Concomitants of clumsiness in young schoolchildren.
Teachers in four schools for normal children aged between five and eight years took part in a two-year investigation of developmental clumsiness. After a year's preliminary discussion they identified 20 children from a total of 400 who met the following criteria: (1) had poor motor co-ordination for their age and (b) whose poor motor co-ordination was affecting their schoolwork. The teachers' assessments were compared with those of a paediatric neurologist and a psychologist, and were shown to be very accurate. The group of children identified as 'clumsy' scored significantly poorly in relation to a control group on several measures of motor performance, and had a higher incidence of other educational and social problems. The heterogeneity of the group emphasised the difficulty of identifying a specific syndrome of 'clumsiness' in children.
D000124:Achievement; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D009048:Motor Skills; D011596:Psychomotor Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D012917:Social Adjustment