup based on motor variables.
• Discovered two mathematical subtypes: number fact retrieval deficits and procedural calculation deficits.
• Clustering revealed two combined subtypes: one with both calculation and motor/visual-motor issues, and another with procedural calculation and visual-motor problems.

Conclusions:

• Results question the utility of a single diagnostic category for below-average mathematical skills.
• Findings contribute to the debate on DCD and MLD overlap, showing motor skills are present in both MLD subtypes with varying profiles.