This report describes the implementation variation of physical and occupational therapy for 43 motor-delayed infants in early intervention programs. The influences of infant, family, and program variables on the actual therapy services were determined. Therapist availability and severity of motor delay were the critical factors influencing the…

The sensory-motor bases of motor rehabilitation and current instructional theory about how handicapped children learn motor skills are explained. Strategies for organizing learning sessions, techniques of skill instruction, and the use of reinforcing feedback to maximize educational opportunities for handicapped children are discussed. (PP)

Provides an overview of presentations that were included in the Medical Symposium at the 1998 Learning Disabilities Association conference. The symposium addressed vestibular control and eye movement, postural sway and balance, cerebellar dysfunction, the role of the frontal lobe, developmental coordination disorder, and sensory integration…

Background: Most children with Tourette's syndrome (TS) experience a significant decline in tic symptoms during adolescence. Currently no clinical measures have been identified that can predict whose tic symptoms will persist into adulthood. Patients with TS have deficits on neuropsychological tests involving fine-motor coordination and…

Examined neuropsychological functioning of survivors of acute lymphoblastic leukemia who underwent central-nervous-system prophylactic treatment. Findings replicated past research in showing survivors perform poorly on visual-motor integration tasks and develop a Nonverbal Learning Disability. Findings offer recommendations for future research and…

Purpose: Research reveals that prenatal alcohol exposure and child trauma (i.e., abuse, neglect, sexual abuse) can have deleterious effects on child development across multiple domains. This study analyzed the impact on childhood neurodevelopment of prenatal alcohol exposure and postnatal traumatic experience compared to postnatal traumatic…

Many children with spina bifida present organic characteristics such as muscle weakness below the spinal lesion. These medical aspects are discussed with respect to their influence on teaching self-care and motor skills and reducing self-injurious behavior. Recommendations for educational programming are made. (Author/JDD)

The neuropsychological status and neuromotor performance of adolescent boys from lower-middle-class social environments who were detained as juvenile delinquents were compared to those of nondelinquent lower- and upper-middle-class controls. Principal aims were to investigate relationships between delinquency and learning disabilities,…

Measurements derived from reaction time, movement time, and an index of neural adaptability derived from averaged evoked potentials are significantly related to each other as well as to g factor scores extracted from a battery of 15 psychometric tests in a sample of 54 severely retarded adults. (Author/RD)

Discusses the recent change in direction in neuropsychological and neurolinguistic research from a focus on pathological factors to one that combines pathological and normal factors, the major focus being the motor and sensory processes. An attempt is made to outline the future course of this field. (CFM)

This article reports on the development of a screening checklist for identifying children who might have developmental coordination disorder (DCD), use of the checklist to determine incidence rates in East Kent (United Kingdom), and possible relationships between DCD and left-handedness and between DCD and self-concept. (DB)

D.V. Cicchetti, A.S. Kaufman, and S.S. Sparrow (this issue) examine various technical issues related to six studies of perinatal PCB exposure and neurodevelopment and one study of adult PCB exposure and motor function. They raise questions about possible imperfections of the studies, but many of their assertions are unsupported or frankly…

This article presents a model to guide activity-focused physical therapy and occupational therapy interventions for children with neurological conditions. Activity-focused interventions involve structured practice and repetition of functional actions and are directed toward the learning of motor tasks that will increase independence and…

Most attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) research has compared cases with unaffected controls. This has led to many associations, but uncertainties about their specificity to ADHD in contrast with other disorders. We present a selective review of research, comparing ADHD with other disorders in neuropsychological, neurobiological and…

Aims: To characterise the cognitive, motor, and language skills of toddlers and preschoolers who had been physically abused and to obtain concurrent MRIs of the brain. Methods: A between groups design was used to compare of sample of 19 children, aged 14-77 months, who had been hospitalised for physical abuse with no evidence of neurological…