Search results for ‘Subject term:"physical disabilities"’ Sort:
Results 1 - 10 of 41
Stability and change in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder
- Authors:
- SUDGEN D. A., CHAMBERS M. E.
- Journal article citation:
- Child: Care, Health and Development, 33(5), September 2007, pp.520-528.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) are a heterogeneous group who have a marked impairment in the performance of functional motor skills. Provision for these children is usually made via a paediatrician through occupational or physiotherapy; though with a prevalence rate of 5%, regular provision is rarely possible because of limited professional resources. This study covers a period of nearly 4 years and initially examined a group of 31 children first identified as having DCD at 7–9 years of age. The children were observed and assessed before, during and after a total of 16 weeks of intervention carried out by parents and teachers. This was followed by a period of monitoring of performance for 26 of the children in the motor domain plus other abilities such as educational progress and self-concept. Individual children were tracked using a variety of qualitative and quantitative approaches, building up longitudinal whole child profiles. Following intervention, 14 of the 26 children have shown improvement and stability in all areas and no longer display DCD symptoms. Eight children have profiles which have shown variability, with the children moving in and out of the DCD classification, while the remaining four children have consistently scored poorly in their movement skills and in addition received ongoing support in school for academic subjects. The study has confirmed that children with DCD show varying profiles over a period of time and that the profiles have distinct characteristics related to events in the child’s life. This approach to examining stability and change in the progressions of children’s difficulties is in keeping with an ecological approach to explaining development with its multilayered influences creating changes.
Developmental Coordination Disorder and Joint Hypermobility Syndrome – overlapping disorders? Implications for research and clinical practice
- Authors:
- MCCLURE I., LE COUTEUR A.
- Journal article citation:
- Child: Care, Health and Development, 33(5), September 2007, pp.513-519.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (JHS) and Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) are two childhood disorders usually identified separately. DCD is a heterogeneous condition with little known of the underlying aetiology of the disorder. This paper examines the potential overlap between DCD and JHS and examines children with DCD for symptoms which may be consistent with a diagnosis of JHS. Implications for research and clinical practice are considered. A questionnaire covering a range of symptoms consistent with a diagnosis of JHS and related autonomic nervous systemic symptoms was completed by parents from 27 children with DCD and compared with responses from parents of 27 typically developing children. Children with DCD showed a significant difference from the group of typically developing children on questions regarding hypermobility, pain and autonomic nervous system symptoms, typifying JHS. This study has shown a similarity in symptoms seen in some DCD children to those with a diagnosis of JHS. In addition, children are also presenting with multi-system symptomatology including those involving the autonomic nervous system. This study reinforces other recent work showing the reverse pattern of JHS children showing similar functional similarities to DCD children. This has implications for future research in DCD in order to understand the underlying aetiology of this complex disorder. In addition, it is important for clinicians to be aware of these findings in order to provide appropriate and tailored support and treatment for children presenting with differing patterns of co-ordination difficulties. Children with DCD and JHS may require appropriate podiatry as well as recognition of their symptoms of pain and how this may affect participation in physical activity.
Motor, visual and egocentric transformations in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder
- Authors:
- WILLIAMS J., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child: Care, Health and Development, 32(6), November 2006, pp.633-647.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
This study aimed to test the internal modelling deficit (IMD) hypothesis using the mental rotation paradigm. According to the IMD hypothesis, children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have an impaired ability to internally represent action. Thirty-six children (18 DCD) completed four tasks: two versions of a single-hand rotation task (with and without explicit imagery instructions), a whole-body imagery task and an alphanumeric rotation task. There was partial support for the hypothesis that children with DCD would display an atypical pattern of performance on the hand rotation task, requiring implicit use of motor imagery. Overall, there were no significant differences between the DCD and control groups when the hand task was completed without explicit instructions, on either response time or accuracy. However, when imagery instructions were introduced, the controls were significantly more accurate than the DCD group, indicating that children with DCD were unable to benefit from explicit cuing. As predicted, the controls were also significantly more accurate than the DCD group on the whole-body task, with the accuracy of the DCD group barely rising above chance. Finally, and as expected, there was no difference between the groups on the alphanumeric task, a measure of visual (or object-related) imagery. The inability of the DCD group to utilize specific motor imagery instructions and to perform egocentric transformations lends some support to the IMD hypothesis. Future work needs to address the question of whether the IMD itself is subgroup-specific.
Validation of the measure of processes of care for use when there is no child development centre
- Authors:
- McCONACHIE H., LOGAN S.
- Journal article citation:
- Child: Care, Health and Development, 29(1), January 2003, pp.35-45.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Clinical governance requires measurement of health care outcomes. The Measure of Processes of Care (MPOC) is a postal questionnaire developed in Canada to reflect parents’ perceptions of the quality of services received. Examines the MPOC's usefulness for service evaluation for children with disabilities and their families. The MPOC was revised minimally for British idiom, taking out explicit references to a ‘Centre’. Surveys of parents using child disability services were carried out in 3 rural and 2 urban communities, where there are no child development centres, with a total of 495 analysable questionnaires returned. In addition, 32 parents using a home nursing service for children with multiple disabilities completed questionnaires. The return rate ranged from 49% to 67%. Factor analysis confirmed a 5-factor solution but only one factor mapped clearly onto the Canadian structure. Using the revised structure, the surveys provide evidence of the discriminating potential of the MPOC, comparing the perceptions of parents who do or do not have a care co-ordinator, and comparing recipients of a home nursing service with matched users of general services. The MPOC can be used as a measure of outcome for child disability services of differing organisational structures.
Joint working between occupational therapy and clinical psychology in a school setting: a neurorehabilitation case study of child with an acquired developmental disability
- Authors:
- KALPO Gianni E., et al
- Journal article citation:
- British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64(1), January 2001, pp.29-33.
- Publisher:
- Sage
This article presents a case study of the assessment and treatment of an 8 year old boy with developmental disabilities following meningitis. It aims to explore the extent to which clinical child psychologists and paediatric occupational therapists share a common frame of reference that enables them to work jointly, in an effective and complementary way, to improve clinical standards. The implications for joint working between health professionals and for collaboration with teachers are discussed.
Impaired balance in developmental dyslexia? A meta-analysis of the contending evidence
- Authors:
- ROCHELLE Kim S. H., TALCOTT Joel B.
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47(11), 2006, pp.1159-1166.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Developmental dyslexia is typically defined by deficits in phonological skills, but is also associated with balance impairment. Although balance assessments are included in several screening instruments for dyslexia, the association between balance and literacy problems could be the result of the high co-occurrence between dyslexia and other development disorders in which motor behaviour is affected. This meta-analysis of nine studies (15 papers) results in a mean effect size of 0.64, but this is significantly boosted by the probable co-occurrence of other developmental disorders and variability in IQ scores among the dyslexia groups. The authors conclude that balance impairment is associated with dyslexia, but that this is more strongly related to third variables other than reading ability. It is a risk indicator for developmental disorders generally, but not dyslexia specifically.
Associations of motor co-ordination and attention with motor-perceptual development in 3-year-old preterm and full-term children who needed neonatal intensive care
- Authors:
- HEMGREN E., PERSSON K.
- Journal article citation:
- Child: Care, Health and Development, 33(1), January 2007, pp.11-21.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Children who have needed neonatal intensive care (NIC) are considered to be at risk for deficits such as developmental co-ordination disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. By assessing motor-perceptual development, motor co-ordination and attention already at 3 years of age, it might be possible to identify such deficits earlier than they are today. The aim was to investigate the motor-perceptual development in a group of 202 NIC children but had no major impairments, to describe associations of deficits in co-ordination and attention with motor-perceptual delays, and to estimate the prevalence of NIC children with combined deficits together with a motor-perceptual delay. Co-ordination and attention in children born very preterm (n = 57), moderately preterm (n = 75) and full-term (n = 70) were observed according to a model for Combined Assessment of Motor Performance and Behaviour while they were assessed using a developmental scale, Motor-Perceptual Development, 0–7 years, MPU. In two out of 14 MPU areas, a larger proportion of very preterm than of moderately preterm and full-term children had marked developmental delay. Overall, the proportion of NIC children having a motor-perceptual delay increased with increasing incoordination and especially increasing lack of attention. Twenty-one (11%) of the NIC children had different motor-perceptual delays combined with pronounced incoordination and pronounced lack of attention. Deficits in co-ordination and attention were associated with motor-perceptual delays in areas important for daily living and development of academic skills. Therefore, to find children at risk for developmental co-ordination disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, assessments of co-ordination and attention should be added to assessments of motor-perceptual development in 3-year-old NIC children.
Visual contribution to walking in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder
- Authors:
- DECONINCK F. J. A., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child: Care, Health and Development, 32(6), November 2006, pp.711-722.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The motor co-ordination problems of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have been frequently associated with poor visuospatial processing. In order to extend these findings mainly based on fine motor experiments, the present study investigates the contribution of vision to the control of walking in children with DCD. Children with DCD (n = 12) walked at their preferred speed on a straight, firm and uncluttered walkway in a condition with normal lighting and in a dark condition. Spatiotemporal gait variables were assessed by means of a three-dimensional ProReflex camera system and compared with the gait pattern of matched, typically developing (TD) children (n = 12). In normal lighting, the gait pattern of both groups was similar, with the exception of subtle differences in the temporal phasing, showing a slightly longer support phase in the children with DCD. In the dark, step frequency and step length were decreased in the children with DCD, resulting in a significantly slower walking velocity. In addition, the medio-lateral excursion of the centre of mass tended to increase in this group. In the TD children, adaptations to the spatiotemporal pattern remained absent. These results suggest that children with DCD are more dependent on global visual flow information than TD children for the maintenance of balance and the control of velocity during walking. This increased dependency on visual control might be associated with a poorly developed internal sensorimotor model.
Perception–action coupling in children with and without DCD: frequency locking between task-relevant auditory signals and motor responses in a dual-motor task
- Authors:
- WHITALL J., et al
- Journal article citation:
- Child: Care, Health and Development, 32(6), November 2006, pp.679-692.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
The current research examines the relationship between perceptual and motor processes, known as perception–action or sensorimotor coupling, and the potential differences in perception–action coupling among children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and adults in a gross-motor co-ordination task (clapping while marching) when a task-relevant driving sensory signal is present. Ten children with DCD (7.32 + 0.23 years), eight typically developing (TD) children who were age-, gender- and racially/ethnically matched (6.91 + 0.24 years) and 10 college-aged adults were participants in this study. Participants clapped and marched to an auditory beat at four different frequencies: 0.8, 1.2,1.6 and 2.0 Hz. The relative timing measures of mean relative phase (MRP) and variability of relative phase (VRP) were calculated and compared using 3 (group) x 4 (frequency) x 2 (limb) anovas. Qualitatively, participants were assessed for the presence of absolute coupling (100% + 15% MRP). Statistically significant differences in MRP occurred for coupling, frequency and group, and post hoc analysis indicated that the adult group differed from both the DCD and TD groups, who did not differ from each other. In VRP, there were significant main effects for coupling and group, and a significant interaction between group and frequency, with post hoc analysis indicating the DCD group to be different from the TD and adult groups. Qualitatively, both the adult and TD groups increased in the number of participants who adopt absolute coupling as frequency increases. In contrast, the DCD participants adopt this absolute coupling far less frequently overall; in fact, the number of participants adopting this pattern decreases as frequency increases.These results indicate that children with DCD have difficulties with both the co-ordination and the control of their perception–action coupling for this particular task.
The development and standardization of the Children Activity Scales (ChAS-P/T) for the early identification of children with Developmental Coordination Disorders
- Author:
- ROSENBLUM S.
- Journal article citation:
- Child: Care, Health and Development, 32(6), November 2006, pp.619-632.
- Publisher:
- Wiley
Previous studies have emphasized the importance of early identification of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) to prevent the development of secondary academic, emotional and social manifestations of the disorder. The aim of this study was to develop a valid parent and teacher questionnaire – the Children Activity Scales for parents (ChAS-P) and for teachers (ChAS-T) – to identify children aged 4–8 years at risk for DCD and to examine the reliability and validity of these questionnaires. The questionnaires' content and face validity were established, and then cut-off scores were determined based on responses of 355 teachers and 216 parents. Internal consistencies were also calculated. Factor analyses were performed, and construct validity was determined by examining the questionnaires' ability to discriminate between 30 children aged 5–6.5 years diagnosed with DCD and 30 typically developing children. Concurrent validity was examined by comparing questionnaire scores with those of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC). High values were obtained for internal consistency (0.96–0.94) for the ChAS-T and the ChAS-P respectively. Factor analysis revealed four distinct factors within the ChAS-P and three within the ChAS-T, reinforcing the theoretical validity of the items selected and appropriateness for identifying DCD. Construct validity was indicated by finding significant differences between the groups' scores on the ChAS-T and the ChAS-P. Significant correlations between the children's scores on the questionnaires and those of the M-ABC confirmed their concurrent validity. Initial results suggest that the ChAS-T and Chas-P are reliable tools to identify children at risk for DCD.