Mastering Handwriting: How Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder Succeed with CO-OP

Abstract

Cognitive Orientation to (daily) Occupational Performance (CO-OP) is an intervention that facilitates motor skill acquisition in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). Preliminary research has recently begun to investigate the significance of the cognitive strategies fundamental to the CO-OP approach. This study aimed to elucidate the specific strategies used by children with DCD while addressing handwriting goals. In this descriptive study, four boys aged 6 to 11 years who had DCD were videotaped while engaging in 10 hour-long CO-OP treatment sessions over 5 consecutive weeks. Subsequently, 180 minutes of handwriting videotapes were randomly selected for systematic behavioral observation. Discussion, not practice, was the predominant tool employed to improve performance. Significantly, the children most often used strategies that increased their awareness and understanding of task requirements. This supports the theory that DCD represents the physical or motor manifestation of a learning problem.