Editorial image for "Paediatric OT for developmental coordination disorder (DCD)" - clinical-but-warm tone.
What DCD looks like in practice
DCD is often missed for years. Families describe a child who 'tries hard but can't keep up' - slow with handwriting, avoids sport, struggles with cutlery, fumbles with buttons or laces.
By the time families reach OT the participation impact is usually broader than the motor difficulty itself: the child is opting out, anxious, or has been labelled lazy.
Approach
Goal-led, task-specific practice - typically using a CO-OP-informed approach where the child is part of the problem-solving. Generic 'gross motor' programs aren't usually what's needed.
Where handwriting is the bottleneck I will work toward functional written output and, when appropriate, recommend keyboard skills as a parallel track.
Working with schools
Classroom strategies for handwriting, fatigue, and self-paced output. Most of the gain for DCD comes from making the school environment match the child's actual capacity, not from after-school therapy alone.