Physically Awkward Children: A Motor Development Perspective

Abstract

At the present time in North American culture, proficiency in sport is highly valued. The financial and social benefits that are provided to professional athletes, and in some cases to amateur athletes, are clear manifestations of this fact. During the childhood years, proficiency in play and games is an important factor in the social and emotional development of children. Most children develop competency in movement skills with relative ease; others who become highly proficient do so from greater interest and practice. This chapter is concerned with children who do not develop adequate proficiency in movement skills. The first section of the chapter provides a definition of physically awkward children and describes the awkwardness syndrome. The second section reviews some of the key stages in the development of cognitive-motor skill and discusses some of the factors related to the acquisition of skill. The third section discusses individual differences in motor skill in relation to culturally-normative increases in motor task demands. The concluding section describes a clinical program for movement learning disabled children at the University of Alberta.

I wish to thank Jane Taylor, Betsy Terry, and John Hay for their contributions to the writing of this paper. The financial support of the Alberta Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation is appreciated.