Developmental coordination disorder (hereinafter DCD) represents difficulties in sensory integration of detected stimuli and in planning and execution of movement activities. People with DCD have problems not only with movement but also in learning academic skills.
The primary purpose of the following diploma paper was to discover whether it is possible to detect DCD in late preschool period. The goal was to determine the prevalence of DCD in the population of five-year-old children and the difference in percentage between boys and girls. The question whether people with DCD can score average results in different areas of motor skills and abilities was also discussed. The research took place in autumn of 2012. Altogether, 143 five-year-old children from urban and suburban Ljubljana public kindergartens were tested. For the purpose of testing, Movement assessment battery for children (Movement ABC) was used. Selected test tasks were for the age group of 4, 5 and 6 years. Children’s abilities on areas of hand skills, ball skills, and static and dynamic balance were tested. Children, whose score was in 15th percentile or lesser, were identified as children with DCD. The testing took place in smaller groups of children in their primary kindergarten.
The results have shown that in the tested population 7% of children have a more or less severe form of DCD. The prevalence of boys is 4,2% and of girls 2,8%. It was also discovered that DCD is more common among boys (8,2%) than among girls (5,6%). A more detailed analysis has shown that out of ten children, who were identified as children with DCD, only two have below average score on all of the tested areas of motor skills and abilities. Other eight children have average results in at least one of the tested motor areas. The results have also shown that a lot of children obtained different scores within one tested area of motor skills and abilities. It was also discovered that, in average, boys scored lower percentile rank which can suggest that DCD is more severe among boys.
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