Intervention for young children displaying coordination disorders

Abstract

The years from 3 to 6 are a time when children develop fundamental movement skills that are the building blocks for the functional movements they use throughout their lives. By 6 years of age, a typically developing child will have in place a full range of movement skills, including, running, jumping, hopping, skipping, climbing, throwing, catching, kicking, striking, writing and drawing. These will not necessarily be performed in a competent manner, but the rudiments are there to be developed through later refinement, combination, adaptation and exploration. However, some children on entry into school do not have a full range of these fundamental skills, and this lack of competence in motor skills often affects their academic work and activities of daily living. This study concentrates on the years 3–6 and aims to examine the efficacy of graded intervention programmes for children identified with coordination difficulties and involved working with nurseries, schools and parents. A total of 35 children with coordination difficulties were identified and individual profiles mapped out. The study lasted for 2 years, including assessment and periods of intervention and no intervention. The children were assessed regularly throughout the project using the Early Years Movement Skills Checklist together with diaries and comments from teachers and parents. The children as a group made significant improvement in their motor skills giving cautious optimism to a graded intervention approach. At the end of the study, 32 children had improved their motor skills, and although the remaining three children improved their coordination skills, their test scores remained below the 5th percentile of the Early Years Movement Skills Checklist. Profiles of individual children illustrate the different progression children made. This study has shown that graded intervention programmes for children identified with coordination difficulties have been found to be effective.