Teaching Throwing and Catching to Children with DCD

Developmental Coordination Disorder and Sensory Processing

The British Journal of Occupational Therapy published research on children with developmental coordination disorder and sensory difficulties to examine the co-occurrence of developmental coordination disorders and sensory processing and integration difficulties.

Data was collected by reviewing the records of 93 children who were diagnosed with developmental coordination disorder (ages 5-12) and who were evaluated with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children – 2 and the Sensory Processing Measure.

The results indicated the following:

• 88% exhibited some or definite differences in sensory processing and integration.
• no apparent relationship was observed between motor coordination and sensory processing and integration.
• all the children showed high rates of some difficulties in social participation, hearing, body awareness, balance and motion, and planning and ideation.
• children with co-morbid autistic spectrum disorder showed high rates of difficulties with touch and vision.

The researchers concluded that the majority of children with developmental coordination disorder presented with some difficulties in sensory processing and integration that impacted on their participation in everyday activities.

Reference:  Allen, S., & Casey, J. (2017). Developmental coordination disorders and sensory processing and integration: Incidence, associations and co-morbidities. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 0308022617709183.

Simon Says is a HUGE collection of body position cards.  The complete download includes 68 full page body position cards, 13 stop cards, and 25 game ideas to use with the cards.  Children will enjoy practicing motor planning skills, body awareness, following directions and bilateral coordination skills while playing this fun but challenging game.  Make sure the right and left sides of the body match the pose correctly as well.  It is not as easy as it looks!

The best thing about the Simon Says packet is that if you want it requires NO PREP.  Just download (and print if you want) the PDF document and show the children the full size body position cards to copy.  As you move through the activity, the Simon Says Stop cards appear randomly and children can freeze in the position until you change it to the next card.  It doesn’t get any easier than this.

Simon Says is a wonderful extra activity to have available for brain breaks in the classroom, large group instruction or send home copies of the small cards with the game ideas for a home exercise program.

Simon Says – Find out more information.

 

The post Developmental Coordination Disorder and Sensory Processing appeared first on Your Therapy Source.

Physical Therapy Interventions and Developmental Coordination Disorder

The Journal of Motor Learning and Development published a review to identify the types of interventions in physical therapy contexts used in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and whether these interventions are effective.  The systemic search revealed 29 articles of moderate to good quality to analyze.  The results indicated that:

• task-oriented approaches as well as motor skill training–based interventions have shown beneficial effects in improving motor function in children with DCD.
• physical therapy interventions were effective compared to inaction.

The researchers recommend the use of task-oriented and traditional physical therapy interventions for children with DCD with clear goals and outcome measures for individual children.

Reference:  Offor, N., Ossom Williamson, P., & Caçola, P. (2016). Effectiveness of Interventions for Children With Developmental Coordination Disorder in Physical Therapy Contexts: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis. Journal of Motor Learning and Development, 4(2), 169-196.

25+ Bilateral Coordination Exercises Download of 28 bilateral coordination exercise sheets including QR codes with links to video demonstration of exercises. Also includes hand out explaining bilateral coordination.  Find out more information.

The post Physical Therapy Interventions and Developmental Coordination Disorder appeared first on Your Therapy Source.

Self Regulation Skills and Developmental Coordination Disorder

The Journal of Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics published observational research on self regulation skills and developmental coordination disorder (DCD).  The study included 15 children, with and without DCD and examined the differences in children’s use of self-regulatory and metacognitive skill during motor learning.  The self regulatory behavior of the participants was observed using a quantitative coding scheme and qualitative analysis of video-recorded sessions.  Data analysis indicated that children with DCD:

• exhibited less independent and more ineffective self-regulatory skills during motor learning than their typically developing peers.
• relied more heavily on external support for effective regulation.
• were more likely to exhibit negative patterns of motivational regulation.

The researchers concluded that children with DCD experience difficulty effectively self-regulating motor learning.

Reference:  Sangster Jokić, C. A., & Whitebread, D. (2016). Self-Regulatory Skill Among Children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder: An Exploratory Study. Physical & occupational therapy in pediatrics, 1-21.

Move~Work~Breathe is a self-regulation curriculum designed by a school based occupational therapist, Thia Triggs. This curriculum provides an effective, time-efficient structured system to provide classroom breaks, improve self-awareness and self advocacy and teach specific self-regulation skills so that kids have tools to use in their classrooms. This system will get kids moving, give them the benefits of a brain power boost [from getting their heart rate up], give them heavy work and isometrics to help them calm down, and help them learn techniques to quiet and control their bodies in order to return to their academic work. FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION.

The post Self Regulation Skills and Developmental Coordination Disorder appeared first on Your Therapy Source.

Kinesthetic Deficits in Developmental Coordination Disorder

Research in Developmental Disabilities published research comparing kinesthetic sensitivity in 30 children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and 30 typically developing (TD) children all between 6 and 11 years old. Each child put their forearms on a passive motion apparatus which extended the elbow joint at constant velocities.  The children had to focus on detecting passive arm motion and press a trigger held in their left hand once they sensed it. The detection time was measured each time.  

The results indicated the following:
1.  DCD group was significantly slower detecting passive motion than TD children.
2.  kinesthetic sensitivity was worse in DCD than TD children for age groups beyond six years of age suggesting that individuals with DCD lag behind their TD counterparts in kinesthetic sensitivity. 
3.  between the ages of 7 and 11 years the difference between groups is quantifiable and significant.
4.  11 year old children with DCD performed similar to 7 year old TD children.

Reference:  Kuan-yi Li et al.  Kinesthetic deficit in children with developmental coordination disorder. Research in Developmental Disabilities. Volume 38, March 2015, Pages 125–133

Now You See It, Now You Don't includes 20 worksheets to practice kinesthetic skills without visual input.  Some children rely too much on the visual system when completing visual motor activities.  These worksheets encourage a child to use his/her kinesthetic sense (where the body is in space) to complete a visual motor task rather than relying on the visual system.  The ebook includes 10 easier worksheets and 10 harder worksheets. The theme is animals and sports.  

Now You See It, Now You Don't encourages: kinesthetic memory, kinesthetic feedback and visual motor skills.

As with all our products, the activities are reproducible to use over and over again with all the children that you teach.  Download sample page from Now You See It, Now You Don't.

Remember this is an electronic book.  Following payment you will receive a link to download the book.  

To purchase the download for $1.99 with credit card of Now You See It, Now You Don't click on the ADD TO CART button. Following payment you will receive an email with a link to download the book.  

Core Stability Training Versus Task Oriented Training

Clinical Rehabilitation published research comparing core stability training versus task oriented training in improving motor proficiency in 22 children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD), ages 6-9 years old.  The intervention consisted of one time per week for 8 weeks, face to face sessions of either core stability exercises or task oriented training.  Children in both groups also were asked to carry out home exercise programs daily.  

For assessment, the Short Form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (Second Edition) and Sensory Organization Test were utilized pre- and post-intervention with the following results recorded:

1.  Intention-to-treat analysis revealed no significant between-group difference in the change of motor proficiency standard score and composite equilibrium score on the Sensory Organization Test 

2.  change after the intervention indicated significant improvement in motor proficiency in both the core stability and task-oriented training groups.

3.  the composite equilibrium score was significantly increased in the task-oriented training group, but not in the core stability group.

4.  with the task-oriented training group, compliance with the home program was positively correlated with change in motor proficiency and composite equilibrium score.

The researchers concluded that the core stability exercise program was as effective as task-oriented training in improving motor proficiency among children with DCD.

Reference:  Mei K Au et al.  Core stability exercise is as effective as task-oriented motor training in improving motor proficiency in children with developmental coordination disorder: a randomized controlled pilot study. Published online before print March 25, 2014, doi: 10.1177/0269215514527596 Clin Rehabil March 25, 2014 0269215514527596.

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Play Strong: Activities to Promote Muscle Strengthening in Children Through Play      By: Your Therapy Source Inc

Summary: Download of electronic book with activities to promote muscle strengthening in children.  Find out more information at http://yourtherapysource.com/playstrong.html

10 Intervention Tips for Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Here are several, research based, helpful intervention tips to follow when working with children with developmental coordination disorder:

1. Encourage practice of functional tasks required in the daily routine and everyday life.


2. Practice multiple, short sessions versus one long session i.e. practice a skill 5 minutes per day versus 35 minutes/week.


3. Vary the practice sessions.


4. Facilitate the use of cognitive strategies.  Ask the child to set goals, to self check skills and problem solve.


5. Break down large tasks into smaller chunks.


6. Use movement activities in different social settings in order for child to practice skills in a group setting.


7. Change the rules of games in order for the child to participate if necessary (i.e. change the size of a basketball hoop to be larger or lower down to the ground).


8. Differentiate the levels of activities if necessary. (i.e some students speed walk some students skip during a game of tag).


9. Little by little, increase the difficulty of the skills being taught.  Change one aspect of the skill at a time.  For example, practice kicking a large, stationary ball.  Next practice kicking a smaller stationary ball.  Next, kick a large, moving ball from 10 feet.


10. When the child begins to show progress offer praise and encouragement.  Slowly reduce the amount of support you provide i.e. less verbal cues or decrease pre-teaching of skills.

Reference:  UK DCD Concensus. Information for Allied Health Professionals on DCD. Retrieved from the web on 2/7/14 at http://www.movementmattersuk.org/dcd-dyspraxia-adhd-spld/developmental-disorders-documentation/information-for-allied-health-professionals.aspx.

Need more tips?

25 Tips Sheets for School Based Therapists

at 
http://yourtherapysource.com/tipsheets.html

Need activity ideas? 

 

 Play Move Develop 

at

http://yourtherapysource.com/playmove.html

10 Intervention Tips for Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Here are several, research based, helpful intervention tips to follow when working with children with developmental coordination disorder:

1. Encourage practice of functional tasks required in the daily routine and everyday life.
2. Practice multiple, short sessions versus one long session i.e. practice a skill 5 minutes per day versus 35 minutes/week.
3. Vary the practice sessions.
4. Facilitate the use of cognitive strategies.  Ask the child to set goals, to self check skills and problem solve. 
5. Break down large tasks into smaller chunks.  
6. Use movement activities in different social settings in order for child to practice skills in a group setting.
7. Change the rules of games in order for the child to participate if necessary (i.e. change the size of a basketball hoop to be larger or lower down to the ground).
8. Differentiate the levels of activities if necessary. (i.e some students speed walk some students skip during a game of tag).
9. Little by little, increase the difficulty of the skills being taught.  Change one aspect of the skill at a time.  For example, practice kicking a large, stationary ball.  Next practice kicking a smaller stationary ball.  Next, kick a large, moving ball from 10 feet.
10. When the child begins to show progress offer praise and encouragement.  Slowly reduce the amount of support you provide i.e. less verbal cues or decrease pre-teaching of skills.

Reference:  UK DCD Concensus. Information for Allied Health Professionals on DCD. Retrieved from the web on 2/7/14 at http://www.movementmattersuk.org/dcd-dyspraxia-adhd-spld/developmental-disorders-documentation/information-for-allied-health-professionals.aspx.

Need more tips?

25 Tips Sheets for School Based Therapists
at 
http://yourtherapysource.com/tipsheets.html



Need activity ideas? 

Play Move Develop 

at

http://yourtherapysource.com/playmove.html

Ophthalmic Abnormalities and Developmental Coordination Disorder

Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology published research on ophthalmic abnormalities in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). A cross sectional data analysis was performed with a coordination test, handwriting test and activities of daily living test used to classify children as having developmental coordination disorder. Out of the 7154 children, 1.8% were classified as having severe DCD and 215 children had moderate DCD. 

The results indicated the following:

1. children with severe DCD were more likely to have the following: abnormal sensory fusion at near and distance and motor fusion; reduced stereoacuity; hypermetropia and anisometropia. 
2. 71% of  the children found to have both DCD and a refractive error, had been previously prescribed glasses and wore them for the assessments.

The researchers concluded that children with severe DCD had abnormalities in binocular vision, refractive error, and ocular alignment. It is recommend that children with DCD be assessed for ocular abnormalities as early intervention may improve long-term visual outcome. 

As a PT, this sutdy makes me ponder are the coordination deficits of DCD the result of ophthalmic abnormalities?  If these visual abnormalities are corrected early does coordination improve?  If the visual abnormalities are corrected later does coordination improve? My guess is yes.  If you are not perceiving the environment around you correctly how do you learn to move your body through the environment correctly. Thoughts?

Reference: Ophthalmic abnormalities in children with developmental coordination disorder Alexandra L Creavin, Raghu Lingam, Kate Northstone and Cathy Williams Article first published online: 5 OCT 2013 | DOI: 10.1111/dmcn.12284  

Online Workshop About DCD

 CanChild now has an online workshop available specifically for parents of children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD).  It is about 60 minutes long and offers extensive information on DCD.  It is broken down into 6 subcategories: describing DCD (including an exercise to see what it is like to have DCD), DCD at school, DCD at home, DCD at play, strategies and how to spread the word. 

It is free so worth a look for providers and parents.

You can view it at the CanChild website.

DCD and Mental Health Issues

A prospective study analyzing 346 children with probable developmental coordination disorder will be published in Pediatrics.  Overall mental health was measured by using the child-reported Short Moods and Feelings Questionnaire and the parent-reported Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. The children who had probable DCD exhibited increased odds of self-reported depression and parent-reported mental health difficulties. When accounting for verbal IQ, social communication, bullying, and self-esteem, the odds of mental health difficulties significantly decreased. The researchers concluded that the mental health difficulties in the children with probably DCD were due to associated developmental difficulties, low verbal IQ, poor self-esteem, and bullying. The researchers recommend that mental health issues should be prevented and treated in children with DCD.

 The children in this study were not officially diagnosed with DCD. In my experience, many of the children with DCD that I have worked with exhibited low self esteem, were teased and some had anxiety. I actually found the opposite to be true for verbal IQ - many of the children had a high verbal IQ. What has been your experience with children who have DCD and mental health issues?

Reference: Raghu Lingam, Marian J. Jongmans, Matthew Ellis, Linda P. Hunt, Jean Golding, and Alan Emond. Mental Health Difficulties in Children With Developmental Coordination Disorder. Pediatrics peds.2011-1556; published ahead of print March 26, 2012, doi:10.1542/peds.2011-1556

Hand Out for School: Adolescents with DCD

Here is another great hand out from CanChild to print and share with school staff that work with adolescents with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Also includes suggestions how to MATCH the activity to the child:   

Modify the activity 

Alter your expectations   

Teach strategies

Change the environment 

Help by understanding

You can view the document below or find it on the web here.

There are several more great handouts using this MATCH model for students with DCD.  You can see them all here at CanChild.

Typing or Writing?

CanChild has a research based, informative hand out for school staff and parents on whether children with coordination problems should learn how to use a word processor or continue to focus on handwriting. It answers questions such as:

1. Why should children with DCD use a computer or word processor?
2. Does keyboarding mean we are giving up on handwriting?
3. Printing versus cursive writing?
4. Can children with fine motor problems learn how to type?
5. When is the best age to introduce key boarding?
6. What is the best way to teach keyboarding?
7. When is voice to text a good option?

You can view the handout below or download it from CanChild.



Reference: N. Pollock & C. Missiuna, 2005 To Write or Type - That is the Question. Retrieved from the web on 3/19/2011 at http://dcd.canchild.ca/en/EducationalMaterials/resources/DCD_Typing.pdf

DCD and Physical Education Class

CanChild, Centre for Childhood Disability Research has published a great flyer to provide to physical education teachers of students with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Then hand out explains DCD, describes the symptoms, and offers teaching tips. Check it out below or here.

Reaction Time and DCD

Pediatric Physical Therapy published research comparing the reaction time, movement time and peak force between 16 children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and 11 children age matched peers without DCD. The children were asked to reach and grasp a toy car that was sliding down an 8 degree or 15 degree slope. The results showed that the children with DCD failed 35% of the test trials. When the children were successful at grabbing the car, the children with DCD had significantly longer reaction times and movement time. They also generated a larger peak force. When the slope did increase to 15 degrees both groups could adjust their reaction and movement times.

Reference: Mak, M. Reaching and Grasping a Moving Target Is Impaired in Children With Developmental Coordination Disorder Pediatric Physical Therapy: Winter 2010 - Volume 22 - Issue 4 - p 384–391
doi: 10.1097/PEP.0b013e3181f9d885

DCD and PreTerm Low Birth Weight Babies

Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology published research comparing 132 eight year old children born at 27 weeks or less or less than 1000 grams with 154 term born children. Sixteen percent of the extremely preterm or extreme low birth weight babies had moderate developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Only five percent of the full term babies had DCD. The children with DCD had poorer academic outcomes for reading, spelling and arithmetic. Results from the Child Health Questionnaire Parent Report Form indicated that parents perceptions were not predictive of DCD. The authors recommend motor screens in this at risk population.

Reference: GEHAN et al. Developmental coordination disorder in geographic cohorts of 8-year-old children born extremely preterm or extremely low birthweight in the 1990s. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology Article first published online: 11 OCT 2010 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2010.03779.x

Developmental Coordination Disorder and Brain Activation

A small study was recently published in Pediatrics on developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and brain activation. Seven children, ages 8-12 years, with DCD and seven control subjects without DCD, performed a fine motor trail tracing task while undergoing functional MRI. The behavioral motor results of the fine motor trail tracing task were similar between the two groups. The MRI results indicated that the children with DCD used significantly more brain activation in the left inferior parietal lobule, right middle frontal gyrus, right supramarginal gyrus, right lingual gyrus, right parahippocampal gyrus, right posterior cingulate gyrus, right precentral gyrus, right superior temporal gyrus, and right cerebellar lobule VI, than the typically developing children. The researchers concluded that the children with DCD relied more on visuospatial processing to complete the fine motor activity.

Reference: Zwicker, Jill G., Missiuna, Cheryl, Harris, Susan R., Boyd, Lara A.
Brain Activation of Children With Developmental Coordination Disorder is Different Than Peers Pediatrics 2010 126: e678-e686

Parietal Cortex Involved in Proprioception

Recent research published in Current Biology reports on proprioception. Subjects had to determine information regarding touch AND location. The posterior parietal cortex was the brain area responsible to determine touch AND location. When magnetic stimulation was used to impair the subject's parietal cortex, the perception of touch or location alone was not decreased. It was only when the subject's were asked to define touch AND location, that the results were impaired.
This information could play a key role in determining how children develop a map of the body in space.

Reference: Part of the brain that tracks limbs in space discovered. Retrieved from the web on 7/26/10 at http://www.physorg.com/news198391893.html.

Developmental Coordination Disorder and Risk of Obesity

The Canadian Medical Association Journal published research on a study of over 2000 children from 4th through 6th grades. The children were screened for coordination disorders. One hundred eleven children had a potential diagnosis of developmental coordination disorder (DCD). The 111 children exhibited a higher body mass index and waist circumference in 4th grade which persisted throughout the two years they were followed. In addition, the children with potential DCD were at greater risk of being overweight or obese.

As pediatric therapists, we can help to educate parents and teachers on the signs and risks of DCD. In additional to providing therapeutic treatment for children with DCD, therapists can suggest modifications, accommodations and suitable sports/ recreational/leisure activities to encourage physical activity in this population of children.

Reference: Cairney, John, Hay, John, Veldhuizen, Scott, Missiuna, Cheryl, Mahlberg, Nadilein, Faught, Brent E Trajectories of relative weight and waist circumference among children with and without developmental coordination disorder CMAJ 2010 0: cmaj.091454

Recommended Evaluation Tools for Developmental Coordination Disorder

Pediatric Physical Therapy has published research analyzing seven performance based measures of gross motor skill development for use with children with developmental coordination disorder. The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC - Version 1)and the Test of Gross Motor Development Version 2 scored highest on the comparison. The researchers recommend starting with these two previously mentioned tests when evaluating gross motor performance in children with developmental coordination disorder.

Reference: Slater, Leanne M.; Hillier, Susan L.; Civetta, Lauren R.
The Clinimetric Properties of Performance-Based Gross Motor Tests Used for Children With Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Systematic Review Pediatric Physical Therapy. 22(2):170-179, Summer 2010. doi: 10.1097/PEP.0b013e3181dbeff0