Relationship of visual perceptual deficit and motor impairment in children with developmental coordination disorder.

The study explored the relations of visual perceptual deficits and motor impairments in 60 children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (120.8 +/- 4.0 mo.) and 60 controls (121.0 +/- 5.3 mo.), who were matched by sex (29 boys and 31 girls) and age. They were separately assessed on fine and gross motor-dexterity tasks of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children, static balance and reaction time of lower extremities with eyes open or closed, and the Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills-Revised. Analysis showed the children with Developmental Coordination Disorder performed significantly worse than the control group, but only the visual perception and motor skills with timed responses were significantly correlated. When visual information was controlled, no significant correlation was noted, so motor-free visual perception appears to be significantly related to motor performance having a speed component in these children.