An Explorative Retrospective Video Analysis of Movement Quality in Infants Later Diagnosed with Developmental Coordination Disorder.
Simple checklist scoring of 18-month home videos flags babies who will later be diagnosed with DCD or DCD-plus-autism.
01Research in Context
What this study did
De Roubaix et al. (2025) watched old home videos of babies who were later diagnosed with developmental coordination disorder (DCD).
They used a simple 12-item checklist called the OMQ scale to rate how smooth, balanced, and varied each baby’s movements looked at 18–24 months.
Videos came from three groups: babies who later got only DCD, babies who got both DCD and autism, and typically developing peers.
What they found
Babies who later received any DCD diagnosis showed lower movement quality scores than typical peers.
The lower the score, the more trouble the same children had on later motor tests, showing the early scores matter.
How this fits with other research
Thomas et al. (2021) extends these results: in a large survey of school-age kids, 85% with autism also met risk cut-offs for DCD, proving the DCD-ASD overlap continues well beyond infancy.
De Bock et al. (2017) used a similar video method but at 1–3 months; they found that abnormal “general movements” predicted later delays in preterm babies, showing early video coding works for different risks and ages.
Lizon et al. (2024) looks contradictory at first—they claim autism and DCD need different rehab plans—but their study tested older children directly, while Amy scored baby home footage, so the two pieces complement rather than clash.
Why it matters
You can spot clumsy, stiff, or repetitive movement patterns on toddler videos long before a DCD diagnosis is made. If parents already share phone clips, score them with the free OMQ checklist; low scores give you an early heads-up to start motor play, refer to OT, and monitor progress without waiting until school-age referrals pile up.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Pull a recent parent video, rate the child’s movement with the 12-item OMQ scale, and file the score in the skill-tracking sheet.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental condition affecting coordinated motor skill acquisition usually diagnosed after 5y. However, parents and clinicians report poorer movement quality at earlier ages. Using the 'Observable Movement Quality' scale (OMQ), we compared movement quality between children with typical development (TD), with DCD, and with DCD and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Using blinded retrospective video analysis, a trained physical therapist observed 5-min compilations of home videos at 6-12 m (n = 53), 12-18 m (n = 54), and 18-24 m (n = 47) followed by OMQ-scoring and a three-point scale for clinical judgement (will/might/will not develop DCD). A 15% sample was re-evaluated to assess intra-rater reliability using Spearman coefficients. OMQ group performance was assessed using Kruskal-Wallis tests, while dichotomized (good/poor quality) data were examined with Fisher exact tests. OMQ scores' association with later motor performance (MABC-2 and DCDQ) was analysed via Spearman coefficients. Cramer's V determined the strength of association between clinical judgment and diagnostic outcome. Intra-rater reliability for total OMQ score was strong (rs = 0.79, p ≤ 0.001). Reduced movement quality was found at 18-24 m in children with DCD (median 69, interquartile range [IQR] 10) and DCD+ASD (median 69, IQR 14) compared to TD children (median 74, IQR 2) (p ≤ 0.001). Five times more compilations in the DCD groups demonstrated poor overall movement quality at 18-24 m. At 18-24 m, movement quality correlated strongly with MABC-2 (rs = 0.66) and DCDQ (rs = 0.67). The therapist correctly identified 63-67% of DCD and DCD+ASD children respectively (Cramer's V = 0.62, p ≤ 0.001). These findings underscore the importance of investigating movement quality as a potential early feature of DCD.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2025 · doi:10.1016/j.ejpn.2012.05.005