DCD ImagingPremie DCD Imaging Intervention Study

Waitlist Participants are first allocated to a waitlist condition. After the first MRI scan, participants "wait" for 12 weeks and have a second MRI scan.

Upon completion on the waitlist time of 12 weeks, participants then are allocated to the treatment group. Participants are assessed by an independent occupational therapist (before and after intervention) and participate in 10 treatment sessions with a treating occupational therapist. Following the post-treatment assessment, participants have a third MRI scan.

Intervention: CO-OP is a cognitive approach to solving functional motor problems (Polatajko et al., 2001b). Therapists teach children a global problem solving strategy (Goal-Plan-Do-Check) as a framework for developing specific strategies for overcoming motor problems; these strategies are determined after a dynamic performance analysis by the therapist to determine where the "breakdown" is in performing the task. CO-OP intervention will be administered by occupational therapists who have been trained in the CO-OP approach. Children will be seen once weekly for one hour over 12 weeks at as per published protocol (Polatajko et al., 2001b). Parents or caregivers will be encouraged to attend treatment sessions so that therapists can instruct them how to facilitate strategy use between treatment sessions. Children will select three functional motor goals to be addressed over the course of treatment, rating their performance and satisfaction of these goals pre- and post-intervention.