The main aim of this grant was to consider locomotor abilities in individuals with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder. We considered this in four distinct phases. The first simply looked at the control of unobstructed walking in this population. The grant then moved on to look at the negotiation of obstacles, specifically how individuals walk through narrow gaps or apertures. In phase two we considered the visual judgements of individuals when deciding whether they were able to pass through a narrow gap or not. In phase 3, we asked participants to actually pass through these same narrow gaps / apertures and we measured their movements. Finally in phase 4 we considered negotiation of unexpected obstacles, as participants walked a ‘gate’ might or might not close in their pathway. For this series of studies we used the same participants with and without DCD. This consisted of a group of 44 participants with DCD aged from 7 years to 32 years and a group of age (within 6 months) and gender matched typically developing participants. Participants with DCD were selected in line with DSM 5 criteria. More detailed information about each participant can be found within each datasheet. Some of the data has an embargo due to forthcoming publications – however, it will all be available from 01.01.17 This entry refers to Phase 1 flat walking Data is further described and more detailed methodologies given in: Du, W., Wilmut, K. & Barnett, A. (2015) Level walking in adults with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder: an analysis of movement variability. Human Movement Science, 43 9-14 Datasheets from the other phases are as follows: Phase 1: Navigational abilities in individuals with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD); Phase 1: Flat walking (this is the data for all of the participants) Phase 2: Navigational abilities in individuals with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD); Part 3: Phase 2 visual judgements of size (this is the data for all of the participants) Phase 3: (two files) Navigational abilities in individuals with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD); Part 2: Negotiating obstacles in children with DCD (this is the data for the 7-17 year olds) Navigational abilities of typically developing individuals and individuals with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD): Phase 3 adult data (this is the data for the 18-32 year-olds) Phase 4: Navigational abilities in individuals with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD); Part 4: Unexpected obstacle avoidance typical adults (this is a data set of typical adults only) During everyday life we walk around busy environments, negotiating stationary and moving obstacles. This is usually performed effortlessly but actually involves complex skills to visually monitor the environment and control body movements. For individuals with coordination difficulties this presents a real challenge and can have a negative impact on safe participation at school or work and in everyday life. This project will consider several aspects of obstacle avoidance and navigation in children and adults with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). DCD is characterized by everyday motor problems in the absence of sensory, intellectual or neurological impairment. The condition occurs in almost 2% of children and usually continues into adulthood. Primarily the project will focus on locomotion while negotiating a gap/aperture between obstacles such as that created by a doorway or parked cars. Such a task has both a perceptual element and a motor element. We plan to consider the perceptual element both in isolation and within a movement context. Finally the project will consider navigation of unpredictable or changing environments. The proposed research will further our understanding of the mechanisms underlying DCD and thereby assist in planning more effective interventions to support motor learning.

This data is from a flat and unobstructed walking task. All participants were asked to walk up and down a flat walkway at a comfortable pace for one minute while we measured the movement of their feet and trunk. Markers were placed on the second metatarsal head (toe) on the left and right foot, and the lateral malleolus (ankle) of the left and right foot and on the sacral wand. The dataset includes participants with and without DCD aged from 7 to 32 years of age, a total of 88 participants. Measures taken include: step length, step width, time spend in double support, stride time and velocity and acceleration of the trunk. We took both absolute measures of these variables and variability measures of these variables.