The disorder can occur in both males and females, but it is significantly more common in males. The core symptom of developmental coordination disorder is the acquisition and execution of coordinated motor skills being substantially below the child’s chronological age and opportunity for skill learning and use. These difficulties are manifested as clumsiness (e.g., dropping or bumping into objects) as well as slowness and inaccuracy of performance of motor skills (e.g., catching an object, using scissors or cutlery, handwriting, riding a bike, or participating in sports). Some of the physical characteristics of a child with developmental coordination disorder include:
- Difficulty with gross motor and/or fine motor skills
- Delayed in developing certain motor skills (e.g., doing up buttons, catching a ball)
- Has difficulty learning new motor tasks
- Difficulty coordinating both sides of the body (e.g., cutting with scissors)
- Difficulty with balance
- Difficulty with activities that require constant changes in his/her body position (e.g., jumping rope, baseball)
- Difficulty with handwriting or printing
Other terms used to describe developmental coordination disorder include childhood dyspraxia, specific developmental disorder of motor function, and clumsy child syndrome.
Adults with developmental coordination disorder may experience the following symptoms:
- Joint laxity
- Poor posture
- Difficulty organizing their thoughts on to paper
- Poor time management
- Difficulty organizing themselves, their belongings, and their children
- Weak short-term auditory memory
- Poor concentration
- Visual perceptual problems
- Poor social skills
- Low self-esteem
- Poor confidence