Cardiff University Centre for Human Developmental Science (CUCHDS), School of Psychology, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
School of Healthcare Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, UK.
Res Dev Disabil. 2024 May;148:104714. doi: 10.1016/j.ridd.2024.104714. Epub 2024 Mar 13.
Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) can experience sensory differences. There has been limited exploration of these differences and their impact on children with DCD.
i) To explore the presence and impact of sensory differences in children with DCD compared to children without DCD; ii) To examine whether sensory differences are related to motor ability, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or autistic traits.
Parents of children (8-12 years) with (n = 23) and without (n = 33) DCD used standardised questionnaires to report on their children's sensory differences, autistic traits, and ADHD traits. Motor abilities were assessed through the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2. Data were explored both categorically (between-groups) and dimensionally.
Children with DCD had significantly higher levels of sensory differences than children without DCD. Sensory differences also had a significantly greater impact on daily activities for children with DCD. Higher levels of ADHD and autistic traits, but not motor ability, were significant independent predictors of higher levels of sensory difference.
Children with DCD experience high levels of sensory differences, which impact on their daily lives. These sensory differences may be a marker for additional neurodivergence in children with DCD. Practitioners should consider the sensory needs of children with DCD.
This paper provides insight into the sensory features of children with DCD and the impact that sensory differences can have on daily living. Using parent-report, we found that children with DCD had increased sensory differences relative to children without DCD. These included increased hyperresponsiveness, increased hyporesponsiveness, and increased sensory interests, repetitions, and seeking behaviours (SIRS). We also found that sensory differences had a greater impact on daily living for children with DCD compared to children without DCD. Across the whole sample, autistic traits predicted hyperresponsivity and hyporesponsivity patterns; whereas traits of hyperactivity and impulsivity predicted SIRS. Motor abilities did not uniquely predict sensory differences, suggesting that other traits of neurodivergence may contribute to the sensory differences in DCD. Taken together, these findings highlight the necessity of considering sensory needs when supporting children with DCD. They also suggest that if sensory differences are identified in children with DCD, it may be due to the presence of co-occurring neurodivergent traits or conditions.
患有发育性协调障碍（DCD）的儿童可能会出现感官差异。目前对这些差异及其对 DCD 儿童的影响的研究还很有限。
i）探索与无 DCD 儿童相比，患有 DCD 的儿童是否存在且受感官差异的影响；ii）研究感官差异是否与运动能力、注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）或自闭症特征有关。
患有 DCD（n=23）和无 DCD（n=33）儿童的家长使用标准化问卷报告其儿童的感官差异、自闭症特征和 ADHD 特征。运动能力通过儿童运动评估量表-2 进行评估。数据从类别（组间）和维度两个方面进行探索。
患有 DCD 的儿童的感官差异水平明显高于无 DCD 儿童。感官差异对 DCD 儿童的日常生活活动也有显著更大的影响。更高水平的 ADHD 和自闭症特征，而不是运动能力，是感官差异更高水平的显著独立预测因素。
患有 DCD 的儿童经历高水平的感官差异，这会影响他们的日常生活。这些感官差异可能是 DCD 儿童神经多样性的另一个标志。从业者应考虑 DCD 儿童的感官需求。
本文深入了解了 DCD 儿童的感官特征以及感官差异对日常生活的影响。通过家长报告，我们发现患有 DCD 的儿童的感官差异明显高于无 DCD 儿童。这些差异包括超敏反应、低敏反应和感官兴趣、重复和寻求行为（SIRS）增加。我们还发现，与无 DCD 儿童相比，感官差异对 DCD 儿童的日常生活影响更大。在整个样本中，自闭症特征预测了超敏反应和低敏反应模式；而多动和冲动特征预测了 SIRS。运动能力不能单独预测感官差异，这表明神经多样性的其他特征可能导致 DCD 中的感官差异。综上所述，这些发现强调了在支持 DCD 儿童时需要考虑感官需求。它们还表明，如果在 DCD 儿童中发现感官差异，可能是由于存在共存的神经多样性特征或状况。
