SummaryClumsy children have severe problems in developing adequate skills of movement in the absence of general sensory and intellectual impairments and without showing signs of overt neurological damage. Descriptive studies indicate a variety of characteristics which are typical of these children including difficulties with feeding and dressing, poor drawing and writing skills, and lower performance than verbal IQ. Studies which explore the underlying functional impairments in these children are reviewed, with an emphasis on the methodological problems inherent in demonstrating causal influences. It is concluded that attempts to relate clumsiness to impairments of visual and kinaesthetic perception, although as yet inconclusive, are worthy of further study.