Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)

Symptoms of the disability might appear as early as childhood, and they may change throughout life. In kindergarten, children possibly demonstrate difficulty tying their shoelaces or controlling their rhythm while working in the garden or interacting with multiple objects. At school age, they may have difficulty practicing writing, organizing equipment, or playing motor games. Throughout adulthood, this manifests in driving, time management, spatial orientation, meal preparation, and avoidance of physical activity.
It is important to note that the difficulty is reflected not only in performing but also in motor learning, for example while estimating the distance between a car and a crosswalk or planning how to catch a ball.

DCD is a chronic disability the person endures throughout his or her life. 
To make an accurate diagnosis, it is necessary to determine the cause of the difficulty and whether it can be explained (according to the criteria defined) and then make a differential diagnosis.
These disabilities often co-occur with other disabilities such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
DCD is diagnosed by a multidisciplinary team of physicians, occupational therapists or physiotherapists (Blank et al., 2019).

The occupational therapy process begins with an evaluation that attempts to determine what causes the difficulty with functioning and participating. As part of this process, standard questionnaires, interviews and observations of how a person performs various tasks are used to examine how the difficulties affect their daily functioning.

Occupational therapists use different approaches and tools in their interventions for people with DCD. Approaches include using various motor skills, such as tying shoelaces and typing, in addition to using cognitive tools to complete tasks.
An occupational therapist helps a person analyze the characteristics of the activity and promote it in the day-to-day natural environment according to its characteristics. In some cases, we recommend modifying the environment or using an aid device.
Through these occupational therapy processes, people with DCD improve their quality of life, as well as their self-image and self-efficacy.

The questions we ask relate to past and current skills, such as: How did you learn to ride a bicycle, and did you have difficulties compared to your peers? When and how did you obtain your driving license? During a meal, how does your environment look?

The task also is evaluated based on its quality, how much effort is needed, and how long it takes.

As part of this process, we will also examine how you deal with the difficulties, if and how the physical and human environment helps you, and how the difficulties affect your daily functioning and participation in various social settings.