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Clumsy children--a review of recent research
Insights
Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), or clumsiness, struggle with motor skills despite normal intelligence and no neurological damage. Further research into visual and kinesthetic perception impairments is recommended.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Neuroscience
- Motor Control
Background:
- Clumsy children, often diagnosed with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), exhibit significant motor skill deficits.
- These deficits occur without general sensory, intellectual, or overt neurological impairments.
- Common characteristics include difficulties with activities of daily living (feeding, dressing) and fine motor tasks (drawing, writing).
Purpose of the Study:
- To review studies investigating the underlying functional impairments in children with DCD.
- To emphasize the methodological challenges in establishing causal links for these impairments.
- To explore potential connections between clumsiness and perceptual deficits.
Main Methods:
- Review of descriptive studies characterizing children with DCD.
- Analysis of research exploring functional impairments associated with DCD.
- Emphasis on methodological critiques in studies examining causal influences.
Main Results:
- Children with DCD show consistent difficulties in motor skill acquisition and execution.
- Performance IQ is often lower than verbal IQ in affected children.
- Existing studies on underlying impairments face significant methodological limitations.
Conclusions:
- The relationship between clumsiness (DCD) and impairments in visual and kinesthetic perception requires further investigation.
- Despite inconclusive evidence, these perceptual pathways remain a promising area for future research.
- Understanding these underlying mechanisms is crucial for developing effective interventions for DCD.
Abstract:
Clumsy children have severe problems in developing adequate skills of movement in the absence of general sensory and intellectual impairments and without showing signs of overt neurological damage. Descriptive studies indicate a variety of characteristics which are typical of these children including difficulties with feeding and dressing, poor drawing and writing skills, and lower performance than verbal IQ. Studies which explore the underlying functional impairments in these children are reviewed, with an emphasis on the methodological problems inherent in demonstrating causal influences. It is concluded that attempts to relate clumsiness to impairments of visual and kinaesthetic perception, although as yet inconclusive, are worthy of further study.