A Pilot Study of Family-Focused Tele-Intervention for Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: Development and Lessons Learned

Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is characterized by substantial delay in motor development, despite intact neuromuscular, intellectual, and social functions. Although it is estimated there is one child with DCD in every elementary school classroom, sufficient remedial treatment has not yet been provided in medical or educational systems. This article reports on the development of a family-focused tele-intervention program for children with DCD. Unlike conventional direct service delivery, the tele-intervention program offers parents a workbook, DVDs, telephone support, and a blog to teach children at home. This pilot work involved the development of prototype materials (Phase 1), trialing and process evaluation with 3 children and their families (Phase 2), refinement of the program, and a further trial with two other groups of 4 children and their families (Phases 3-4). The outcome of the pilot intervention was satisfactory, but more work is needed to resolve some outstanding issues regarding assessment, diagnosis, telephone consultation, Internet support systems, and discrepant intervention outcomes before tele-intervention is offered to a wider community.