Developmental coordination disorder: a contextualised perspective

This research project investigated the lived experience of DCD in the daily lives of young adult students. The participants were eight students aged between 19 and 22 years of age who self-reported DCD. Semi-structured interviews were utilised to capture the students’ accounts of their daily lives and the data analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Six master themes emerged that illustrated the lived experience of DCD: DCD in Transition, DCD in Functional Context, DCD in Social Context, DCD in Psychological Context, DCD and Support, and finally DCD and Young Adult – Dynamic Self. Relationships among these structural, functional, interpersonal and personal themes highlighted the embedded nature of DCD in the students’ lives. Evocative accounts of the students’ lifeworld are presented which portray the impact of DCD on the students’ academic, social and emotional lives. A particular feature that emerged of the students’ lifeworld was the impact of DCD on the students’ developing identity. It is argued that this contextualised account of DCD provides a complex and rich understanding of the impact of DCD in the students’ lives.

Name dc:type.qualificationname

phd

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

doctoral

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

City University London

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Raleigh, Linda

• BF Psychology