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Examining the cognitive profile of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Sumner, E; Pratt, ML; Hill, EL; (2016) Examining the cognitive profile of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder. Research in Developmental Disabilities , 56 pp. 10-17. 10.1016/j.ridd.2016.05.012. Green open access

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Abstract

Background: While primarily a motor disorder, research considering the cognitive abilities in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is limited; even though these children often struggle academically. Aims: The present study aimed to characterise the IQ profile of children with and without DCD, and to identify whether children with DCD exhibit specific cognitive weaknesses. Methods and procedures: 104 children participated in the study. Fifty-two children (mean age, 9 years) with a diagnosis of DCD were matched to 52 typically-developing children by age and gender. Cognitive ability was assessed using the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV). Outcomes and results: Children with DCD performed poorer than their peers on processing speed and working memory measures. Individual analyses revealed varied performance in the DCD group across all cognitive indices, despite displaying Full-Scale IQs in the typical range. Discriminant function analyses show processing speed and working memory performance predicted only 23% of between-group variability. Conclusions: Children with DCD present with a heterogeneous cognitive profile, lending support to individual case analyses in research and when designing educational assistance plans. The motorically-demanding nature of the WISC-IV processing speed tasks raises specific concerns about using this index of the IQ assessment in this population. Research and practical implications are raised.

Type: Article
Title: Examining the cognitive profile of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2016.05.012
Publisher version: http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2016.05.012
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2016. This manuscript version is published under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Non-derivative 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This licence allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work for personal and non-commercial use providing author and publisher attribution is clearly stated. Further details about CC BY licences are available at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0. Access may be initially restricted by the publisher.
Keywords: Cognitive ability, Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), Diagnosis, Intelligence, Motor impairment
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1538027
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