Slowed muscle force production and sensory organization deficits contribute to altered postural control strategies in children with developmental coordination disorder.
Kids with DCD generate knee force more slowly and rely on hip strategy when balance conditions get tough—target both muscle timing and sensory integration in treatment.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team watched kids with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD) stand on a wobble platform.
They changed the platform and the room lights to mess with vision, touch, and inner-ear cues.
Sensors tracked how much each child leaned and how fast they could tighten their knee muscles.
What they found
Kids with DCD took longer to build knee-muscle force.
When the sensory cues conflicted, they stiffened their hips instead of using their knees and ankles.
Their balance scores stayed lower than peers in every tough condition.
How this fits with other research
Zhu et al. (2014) built on this by showing that the same balance problems double obesity risk.
Psotta et al. (2020) seems to clash: they found external-focus cues help DCD kids jump higher.
Jarus et al. (2015) helps solve the clash: in hidden learning tasks, external cues give DCD kids no boost.
Together the papers say: balance is weak, cues can help on simple jumps, but not when learning is subconscious.
Why it matters
You now know DCD balance trouble is both slow muscles and poor sensory weighting.
Start sessions with quick knee-extension drills, then add sway games on foam or swings.
Pair the moves with clear, outside-the-body cues like "reach for the monkey bar" so the child sees the goal, not the limb.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Add 10 fast sit-to-stands with a toy reach cue before tabletop work.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study aimed to (1) compare the postural control strategies, sensory organization of balance control, and lower limb muscle performance of children with and without developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and (2) determine the association between postural control strategies, sensory organization parameters and knee muscle performance indices among children with DCD. Fifty-eight DCD-affected children and 46 typically developing children participated in the study. Postural control strategies and sensory organization were evaluated with the sensory organization test (SOT). Knee muscle strength and time to produce maximum muscle torque (at 180°/s) were assessed using an isokinetic machine. Analysis of variance was used to compare the outcome variables between groups, and multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationships between postural control strategies, sensory organization parameters, and isokinetic indices in children with DCD. The DCD group had significantly lower strategy scores (SOT conditions 5 and 6), lower visual and vestibular ratios, and took a longer time to reach peak torque in the knee flexor muscles than the control group (p>0.05). After accounting for age, sex, and body mass index, the vestibular ratio explained 35.8% of the variance in the strategy score of SOT condition 5 (p<0.05). Moreover, the visual ratio, vestibular ratio, and time to peak torque of the knee flexors were all significant predictors (p<0.05) of the strategy score during SOT condition 6, accounting for 14, 19.7, and 19.8% of its variance, respectively. The children with DCD demonstrated deficits in postural control strategy, sensory organization and prolonged duration of muscle force development. Slowed knee muscle force production combined with poor visual and vestibular functioning may result in greater use of hip strategy by children with DCD in sensory challenging environments.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2013 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2013.05.035