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Profiles and cognitive predictors of motor functions among early school‐age children with mild intellectual disabilities
Author(s) -
Wuang Y.P.,
Wang C.C.,
Huang M.H.,
Su C.Y.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of intellectual disability research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.941
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1365-2788
pISSN - 0964-2633
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2788.2008.01096.x
Subject(s) - psychology , cognition , intellectual disability , gross motor skill , motor skill , sensory processing , comprehension , cognitive skill , audiology , developmental psychology , association (psychology) , motor function , borderline intellectual functioning , mental age , test (biology) , sensory system , physical medicine and rehabilitation , medicine , psychiatry , cognitive psychology , linguistics , philosophy , paleontology , psychotherapist , biology
Background The purpose of the study was to describe sensorimotor profile in children with mild intellectual disability (ID), and to examine the association between cognitive and motor function. Methods A total of 233 children with mild ID aged 7 to 8 years were evaluated with measures of cognitive, motor and sensory integrative functioning. Results Children with mild ID performed significantly less well on all test measures. 44.2% of children scored in the impaired range on seven out of 22 sensorimotor measures. They had weaker fine motor skills than gross motor skills. Sensory integrative functions were only mildly impaired. Total IQ substantially predicted overall performance on each motor test. Specifically, verbal comprehension and processing speed indexes were significant predictors of gross and fine motor function. Conclusions Sensorimotor dysfunctions were found to be very frequent in children with mild ID. Early identification of sensorimtor impairments is essential to prompt early intervention and facilitate better integration into regular school settings.