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key words: cognition, behavioral observations, motor skills
ABSTRACT
Cognitive Orientation to (daily) Occupational Performance (CO-OP) is a cognitive intervention that was developed to assist children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) enhance their motor performance in everyday activities. Using a computer-based analysis of 10 videotaped treatment sessions for each of four boys with DCD who were 6 to 9 years of age, this study investigated changes in cognitive strategy use and session time use over the course of intervention. Cognitive strategy use focused on the child's use of global and domain-specific strategies during intervention. Session time use referred to the duration of Talking About Task (describing the task or plans that will be executed), Practicing Task (actually doing the task or activity), and Dual Tasking (both talking and doing) coded during video segments observations. Trends in strategy and session time use over 10 sessions appeared to be child- and goal-specific, with few systematic patterns observed. This article discusses the use of specific strategies over time both within and across the four participants. Individual results were varied and highlight the unique child-task-environment interactions that occur during intervention, reinforcing the individualized and client-centered focus of the CO-OP.
Cognitive Orientation to (daily) Occupational Performance (CO-OP) is a cognitive approach that aims to improve the motor performance of children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) (Polatajko & Mandich, 2004). Despite average intelligence and the absence of identifiable medical or neurological conditions, children with DCD display multiple motor difficulties that significantly affect their daily activities at school and home (American Psychiatric Association, 2000; Dewey & Wilson, 2001). The prevalence of DCD is estimated to be approximately 6% in children aged 5 to 11 years (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) who display a wide range of motor performance difficulties (Miller, Missiuna, Macnab, Malloy-Miller, & Polatajko, 2001).
CO-OP Intervention for DCD
Contemporary top-down approaches to the treatment of children with DCD, such as task-specific and cognitive interventions, focus on task performance and emphasize the role of problem solving in motor skill development (Mandich, Polatajko, Macnab, & Miller, 2001). Current evidence supports the use of these contemporary approaches, particularly cognitive interventions such as the CO-OP, in improving the functional performance of children with DCD (Davidson & Williams, 2000; Mandich, Polatajko, Macnab, et al., 2001; Miller,...