Insights on action observation and imitation abilities in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder and typically developing children

Background: Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) face difficulties in motor learning. Action observation and imitation are strategies frequently used to teach motor skills. Aims: (1) To study action observation and imitation abilities in children with DCD compared with typically developing peers with a new protocol. (2) To gain insights in the relation between action observation, imitation, motor performance and activities of daily living (ADL). Method: Twenty-one children with DCD (mean age 7 years 9 months, range 6–10 years) and 20 age-matched controls (mean age 7 years 8 months, range 6–10 years) were included. A newly developed protocol was used for testing action observation and imitation proficiency. Motor performance were evaluated with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2. ADL were investigated with DCD Questionnaire’07. Results: Children with DCD presented significantly lower action observation (p = .037) and imitation abilities (p < .001) than peers. Worse action observation and imitation abilities were related to lower motor performance and ADL skills and a younger age. Non-meaningful gestures imitation proficiency had predictive value for global motor performance (p = .009), manual dexterity (p = .02) and ADL (p = .004). Conclusions: The new protocol for action observation and imitation abilities can be helpful for detecting motor learning difficulties and for delineating new opportunities for motor teaching approaches in children with DCD.