Does my child qualify?
In order to qualify for the intervention program, your child needs to score below the 15th percentile (Amber/Red zone) on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children – 2nd ed. For more information about the assessment and to schedule a screening appointment, please contact us.
What will happen during the screening appointment?
At the appointment, the parent will be asked to fill out a testing consent form and the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCD-Q). The child will be assessed with Movement Assessment Battery for Children – 2nd ed. (MABC-2) and the Kaufmann Brief Intelligence Test – 2nd ed. (KBIT-2). Our goal is to determine the child’s status at that time.
The MABC-2 is a standardized motor assessment that focuses on the identification of motor function impairments in children by using a variety of motor skills combined in three major motor categories (Manual Dexterity, Aiming & Catching, and Balance).
The KBIT-2 obtains a quick estimate of intelligence through two scales- Verbal and Nonverbal. Through verbal and nonverbal tasks, the KBIT-2 assesses vocabulary, interpretation of general information, comprehension, reasoning, and relationships among various items.
What are movement difficulties?
Motor difficulties can significantly interfere with a child’s life. When a child is frequently described as “clumsy” by parents and teachers and have problems mastering simple motor activities, which significantly affects self-care and academic activities, motor difficulties are a condition called Developmental Coordination Disorder (or Dyspraxia*).
Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a condition that defines children who, for no medical reasons, fail to acquire adequate motor skills (Zoia et al., 2006), affecting approximately 6% to 13% of school-age children (APA, 2000). Common symptoms of low motor skills include marked delays in achieving motor milestones, clumsiness and poor balance, coordination, & handwriting. Typically, there is a discrepancy between motor and intellectual abilities. In addition, DCD may co-occur with other developmental/learning disabilities, such as ADHD, dyslexia, and others.
How will the Little Mavs Movement Academy help?
Unfortunately, very little research and services are offered for children who have coordination difficulties, especially in the south of the United States. Children and adolescents with movement difficulties often experience difficulty participating in typical childhood activities such as games & sports, thus are more sedentary and more overweight/obese than their typically developing peers. They are also at risk of social, emotional and behavioral problems that have been specifically linked to their poor motor ability.
Because of those risks, it is important that children with movement difficulties/adolescents with movement difficulties have a space where they can practice motor skills at their level and pace with peers that have similar difficulties.
Will the program substitute Occupational/Physical Therapy?
NO. Our goal is to improve movement from a group perspective. Because a child’s movement difficulties are very unique, individualized therapy is highly recommended.