Movement issues: Interventions and implications

Abstract

There has been an increase in the number of students identified as having learning difficulties in mainstream classrooms, and this has led to increasing challenges for teachers in differentiating the curriculum to accommodate a broad range of abilities (Missiuna et al. 2006a). In order to provide an optimal learning environment for all children, teachers require knowledge, skills and experiences to know about the various conditions and challenges that children in their classes are experiencing. In this chapter, there is a specific focus on movement issues and the identification of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), which has previously been termed 'clumsiness' until it was incorporated into the DSM-V Manual as a Developmental Delay. Here it is explored in terms of identification, intervention and the implications of this condition if left untreated. This focus will provide teachers at a range of levels of schooling with an understanding of the impact DCD has on long-term prognosis for self-esteem, social self-worth, and physical self-concept.