The Unseen Struggle: Mapping and Addressing the Awareness Gap Surrounding Developmental Coordination Disorder

Abstract Purpose of Review Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD/Dyspraxia) is a frequently overlooked and misunderstood neurodevelopmental disorder. Numerous studies have sought to index the rates of awareness of DCD and highlight a broad-spanning need for increased awareness to foster timely intervention and support for children with DCD. Therefore, we provide a semi-systematic review of studies that capture DCD awareness as well as a detailed discussion of pitfalls, successes, and future directions in raising awareness about DCD. Recent Findings Consistent with past research, recent evidence shows a broad-spanning lack of awareness among educators, parents and caregivers, clinicians and healthcare professionals. We provide an overview of these results and detailed discussion on the pitfalls, ongoing efforts, and productive future directions for raising DCD awareness. Summary Previous and recent efforts to promote DCD awareness have not yet reached their goal. Initiatives to improve knowledge transfer, training, resources, and research surrounding DCD must be continued in parallel with added efforts to connect to other fields, bridge resources and movements, and improve policy and funding opportunities in the field of DCD.