Beyond the Norms:

Pediatric therapists are strongly encouraged to use well-developed, standardized tests in order to assess children and to determine eligibility for clinical interventions. In this paper, the subject selection process of a clinical research study is used to illustrate some of the problems that were encountered when using one widely-used assessment, the Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (Beery, 1982), to identify chiildren with developmental coordination disorder. Specific recommendations are outlined regarding the clinical observations which should accompany the use of this, or any similar, standardized assessment. The argument is made that qualitative observations and reports of functional performance must continue to receive attention in the comprehensive assessment of children.