Deficits in the covert orienting of attention in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: does severity of DCD count?

The team tested how fast kids with Developmental Coordination Disorder can shift their eyes. They split the kids into two groups: moderate DCD and severe DCD. A third group of typically developing kids served as the comparison.

Each child sat in front of a screen. A cue flashed on one side, then a target appeared. The gap between cue and target lasted 100, 400, or 800 ms. The kids had to look at the target as soon as it popped up.

At the 800 ms gap, both DCD groups were slower than the typical kids. The surprise: moderate and severe DCD were equally slow. Severity did not make the delay worse.

At shorter gaps, all groups looked about the same. The trouble only showed up when the kids had to wait almost a full second.

Knaier et al. (2023) ran a similar lab study with the same age range. They found kids with DCD move less accurately, yet they adapt to visual shifts just like peers. Together, the two papers say: the problem is not learning new rules, it is acting quickly and precisely.

Kleberg et al. (2017) tested covert orienting in preschoolers with autism. A short beep erased their speed gap. In contrast, Chen et al. (2012) saw no cue that helped DCD kids. The takeaway: auditory primes may aid ASD attention, but they do not fix the DCD delay.

Spanoudis et al. (2011) warned that most DCD studies ignore real-life tasks. This lab result backs their call: if shifting attention is slow in a game, it will be slower while dressing or writing.

You now know that any child with DCD, mild or severe, may need extra wait time before switching tasks. Build brief pauses into transitions, like “hands on knees” before giving the next instruction. Use visual timers so the child sees when the shift will happen. These tiny schedule tweaks cost nothing and can cut frustration for both you and the learner.