One mother shared that, at first, she just thought her child was clumsy.
Walking through the living room, they would often bump into table corners.
Running to get a toy, they would fall if they hurried.
Throwing a ball, the direction was always a bit off.
When getting ready to go out in the morning, getting dressed and packing their schoolbag would take a long time.
She initially wondered if she was overthinking it. Maybe the child was just a bit careless.
Later, she gradually realized that these situations didn't just happen at home.
At the park, the child rarely climbed on taller equipment.
At school, the teacher mentioned they were slower when walking in line on the stairs.
During PE class ball games, they would often stand on the sidelines watching, only joining in when invited by others.
Observing Movement: Beyond "Can They Do It?"
When observing a child's movements, we shouldn't just look at whether they "can" do it. We can look a bit deeper: Does the movement flow smoothly? Does it require excessive effort? Does it affect their ability to play with others, participate in class, or complete everyday little tasks?
The 2026 DCD clinical practice guideline mentions that when assessing a child's motor coordination difficulties, we can look at their participation, activity performance, motor observation, and contextual performance, along with body function examinations when necessary.
Looked at in the home context, this might be getting dressed or packing a schoolbag.
In the school context, it might be lining up, using stairs, or PE class.
In the park context, it might be running, climbing, jumping, or playing ball.
Start Observing from One Most Frequent Scenario
Parents don't need to observe everything at once. You can start by noting down the one most frequent scenario:
- "Holding on very tightly when going down stairs."
- "Often standing on the sidelines during ball activities."
- "Taking a long time to pack the schoolbag in the morning."
- "Frequently falling while running, but the child can't clearly explain why."
If standardized assessments are like coordinates on a map, the everyday scenarios parents see are like street view photos.
Coordinates tell us roughly where the child is. Street view photos show us what the path the child walks every day actually looks like.
When observing a child's movements, you can start with the most frequent scenario in their daily life.
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References
- Sargent, B., Mueller, M., Iverson, E., Frazier, M., & Kaplan, S. L. (2026). Physical therapy management of children with developmental coordination disorder: A 2026 evidence-based clinical practice guideline from the American Physical Therapy Association Academy of Pediatric Physical Therapy. Pediatric Physical Therapy, 38, 297–333.