Developmental co‐ordination disorder (DCD) in adolescents and adults in further and higher education

Abstract

Few studies have looked at the strengths and weaknesses and needs of students with developmenal co‐ordination disorder (DCD). This paper describes a cohort of 93 UK students currently studying at further or higher education and who have reported motor difficulties present since childhood. The study group consisted of 21 reporting to have DCD only, 38 with DCD plus another diagnosis (a combination of any of the following: dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), learning difficulties); 23 subjects reporting dyslexia only, and 11 students who have not been formally diagnosed. The aim of this study was to first ascertain the similarities and differences between the students in the type of support received in childhood and while at university. The second goal was to examine the reported strengths and difficulties and see how they vary for each subgroup. The DCD group reported higher levels of motor‐related difficulties such as handwriting and also executive functioning difficulties. They also had higher levels of professional support given in childhood and were also more likely to be living at home with parents compared with the dyslexia group. Despite different types of difficulties reported in the DCD group, the range of student support given across all groups was similar. Significantly more of the dyslexia group were reported to be in receipt of disability student allowance than the DCD group. The DCD and other disorders group were seen to be an intermediary group in most of the areas studied.

Motor coordination and visual information processing in high school students at risk of developmental coordination disorder: Two year follow-up study

“…Cantell, Smyth, & Ahonen, 2003;Hall, 1988). Nicméně následné studie (viz přehled Cantell & Kooistra, 2002), a jiné práce (Cantell et al, 2003;Kirby, Sugden, Beveridge, & Edwards, 2008) poskytly důkazy o přetrvávání obtíží v motorické koordinaci až do střední a pozdní adolescence se 32-87% pravděpodobností. Je zřejmé, že vývoj DCD je značně variabilní a může přetrvávat do adolescence a dospělosti (Cousins & Smyth, 2003;Kirby et al, 2008;Missiuna, Moll, King, Stewart, & Macdonald, 2008).…”

“…Navzdory možným kompenzacím zhoršených pohybových dovedností byl u adolescentů a mladých dospělých pozorován horší výkon v úlohách, které vyžadují jemnou a hrubou vizuomotorickou koordinaci jako je řízení auta, psaní, chytání předmětů a konstrukční úlohy (Cousins & Smyth, 2003;Kirby et al, 2008;Missiuna et al, 2008). U jedinců těchto věkových období byly rovněž zjištěny problémy s udržením zaměstnání, ačkoli měli akademické vzdělání, problémy v sociální interakci a obtíže v exekutivních funkcích (Cousins & Smyth, 2003;Kirby, Edwards, & Sugden, 2011;Kirby et al, 2008).…”

“…U jedinců těchto věkových období byly rovněž zjištěny problémy s udržením zaměstnání, ačkoli měli akademické vzdělání, problémy v sociální interakci a obtíže v exekutivních funkcích (Cousins & Smyth, 2003;Kirby, Edwards, & Sugden, 2011;Kirby et al, 2008). Přesto se dosud neví, jak se zhoršená motorická koordinace vyvíjí během adolescence, která je obdobím konečného neurokognitivního dozrávání, nebo přesněji, jaké senzomotorické funkce podmiňují redukci či naopak přetrvávání motorických obtíží.…”

Neural Correlates of Developmental Coordination Disorder: The Mirror Neuron System Hypothesis

“…Functionally, individuals with DCD or developmental dyspraxia have trouble coordinating their movements to learn new fine and gross motor tasks required to perform instrumental daily activities, such as tying shoelaces, dressing, handwriting, playing sports, and using playground equipment [1,3,12,13]. In addition, decreased educational performance and poor social emotional adjustment, perhaps a result of participation limitations, have been found in children, adolescents, and adults with developmental coordination disorders [14][15][16][17].…”

“…Although DCD is most apparent in childhood when many new skills are acquired and motor milestones are tracked, an increasing body of evidence reveals that many with the disorder continue to have difficulties with coordination and have reduced participation in motor tasks during adolescence and adulthood [15][16][17][26][27][28][29]. In a longitudinal study of children with DCD beginning when the children were 5 years old, Cantell, Smyth, and Ahonen [26] found that a subset of participants with relatively more severe motor impairments compared to other participants continued to have motor difficulties at age 17.…”