The impact for DCD - USA study: The current state of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) in the United States of America.
US kids with DCD get the label but not the help, and their social-emotional health pays the price.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Tamplain et al. (2024) asked parents across the United States about their children with Developmental Coordination Disorder.
The team used an online survey to learn how much therapy kids get and how the disorder affects daily life.
Parents shared their biggest frustrations and rated awareness of DCD among teachers, doctors, and coaches.
What they found
Most children had a diagnosis but still received far less therapy than families felt they needed.
Parents said low public awareness made school and sports harder, and motor struggles hurt friendships and mood.
The overall picture was negative: service gaps plus heavy social-emotional impact.
How this fits with other research
Spanoudis et al. (2011) warned that few DCD studies even look at real-life participation; the new survey shows the cost of that neglect.
Fusar-Poli et al. (2017) measured high emotional-behavior scores in kids with DCD; parents in Tamplain et al. (2024) echo the same worry.
Boets et al. (2011) and Liberman et al. (2013) saw lower enjoyment in preschoolers with DCD; the 2024 data say the gap lasts through school age.
Together the papers form a timeline: early fun fades when therapy and support stay scarce.
Why it matters
You now have parent voices backing older lab findings: motor trouble spills into mood, friends, and class.
Push for goals that matter to families—handwriting, PE, playground games—not just pegboard scores.
When you write reports, add a line about DCD awareness training for teachers; the data say it is half the battle.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is among the most under-recognized and under-supported disorders worldwide. AIMS: To present a preliminary national study that evaluated the unmet needs of children with DCD in the USA using the Impact for DCD survey. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: 232 parents of individuals aged 5-18 years provided responses from 36 items in five domains (diagnosis, activity/participation, education, therapy, and social/emotional health). OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Most children (81.9%) had a formal diagnosis for movement difficulties, and 91.6% of parents reported that receiving a diagnosis was helpful, but most had not heard of the diagnosis before. The most common co-occurring diagnoses were childhood apraxia of speech and other speech-language disorders (24.6%), ADHD (23.1%), and anxiety (18.8%). Most parents reported that their children withdrew from or avoided movement-related activities (53%), and nearly all (94.8%) were concerned about the impact of motor difficulties on their children's social and emotional health. Only 37% of parents reported feeling that their child received sufficient therapy. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Generally, parents reported feeling frustrated with others' understanding and awareness of the condition and with therapy services. The results shown here provide timely data that can support efforts for increased awareness, improved diagnosis, and increased availability of services for DCD in the USA.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2024 · doi:10.1007/s40474-020-00209-7