Developmental Coordination Disorder in Preschool-Aged Children: A Neuropsychological Perspective on Visuospatial Working Memory and Attentional, Planning, and Decision-Making Processing in Relation to Fundamental Movement Skills

<b>Background/Objectives</b>: This study investigates specific neuropsychological functions-visuospatial working memory, attention, planning, and decision-making-among preschool-aged children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) compared to typically developing (TD) peers. The objective was to assess deficits in selective, sustained, and focused expressive attention, visuospatial and visual/verbal working memory, and decision-making abilities, and to examine their relationship with fundamental motor skills. <b>Methods</b>: A comparative study was conducted with Greek preschool-aged children using the Cognitive Assessment System (CAS) to evaluate cognitive processing (planning, attention, simultaneous processing) and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-Second Edition (MABC-2) to assess motor skills. <b>Results</b>: Significant performance disparities were identified between DCD and TD children across attentional and planning domains, with notable cognitive-motor correlations. Discriminant function analyses revealed high classification accuracy (e.g., 73.9% for receptive attention, 79.5% for simultaneous processing), reinforcing the diagnostic value of targeted cognitive indices. Notably, approximately one-third of the children with DCD (17 out of 44) exhibited deficits in one or more cognitive domains. <b>Conclusions</b>: These findings highlight the importance of neuropsychological profiling in understanding DCD and suggest that targeted motor interventions may simultaneously enhance executive function. A strength-based, holistic assessment approach is recommended, supported by educator training and evidence-based therapeutic programming.