VISUAL-EVOKED POTENTIALS IN CHILDREN WITH DEVELOPMENTAL COORDINATION DISORDER

Children who demonstrate problems with skilled movement in the absence of physical handicap are formally designated as suffering from develo pmental coordination disorder (DCD). Diagnosis of DCD was confirmed by the 'movement assessment battery for children'. Visually evoked poten tials (VEPs) were recorded to evaluate the integrity of the visual pat hway and to rule out the presence of any neurological lesions affectin g visual input. Binocular, pattern onset VEPs were recorded in 14 chil dren with DCD aged between five and seven years, and an age-matched co ntrol group using pattern onset, high contrast, grating stimuli. Impli cit times to the first and second peaks and troughs were measured, and results between the two groups were compared. Inattention and movemen t artefact meant that VEPs were more difficult to record within the DC D group, resulting in smaller amplitudes of the waveform, but no signi ficant differences in the implicit times were observed between the DCD group and controls. Further research is required to determine the spe cific source of the neurological deficits in DCD but a problem with th e integrity of the afferent visual pathway does not appear to be a cau sal factor.