History of DCD Conferences
International Consensus Conference on Developmental Coordination Disorder
In 1994, 43 leading researchers gathered in London, Canada to achieve an International Consensus on the nomenclature, description and definition, assessment and management of motor coordination problems in children. The term “Developmental Coordination Disorder” (DCD) was selected as a unifying term to facilitate inter-disciplinary communication and accessibility of information. Since then, knowledge in the field has grown considerably.
International Society for Research in DCD (ISR-DCD) was established as an informal society to organize a biennial conference for researchers around the world to share knowledge and advance our understanding of DCD and its life-long impacts.
The executive has grown every year as additional countries contribute a representative. The current board is exploring the idea of becoming a formal society to increase recognition of DCD, continue collaborative research internationally, and promote advocacy efforts to better support individuals with DCD.
The current board is comprised of the following individuals representing 20 countries:
| Name | Country |
| Jill Zwicker (Chair) | Canada |
| Catherine Purcell (Co-Chair) | United Kingdom |
| Melissa Licari | Australia |
| Frederik Deconinck | Belgium |
| Lívia Magalhães | Brazil |
| Vivienne Wenchong Du | China |
| Rudolf Rudolf | Czech Republic |
| Piritta Asunta | Finland |
| Jessica Tallet | France |
| Sabine Vinçon | Germany |
| Emmanuel Bonney | Ghana |
| Thomas Kourtessis | Greece |
| Sara Rosenblum | Israel |
| Stefania Zoia | Italy |
| Akio Nakai | Japan |
| Marina Schoemaker | Netherlands |
| Jerneja Terčon | Slovenia |
| Gillian Ferguson | South Africa |
| Marie-Laure Kaiser | Switzerland |
| Priscila Tamplain | United States of America |
This society supports the offering of an international conference every two to three years: these have become leading events to update information for researchers, practitioners, and families of individuals with DCD.
International Society for Research in DCD (ISR-DCD) Conferences
In 1995, the first international conference on children with DCD was held in London, United Kingdom. With an aim of increasing and exchanging our knowledge of DCD, each conference has had a different conference theme but has offered an amazing opportunity to connect with colleagues from around the world. Conferences have been held in:
| Conferences | Location |
| DCD-I: 1994 | London, Ontario, Canada |
| DCD-II: 1995 | London, United Kingdom |
| DCD-III: 1997 | Cardiff, Wales |
| DCD-IV: 1999 | Groningen, Netherlands |
| DCD-V: 2002 | Banff, Canada |
| DCD-VI: 2005 | Trieste, Italy |
| DCD-VII: 2007 | Melbourne, Australia |
| DCD-VIII: 2009 | Baltimore, United States |
| DCD-IX: 2011 | Lausanne, Switzerland |
| DCD-X: 2013 | Ouro Preto, Brazil |
| DCD-11: 2015 | Toulouse, France |
| DCD-12: 2017 | Perth, Australia |
| DCD-13: 2019 | Jyvaskyla, Finland |
DCD-14 Conference Theme
Building on the knowledge that has been gained over the past 3 decades, this conference will focus on understanding “DCD IN THE REAL WORLD”. We invite researchers, practitioners, graduate students, educators, policy makers, families and individuals with DCD to contribute new studies and novel summaries of literature in the categories of: LIVE, LEARN, WORK, PLAY. Please visit our Call for Abstracts page for more information.