Facilitating Diagnosis

Facilitating a diagnosis of DCD can help validate parental concerns, decrease their anxiety and facilitate access to services

  • PTs may be the first to recognize DCD. You can facilitate a diagnosis by observing the child performing everyday motor activities, and providing information to the physicians and/or psychologists who are able to diagnose DCD.
  • Help families to understand that many health professionals have limited experience with DCD. Suggest that they share DCD: A Flyer for Medical Practitioners with their physician.
  • As DCD often co-occurs with other development conditions such as ADHD, PTs need to be aware and make appropriate referrals to address all developmental concerns.
The following criteria are used by physicians to diagnose DCD:
  1. Learning and execution of coordinated motor skills is below age level given the child's opportunity for skill learning.
  2. Motor difficulties significantly interfere with activities of daily living, academic productivity, prevocational and vocational activities, leisure and play.
  3. Onset is in the early developmental period.
  4. Motor coordination difficulties are not better explained by intellectual delay, visual impairment, or other neurological conditions that affect movement

(Diagnostic & Statistical Manual 5th edition, 2013)

Facilitating a DCD Diagnosis
  • Criterion A: Information from a standardized, norm-referenced test such as the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (MABC-2) or the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, Second Edition (BOT-2) can provide helpful information about a child’s motor impairment or motor skill delay (see 'Related Videos' below).
  • Criterion B: Interview parents and ask about the impact of the motor delay on everyday activity (see 'Related Videos' below). The DCD-Q is a useful tool to structure your interview and document parents' concerns.
  • If it is not possible to interview parents, tools like the MABC Checklist can be used with teachers.
The Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (the DCDQ)

Wilson, B. N., Kaplan, B. J., Crawford, S. G., Campbell, A., & Dewey, D. (2000). Reliability and validity of a parent questionnaire on childhood motor skills. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 54(5), 484-493.


The questionnaire can be downloaded from the DCD-Q questionnaire website

This video illustrates the performance of a child with DCD and a typically developing child on a previous edition of the MABC.

Question for Reflection
Why is DCD more prevalent in children born prematurely or with low birth weight?
Click here for some thoughts on this question
Why is DCD more prevalent in children born prematurely or with low birth weight?

Since the etiology of DCD is not fully understood, we do not know specifically why DCD is more prevalent in children born prematurely or with low birth weight. To date, no causal association has been made between brain development, prematurity, birth weight, or neonatal care and DCD. However, ongoing research in this area is underway.

So what about Max?
Even if Max's parents have already consulted with their family physician about their concerns, you may want to encourage them to follow-up again, and provide them with resources about DCD specifically designed for physicians that they can share.