F82 vs F83
F83 — Mixed specific developmental disorders
Distinguish a specific developmental disorder of motor function (F82) confined to motor coordination from the residual mixed category (F83), used when specific developmental disorders across domains are present together without one clearly predominating.
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Show overlap — what both share
Both can present with a child described as clumsy or poorly coordinated, and F83 can include motor difficulties as one of its component domains, so an isolated motor-coordination problem can be over-read as part of a broader mixed picture.
Show decisive evidence
- F82 applies when a serious impairment in the development of motor coordination is the primary and essentially isolated specific developmental difficulty, not otherwise explained by a general intellectual deficit or a specific congenital or acquired neurological disorder.
- F83 applies specifically when there is a mixture of specific developmental disorders of speech and language, scholastic skills, and motor function all present together, with none clearly predominating.
- A child whose only significant specific difficulty is motor coordination, with normal early language and scholastic development, favours F82.
- A child with clinically significant specific difficulties in motor coordination together with speech/language and/or scholastic-skill domains, none clearly predominating, favours F83.
What weakens F82: An isolated motor-coordination difficulty with no other significant specific-domain impairment weakens F83; clinically significant impairment spanning motor coordination together with other specific-disorder domains weakens a single-domain F82 classification.
Show duration / course
Both require the standard specific-developmental-disorder onset and course pattern; F83 additionally requires the combination itself to be present, not simply an incidental motor observation alongside an unrelated scholastic note.
Show exclusions / context
F82 also requires the general specific-developmental-disorder exclusions to be satisfied specifically for motor coordination — ruling out a general intellectual deficit or a specific neurological condition that would directly explain the coordination difficulty, per the shared exclusion-criteria capsule.
Show information still needed
Whether the specific difficulty is confined to motor coordination alone, or genuinely spans motor coordination together with speech/language and/or scholastic skills without one clearly predominating.
Show the common trap
Classifying a child's motor clumsiness as part of a mixed disorder (F83) whenever a passing scholastic or language comment also appears in the vignette, without checking whether that other domain is clinically significant enough to genuinely co-predominate.
Mini challenge — practise this distinction
Apply the discriminating evidence above to a fresh case before checking the full feedback.