Developmental coordination disorder in children with specific language impairment: co-morbidity and impact on quality of life.
One in three kids with language impairment also has DCD, and together they lose ground in everyday independence and thinking skills.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team looked at 5- to 8-year-old children who already had specific language impairment.
They asked: how many of these kids also meet the rules for developmental coordination disorder?
Parents filled out a quality-of-life form about motor skills, autonomy, and thinking.
What they found
One in three children with language impairment also had DCD.
The kids who had both diagnoses scored lower on everyday independence and thinking skills.
Parents said the double hit hurt autonomy most.
How this fits with other research
Redondo-Tébar et al. (2021) show that even when DCD shows up alone, 4- to 7-year-olds still feel the quality-of-life drop.
Chezan et al. (2019) repeat the pattern in 8- to 11-year-olds with DCD only, so the link is solid across ages.
Lee et al. (2024) widen the lens: families of any child with DCD report heavy stress, proving the problem grows beyond the child.
Harrowell et al. (2018) track the same kids into high school and find they earn far fewer exams, tying early low autonomy to later school loss.
Why it matters
If you serve a child with SLI, screen for DCD before you write goals.
Add motor breaks, visual cues, and self-care targets to your plan.
Catch the combo early and you protect both independence and long-term learning.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Co-morbidity of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) in children with specific language impairment (SLI) and the impact of DCD on quality-of-life (QOL) was investigated in 65 5-8 year old children with SLI (43 boys, age 6.8±0.8; 22 girls, age 6.6±0.8). The prevalence of DCD was assessed using DSM-IV-TR criteria (American Psychiatric Association (APA), 2000) operationally defined in the clinical practice guideline (CPG): movement ABC scores below 15th percentile, scores on DCDQ and/or MOQ-T below 15th percentile, absence of medical condition according to paediatric-neurological exam. Quality of life (QOL) was measured with the TNO-AZL-Child-Quality-Of-Life (TACQOL) Questionnaire filled out by parents for the SLI group with and without DCD, and compared to a reference group (N=572; age 6.9±0.9). The TACQOL covers 7 QOL domains: physical, motor, cognitive and social functioning, autonomy, positive and negative moods. Prevalence of DCD in children with SLI was 32.3%. In children with SLI, mean QOL scores were significantly lower in the autonomy, cognitive, social and positive moods domains compared to the reference group. Children with SLI and DCD differed from children with SLI without DCD by significantly lower mean overall-, motor-, autonomy-, and cognitive domain-QOL scores. Clinicians should be aware that about one third of children with SLI can also be diagnosed with DCD. Assessment of QOL is warranted in order to assess which domains are affected in children with SLI with or without DCD.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2012.10.014