The Effectiveness of a Group Motor Skill Intervention Program in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: Program Frequency Matters

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two group programs on visual-motor integration, motor proficiency, gross-motor skills, and parental perception of motor difficulties in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). We compared whether the frequency of two programs (10 one hour sessions -once/week for 10 weeks verses 24 one hour sessions - twice/week for 12 weeks) produced different changes in motor skills. Methods: Children in the two programs were assessed before and after each program with the MABC-2, DCD-Q, BOT-2, Beery-VMI-6, and the TGMD-2 assessments. The emphasis of the programs was on group activities that required collaboration while performing skills that utilized upper-body coordination, balance, and fine-motor abilities. Results: After the 24-session intervention program, results revealed significant improvements in the Manual Coordination and Total Score of the BOT-2 (ps <.05), and parents reported significantly higher scores for all categories of the DCD-Q (ps <.05). No significant changes were observed after the 10-session once/week intervention program. Conclusions: We conclude that a (24 one-hour sessions-twice a week for 12 weeks) group intervention program can be an effective intervention method for improvement of motor skills in children with DCD. We recommend that allied health professionals consider the group intervention as a feasible way to promote more frequent sessions to children with DCD.