Supporting adolescents with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) in their daily challenges: a qualitative study of adolescents’ perspectives

Purpose: Adolescents with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) face daily challenges that affect their well-being. Existing interventions for individuals with DCD target younger children. This study explored adolescents’ perspectives on coping resources and professional support, to inform age-appropriate intervention protocol development. Materials and methods: Informed by the interpretive phenomenological approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 11 adolescents with DCD. Findings: Three themes emerged: (1) “How I help myself get rid of the monster”–perceived coping resources for daily functioning, including external sources, self-utilised strategies (planning, task breakdown), and adaptive mindsets focused on persistence and capabilities; (2) “I’m not sitting in a wheelchair”–varying attitudes toward professional support; some avoid it due to stigma or aspiration for self-reliance, while others value it despite practical barriers; and (3) “What I want it to be like”–the priorities and needs in professional support, which emphasized practical skills and emotional aspects, knowledge of DCD and how to explain it to others, and preferences for individualized or combined group settings. Conclusions: The findings indicate that interventions for adolescents with DCD should focus on function-oriented approaches, combined with psycho-educational knowledge about the disorder and enhancement of their psychosocial resources, while respecting their independence and need for self-reliance.