You are in the park with your child. You play ball and run around the park. You are enjoying yourselves. The suddenly, one child catches your eye. This child keeps on tripping on his own feet and is having a problem catching the ball. The kid is playing catch with his family but the ball keeps falling and he cannot seem to catch it. However, no matter how many times the kid fails to catch the ball, the mother does not seem to be annoyed. This is an example of a child having developmental coordination disorder.

What is developmental coordination disorder? It is a disorder in childhood that is marked by poor coordination and clumsiness. This is diagnosed on children whose motor coordination does not develop normally. When you say motor coordination, these are the coordination of movements that involve voluntary muscles. Therefore, any movement that can be controlled such as holding, walking, running and the like.

There are many other names that are linked to developmental coordination disorder. Some of the names are clumsy child syndrome, clumsiness, developmental disorder of motor function and congenital maladroitness. This is usually first recognized when the child fails to reach a normal milestone in development such as walking or beginning to dress himself or herself.

Children with this disorder usually have difficulty when doing tasks that require the involvement of both large and small muscles. To a normal child, these tasks are menial and very easy. But to a child with developmental coordination disorder, it is very frustrating even with a task as to forming letters when writing. However, it does not mean that they are totally not functional. That is the problem here. Most people would automatically assume that these kids are not functional in any way. But in truth, these kids have often developed normally in other aspects. However, the disorder can be a problem to children especially when it affects their social and academic life. They will often have low self-esteem and would rather stay in one corner than choose to participate in activities on the playground. Why? Because, they cannot play well. They cannot run properly or even catch a ball. Rather than feel humiliated and be humiliated, they would choose to sit quietly in the corner, all alone. However, their friends and other children might misunderstand and instead of helping the kid with the disorder, they would taunt him, reject him and eventually make him an outcast. This will definitely affect the child’s confidence.

Some children with this disorder would also choose not to develop any academic interest even if they have normal intelligence because they are having problems forming letters or even drawing pictures. Because of this, they get really upset and discouraged.

Developmental coordination disorder can either appear on its own or be in conjunction with other learning disorders such as communication disorder. But as with any disease or disorder, the child can be helped if this is diagnosed early. It will be much harder for the child to cope when the diagnosis is late.

Author Bio: Sharon Campbell enjoys writing for Uniformhaven.com which sells dickies scrubs and baby phat lab coat as well as a host of additional products.

Category: Self Help
Keywords: coordination disorder,developmental coordination disorder,developmental coordination