Dr Judith Gentle

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), also known as dyspraxia, affects 5-15% of school-aged children (Hamilton and Sutton, Am Fam Physician 66:1435, 2002) and significantly impacts a child's ability to learn motor skills and perform everyday activities efficiently and effectively (Zwicker et al., Eur J Paediatr Neurol 16:573-81, 2012). These motor deficits can have a negative impact on academic performance, vocational choices and leisure pursuits (Zwicker et al., Eur J Paediatr Neurol 16:573-81, 2012) and profoundly impact quality of life (Izadi-Najafabadi et al., Res Dev Disabil 84:75-84, 2019). DCD persists into adulthood (Kirby et al., J Adult Dev 18:107-13, 2011), impacting motor as well as emotional and behavioural status (Tal Saban and Kirby, Curr Dev Disord Rep 5:9-17, 2018). Despite the continued increase in research in the field of DCD, awareness of DCD remains poor (O'Kelly NL., From invisibility to invincibility: Guidelines for supporting families through the diagnosis and journey with developmental coordination disorder, 2012) even though it has higher prevalence rates when compared to, for example, autism spectrum disorder (Yan et al., J Autism Dev Disord :1-7, 2024), which in part may be due to a lack of accessible research findings. A fundamental feature of the research process is disseminating research findings. This should involve community members in design and delivery to ensure the accessibility of research findings.In 2022 the DCD-UK committee established a DCD Research Advisory Group (DCD-RAG) which met over the course of 12 months to: (1) identify issues of inaccessible research findings; (2) determine the need for a repository for research summaries; (3) co-create guidelines for authors and (4) agree a process for reviewing research summaries to be housed on the Movement Matters website. The new co-produced research repository, author guidelines and process were launched at the DCD-UK conference in Manchester 2023 and subsequently shared on social media and through the DCD research email list. The creation of the DCD-RAG and the process that we undertook together to create a non-academic repository for DCD research summaries are described. It is hoped that this repository will enable the wider public, community members and professionals to be able to readily benefit from accessible research, increasing a deeper and broader understanding of the evidence in the field.

Navigation skills are essential for independent living as they allow us to explore our environment; find our way to new locations, refine pathways to familiar locations and retrace our route home. Alongside motor coordination difficulties, there is evidence that individuals with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD/Dyspraxia) experience spatial processing difficulties, which are known to negatively affect navigation abilities. However, although self-reports indicate that adults with DCD have difficulties with sense of direction and navigation, no known studies have measured navigation abilities and strategies in adults with DCD. Furthermore, given evidence that individuals with DCD report higher levels of anxiety, we will additionally investigate associations between anxiety and navigation in this group. This study compares navigation abilities, navigation strategies and spatial anxiety in adults with and without DCD. Participants include 226 Adults aged 18–55 years, across two groups 1) DCD (N = 138, 111 F:25 M; 2:Other) 2); Typically Developing (N = 88, 77 F: 11 M). In this cross-sectional study, participants completed a series of tasks on the online Qualtrics platform. This included the Adult Developmental Coordination Disorder Checklist, the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, the Wayfinding Anxiety Measure, the Wayfinding Questionnaire, the Wayfinding Strategy Questionnaire, and a navigation task. Our analysis shows that 1) compared to those with typical development, individuals with DCD have similar navigation performance but lower navigation and orientation scores, and distance estimation scores. 2) Movement co-ordination difficulties were only a significant predictor of landmark recognition and egocentric path route knowledge, and played no role for other aspects of navigation performance. 3) For wayfinding strategy use the DCD group used orientation strategies significantly less often than those with typical development, however there was no group difference in the use of route strategies. 4) The DCD group had significantly higher spatial anxiety scores across navigation, manipulation and imagery spatial sub-domains, even after controlling for general anxiety. 5) Spatial navigation anxiety was a significant predictor of navigational skill for all three wayfinding measures (navigation & orientation, distance estimation and spatial anxiety). The findings establish benchmarks of navigational skills in DCD and highlight spatial anxiety and route strategies as factors that may inhibit navigation success and could help specify suitable intervention targets. •This was the first study to investigate navigational abilities in adults with DCD.•Compared to controls, individuals with DCD have similar navigation performance but lower navigation and orientation scores, and distance estimation scores. The DCD group had higher spatial anxiety scores across navigation, manipulation and imagery spatial sub-domains.•Navigational difficulty in DCD extends across multiple domains, and greater difficulty is positively associeted with movement difficulty.•Findings establish benchmarks of navigational skills in DCD; spatial anxiety, orientation and route strategies are factors inhibiting success.

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD/Dyspraxia) is a commonly misunderstood and under-recognized specific learning difficulty (SpLD) in educational settings. This lifelong condition affects fine and gross motor coordination and significantly interferes with many activities of daily living, academic achievement, and employment opportunities. However, most Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are unaware of its prevalence within their context, even though 5% of the general population have DCD and the enrolment of students in UK Higher Education with a known disability has increased by 42.4% between 2018 and 2023. Thus, understanding the lived experiences of students with DCD within Higher Education in the UK remains a considerable gap in knowledge. Through the use of focus groups, the lived experiences of 10 students with DCD at two UK HEIs were investigated. The thematic analysis identified four main themes: 'Awareness of DCD', 'Participation in Higher Education for individuals with DCD', 'Wellbeing', and 'Everyday living'. Students shared that HEIs appeared to lack awareness of DCD and felt they had an inability to specify the correct support at university. Importantly, whilst the students in the study were not always confident in identifying the specific support they needed, they shared the strategies they used to aid their university experience. The students described the physical toll that many everyday living tasks can take, which subsequently negatively impact academic participation and wellbeing. On a positive note, many of the students discussed positive experiences at university, such as enjoying their own autonomy (and flexibility) to be independent and inform strategies for their own learning. Importantly, the findings from this work highlight the complexity and heterogeneity of DCD and the need for a tailored approach to supporting individuals with this condition. Given the importance of educational qualifications to enter the workplace, and the contribution of employment to quality of life, these findings help signpost areas where HEIs can improve the experiences of students with DCD that may also enhance academic success.

Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a movement disorder in which atypical sensory processing may underly movement atypicality. However, whether altered sensory processing is domain-specific or global in nature, are unanswered questions. Here, we measured for the first time, different aspects of sensory processing and spatiotemporal integration in the same cohort of adult participants with DCD (N = 16), possible DCD (pDCD, N = 12) and neurotypical adults (NT, N = 28). Haptic perception was reduced in both DCD and the extended DCD + pDCD groups when compared to NT adults. Audio-visual integration, measured using the sound-induced double flash illusion, was reduced only in DCD participants, and not the DCD + pDCD extended group. While low-level sensory processing was altered in DCD, the more cognitive, higher-level ability to infer temporal dimensions from spatial information, and vice-versa, as assessed with Tau-Kappa effects, was intact in DCD (and extended DCD + pDCD) participants. Both audio-visual integration and haptic perception difficulties correlated with the degree of self-reported DCD symptoms and were most apparent when comparing DCD and NT groups directly, instead of the expanded DCD + pDCD group. The association of sensory difficulties with DCD symptoms suggests that perceptual differences play a role in motor difficulties in DCD via an underlying internal modelling mechanism.

Background Symmetry between the left and right side of the body during locomotion is key in a coordinated gait cycle and is also thought to be important in terms of efficiency. Although previous studies have identified aspects of the gait cycle which are atypical in children and adults with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), studies have not considered whether this could be explained by asymmetrical gait. Method and procedure The current study included 62 participants with and 62 without DCD (aged 7–34 years). Participants were asked to walk continuously for 1 min up and down a walkway while movement was captured using an optical tracking system. Measures of step length and step time were taken for both the right and the left leg and symmetry ratios were calculated. Results The DCD group showed significantly higher symmetry ratios for both measures compared to the typically developing (TD) group, with approximately a third of DCD participants falling outside the normative range for symmetry. Furthermore, a relationship was found between movement variability and degree of asymmetry. Conclusions These findings demonstrate an asymmetry in the gait of individuals with DCD which, despite improving with age, does not reach the same level as that shown by TD individuals.

Two paradigms were employed to disentangle information processing from executive motor inhibition in adults with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Choice Reaction and Stop Signal Tasks were compared between 13 adults fulfilling DSM-5 DCD criteria and 42 typically developing adults. Additional analyses included 16 probable DCD (pDCD) participants, who had motor difficulties but did not fulfil DSM-5 criteria. Analyses employed frequentist and Bayesian modeling. While DCD+pDCD showed slower reaction times and difficulty initiating Go responses, no impairments in Stop actions were found. These findings indicated no executive deficit in DCD, suggesting that previous results may be explained by inefficient information processing.

Learning to drive is a significant event for the transition to adulthood and delay or avoidance may have social, practical, and psychological implications. For those with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD/Dyspraxia), driving presents a considerable challenge, and the literature shows that there are differences in driving ability between individuals with and without DCD. The aim of the current research is to further our understanding of the mechanisms underlying the driving experiences of individuals with DCD. Nineteen participants with DCD (10 drivers and 9 non-drivers) and 36 controls (17 drivers and 19 non-drivers) aged 18–57 years took part in this study. Participants completed standardized tests, questionnaires and a driving simulation task designed to measure speed, road positioning, and rate of change of steering in three conditions with increasing perceptual complexity. Results indicate that behaviors for all participants changed as the perceptual demands of the task increased. However, drivers with DCD were more affected than all other groups, driving more slowly, and driving further to the right. These findings illustrate how the impact of both internal and external constraints negatively affect the success of the driving task for individuals with DCD compared to their TD peers.

Humans are highly social creatures who use others' movements to evaluate their social competencies. Smooth movement specifically signals an attractive, trustworthy or competent person. Those with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), have peer relationship difficulties and lower sociometric preference scores. However, the relationship of perception of poor movement coordination to stereotyping has not been directly demonstrated. We aimed to describe typically developing individuals' social stereotyping of individuals with and without DCD from minimal visual cues. 3D motion capture tracked the movement of four ‘targets’ (two adult males with DCD and two male controls) in a variety of everyday scenarios. Kinematic footage of the target's movements was presented as a point-light-display to 319 typically developing adults who used The Rating Scale of Social Competence to report perceptions of the target's social competencies. Targets with DCD were rated as having significantly lower social competence (M = 3.37, SD = 0.93) than controls (M = 3.46, SD = 0.89) t(269) = −5.656; p 

Previous studies have shown that children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD)/Dyspraxia have poorer maths performance compared to their neurotypical (NT) counterparts. However, no studies have explored the cognitive and emotional factors affecting the maths performance of adults with DCD. This study, therefore, investigated the role of working memory (WM), maths anxiety (MAS), and maths self-efficacy on the maths performance of adults with DCD. We found that adults with DCD had lower WM and maths performance and were more maths anxious than their NT peers. However, there were no significant differences in maths self-efficacy. When looking at the predictors of maths performance, we found a positive relationship between WM resources and the DCD maths performance, possibly indicating that they relied more on WM resources to perform simple mental arithmetic tasks than NTs. On the other hand, MAS had an inverse relationship with the NT maths performance but not with the DCD performance. The reasons and implications of these findings will be discussed. •Adults with DCD had lower working memory (WM) and maths performance than neurotypical (NT) peers.•Adults with DCD were more anxious about maths compared to NTs.•There were no significant differences in maths self-efficacy.•We found a positive relationship between WM resources and the DCD maths performance.•Maths anxiety (MAS) had an inverse relationship with the NT maths performance.

This qualitative study explored the childhood experiences of growing up with a sibling with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) to offer an ‘outsider’s’ view of this condition. Ten individuals who had grown up with a sibling with DCD were interviewed about their experiences. Data were analysed using Thematic Analysis. Analysis described three main themes: i)‘witnessing the challenges for their sibling with DCD’ ii) ‘experiencing the impact on the family’; iii) ‘a vacuum of knowledge’. Not all experiences were negative and transcending these themes was the notion ‘resolution and finding benefit’ highlighting access to support, being more empathic and resilient, becoming a role model for others and finding success. Participants play witness to their sibling’s experiences which can often be negative sometimes impacted by a vacuum of knowledge but they also describe how a diagnosis of DCD comes with some benefits which are discussed in the context of ‘posttraumatic growth’.

Given the importance of walking in everyday life, understanding why this is challenging for some populations is particularly important. Studies focusing on gait patterns of individuals with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have shown that whilst increased variability is characteristic of walking patterns for this group, differences in spatio-temporal gait variables seem only to arise when task demands increase. However, these differences occur under rather artificial conditions, for example using a treadmill. The aim of this study, therefore was to examine the step characteristics of individuals with and without DCD whilst walking along an irregular terrain. Thirty-five individuals with DCD aged 8–32 years and 35 age and gender-matched controls participated in this study. Participants were divided into 3 age groups; 8–12 years (n = 12), 13–17 years (n = 12) and 18–32 years (n = 11). Participants walked up and down a 6 m walkway for two minutes on two terrains: level and irregular. VICON 3D motion analysis was used to extract measures of foot placement, velocity and angle of the head and trunk. Results showed that both groups adapted their gait to negotiate the irregular terrain, but the DCD group was more affected than their TD peers; walking significantly slower with shorter, wider steps and inclining their head more towards the ground. This suggests an adaptive approach used by individuals with DCD to preserve stability and increase visual sampling whilst negotiating an irregular terrain.