Developmental Coordination Disorder Interventions for Children
Developmental Coordination Disorder Interventions for Children: 10 Research Based Tips
Do you work with children who have developmental coordination disorder (DCD)? Or perhaps you are a parent of a child with DCD. Here are several, research based, developmental coordination disorder interventions for children to help then succeed.
- Encourage practice of functional tasks required in the daily routine and everyday life.
- Practice multiple, short sessions versus one long session i.e. practice a skill 5 minutes per day versus 35 minutes/week.
- Vary the practice sessions.
- Facilitate the use of cognitive strategies. Ask the child to set goals, to self check skills and problem solve.
- Break down large tasks into smaller chunks.
- Use movement activities in different social settings in order for child to practice skills in a group setting.
- Change the rules of games in order for the child to participate if necessary (i.e. change the size of a basketball hoop to be larger or lower down to the ground).
- Differentiate the levels of activities if necessary. (i.e some students speed walk some students skip during a game of tag).
- Little by little, increase the difficulty of the skills being taught. Change one aspect of the skill at a time. For example, practice kicking a large, stationary ball. Next practice kicking a smaller stationary ball. Next, kick a large, moving ball from 10 feet.
- When the child begins to show progress offer praise and encouragement. Slowly reduce the amount of support you provide i.e. less verbal cues or decrease pre-teaching of skills.
Wow! That is a big list of helpful developmental coordination disorder interventions for children. Reflect on how many strategies you use with children who have DCD. Review your plan of action to see what you change to help children succeed.
Reference: UK DCD Concensus. Information for Allied Health Professionals on DCD. Retrieved from the web on 2/7/14 at http://www.movementmattersuk.org/dcd-dyspraxia-adhd-spld/developmental-disorders-documentation/information-for-allied-health-professionals.aspx.
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Read more about Developmental Coordination Disorder.
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