Mathematical problems in children with developmental coordination disorder.

The team compared math skills in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and same-age peers.

They looked at how fast kids recalled number facts and how well they solved calculation problems.

The study used a quasi-experimental design—no random assignment, just group comparisons.

Kids with DCD scored 1–2 years behind peers on fact recall and procedural calculation.

The gap looked like a delay, not a permanent deficit—skills grew, just slower.

Gomez et al. (2020) dug deeper and found the delay starts at the bottom: kids with DCD are slower and less accurate at subitizing and counting small sets.

Harrowell et al. (2018) followed the same kids into high school and showed the delay snowballs—students with DCD earned only two GCSEs on average versus seven for peers.

Ceulemans et al. (2014) seems to disagree: they found no overall enumeration deficit in adolescents with math learning disorders. The difference is diagnosis—DCD includes motor planning issues that may tax early number tasks, while pure math learning disorder does not.

When you assess a child with DCD, expect math scores to lag behind IQ and chronological age. Write IEP goals that close the 1–2 year gap step-by-step, not catch-up in one semester. Start with solid subitizing and counting fluency—Gomez et al. (2020) shows these bricks are loose—then build to fact retrieval and calculation.