An evaluation of teachers' ability to identify children with motor difficulties
Date
2013-03-04
Authors
Gritzman, Tamara
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Abstract
Background: Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder present with motor
difficulties that affect their activities of daily living, academic and social function, with
both short- and long-term consequences. Referrals for therapy are often made by class
teachers, which is necessary for further assessment and initiating intervention.
Objective: To evaluate whether teachers are able to identify motor difficulties among the
children in their class.
Methods: Sixteen teachers at seven schools were approached. Several children were
randomly chosen from each class. Once parental consent had been obtained, children were
tested on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children Second Edition (MABC-2). The
results were compared to a brief teacher questionnaire on each child’s motor ability.
Results: Overall the teachers’ sensitivity was 0.33 and specificity was 0.75, which is below
the recommended level for a screening tool. Teachers had a tendency to over-score (overestimate)
a child’s ability for Manual Dexterity, but under-score (under-estimate) for
Aiming and Catching and Balance. No significant difference (p<0.05) was found relating to
teacher education level, or a teacher’s confidence in her ability to identify children with
motor difficulties. Overall prevalence, at 20 percent, was found to be higher than the APA
(2000) reported statistic of six percent. Information regarding teachers’ opinions of what
constituted motor difficulties was obtained, but a detailed analysis of why this was so was
not in the scope of this research.
Conclusion: Teachers are not adequately able to identify children with motor difficulties
from their class. They were unable to distinguish between those presenting with difficulties
and those without. An alternative system to identify children with motor difficulties should
be investigated.
Key words: Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD); motor difficulties; Movement
Assessment Battery for Children Second Edition (MABC-2); teachers.