Toward An Understanding of Developmental Coordination Disorder:Terminological and Diagnostic Issues

[摘要] Awareness of children who experienceunexpected difficulty in the acquisition ofmotor skills has increased dramatically over thelast twenty years. Although the positing of adistinct syndrome has proven seminal inprovoking further questions, several basicterminological problems remain unresolved. Inthis paper, we conduct a component analysis ofthe three, principal competing labels for thisdisorder, two of them being elements derivedfrom systematic diagnostic frameworks. Ourpreference for the DSM IV termDevelopmentalCoordination Disorder(DCD) is stated findjustified. Problems in diagnosis are discussed,especially in relation to the etiology-dominatedmedical model. We argue that an attempt shouldbe made to identify (pathological) positive signsthat can reliably be detected rather than relyingentirely on normative evidence of a lack ofskills exhibited by other children of the sameage. The high degree of overlap between DCDand other developmental disorders suggeststhat DCD might not constitute a distinctsyndrome. In this context, we emphasize theneed to determine whether incoordination takesa different form when it occurs alone orwhether it is combined with generaldevelopmental delay or with other specificdisorders in children of normal intelligence.

[学科分类] 精神健康和精神病学