How developmental coordination disorder affects daily life: The adolescent perspective.
Teens with DCD say their biggest handicaps are social and emotional, not just motor—so interview the teen, not only the parent, when you plan care.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Khairati et al. (2024) asked teens with developmental coordination disorder to describe their daily lives. The team held open-ended interviews with adolescents who have DCD. They wanted to hear, in the teens' own words, what parts of life feel hardest.
What they found
The teens reported struggles in four main areas: moving their bodies, thinking and remembering, making friends, and handling emotions. They said clumsiness touches almost every hour of the day. Support from family, teachers, and peers helped them cope.
How this fits with other research
Tal-Saban et al. (2023) asked parents the same question and got different answers. Parents noticed daily hassles too, but they often rated the problems as smaller than their teens did. This mismatch shows why you should interview both the teen and the parent before writing goals.
Kumar et al. (2025) found that younger children with both ADHD and motor problems had lower quality-of-life scores. The new teen study says the hit to quality of life comes from more than just ADHD; even teens with pure DCD feel broad daily stress.
Van Damme et al. (2015) saw that most teens with behavior disorders also had poor motor scores. That paper looked at behavior-first kids, while Fouziah looked at motor-first kids. Both groups end up with similar social exclusion, so the setting of referral (behavior clinic vs motor clinic) should not change your social-skills screening.
Why it matters
BCBAs often write goals for handwriting or tying shoes, but these teens say the real pain is feeling left out and misunderstood. Add goals for social initiation, self-advocacy, and emotional regulation. Ask the teen directly what support looks like to them, then balance parent input with the teen's voice.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Few studies have focused on the implications of developmental coordination disorder (DCD) in the teen years. Understanding the unique needs of adolescents with DCD and the challenges they face are imperative to inform clinical care. AIM: To understand how DCD affects daily life from adolescents living with the disorder. METHODS: Participants were recruited from a database of adolescents who were formally diagnosed with DCD in childhood. Nineteen semi-structured interviews of adolescents with DCD (13-18 years) were conducted and analyzed using an interpretive description approach. RESULTS: Data analysis revealed four overarching themes: (1) Through the years; (2) Standing out, left out, opting out; (3) Rising into Resilience; and (4) Help me to be me. Adolescents with DCD face challenges in physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and mental health domains, but their success can be optimized through provision of support, fostering social connections, the use of strategies, and increasing public understanding. Few services currently exist for adolescents with DCD, as treatment is not standard of care. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Insights gained from this study provide client-centred evidence to advocate for intervention for adolescents with DCD, and guide recommendations for clinical care and community support to meet the needs of this under-served population. WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS?: This paper qualitatively explores the lived experience of adolescents with DCD, adding to the limited research within this population. Expanding beyond the typical focus of motor challenges, this paper highlights the widespread influence of DCD on daily life, including in cognitive, mental health, and social-emotional domains. Common environmental contexts that exacerbate challenges during adolescent years are explored, including high school PE class and electives, learning to drive, beginning employment, and preparing for post-secondary education. Through an interpretive description methodology, this paper delves into clinical and practical solutions to support adolescents with DCD, from an individualized and client-centered perspective.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2024 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2023.104640