The problem of this study.was the relationship of selected abilities to gross motor performance of educable mentally retarded students at different chronological age levels.

The purpose of the present study was to determine the correlation between expressive language delay in children and their gross and fine motor skills. Twenty children five years through six years, eleven months with a diagnosed expressive language delay, were selected to participate in the study. Each was screened on the basis of normal hearing, receptive vocabulary skills, motor functioning, and an expressive language delay of one year or more. After screening procedures, each child was administered the Preschool Language Scale-PLS (Zimmerman, et al., 1969) and the short form of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-BOMP (Bruininks, 1978). The data were analyzed using a Pearson Product-Moment Correlation along with means, standard deviations, and a one-tailed t-test of significance.

In view of the current use of the Carolina Curriculum for Preschoolers with Special Needs (Carolina) as an alternative to the widely used Brigance Diagnostic Inventory of Early Development (Brigance) for assessing the motor development of preschool aged children, a study was undertaken to establish the validity of the Carolina using the Brigance as a criterion test. A sample of 2 7 preschool special education children ranging in age from 36 to 71 months from three categories-learning handicapped (LH), severely handicapped (SH) and severely handicapped Down's Syndrome children (SHD)-were assessed by an adapted physical education specialist. Each subject was evaluated on two separate days within one week using the Carolina and the Brigance. The subjects were also evaluated concurrently by their classroom teachers using a Teacher Observation check sheet prepared by the adapted physical education specialist. Correlation coefficients using the developmental age scores obtained on the three test instruments and the correlations comparing the three categories to each test instrument ranged from .90 to .98 (r. (25) = .486, p < .01 ). These findings offered strong support for the concurrent validity of the Carolina. Additional analysis of the data using a 3 x 3 ANOVA for repeated measures resulted in a significant F ratio for the dependent variable of functional level, E (2,24) = 4.82, p = 0.174. The Sheffe post hoc analysis procedure indicated a statistically significant difference between the LH and the SHD categories. vi

Statement of the Problem Children with bilateral cerebral palsy (BCP) oftentimes have difficulty coordinating their hands to perform bimanual tasks. However, the characteristics of bimanual coordination in children with BCP have not yet been explored. Furthermore, although intensive motor learning-based interventions such as Hand-Arm Bimanual Intensive Training Including the Lower Extremities, (HABIT-ILE) are aimed at improving bimanual function in children with BCP, there is no evidence, to date, that bimanual coordination improves in these children following interventions such as HABIT-ILE. Since the Both Hands Assessment (BoHA) is the only validated measure of bimanual performance in children with BCP, this study also sought to determine whether the kinematic measure of bimanual coordination used in this study as well as the BoHA are both responsive to change following HABIT-ILE. Methods Vicon motion capture was used to collect 3-D kinematic data during a drawer-opening task to compare bimanual coordination in 14 children with BCP with that of 14 typically developing children (TDC) using speed and hand constraints. Children with BCP classified at Manual Ability Classification System (MACS) levels I to III were also evaluated on the Box and Blocks Test (BBT), a test of unimanual dexterity, and the BoHA. The BoHA uses video analysis to evaluate spontaneous use of both hands during a board game. Correlations between temporal measures of bimanual coordination and these clinical measures of hand function and asymmetry were also examined. A subset of 6 children with BCP were evaluated on the drawer-opening task and the BoHA pre- and post-HABIT-ILE to determine the effect of HABIT-ILE on both bimanual coordination and performance and to compare the responsiveness to change between these two measures. Results Compared to TDC, children with BCP performed the bimanual task more slowly (p < 0.001) and sequentially, as evidenced by greater time differences between the two hands completing the two components of the task (p < 0.05). Performing the task at a faster speed facilitated bimanual coordination, particularly in children with BCP (p < 0.05). The use of the less affected hand to initiate the more complex component of the task under speeded conditions also had a greater facilitatory effect on bimanual coordination in children with BCP (p = 0.02). Bimanual coordination measures correlated significantly with clinical measures of hand function and asymmetry. For instance, faster task completion times correlated with higher BBT scores (Spearman’s rho ranged from r = -0.74 to r = -0.82). Following HABIT-ILE, children with BCP improved on several temporal measures of bimanual coordination (r = -0.64; p = 0.03) and the BoHA (r = -0.61; p = 0.03). Conclusion This study found significant differences in bimanual coordination between children with BCP and TDC. It also highlighted the facilitatory effect of faster speeds and hand role on bimanual coordination. Correlations between temporal measures of bimanual coordination and clinical measures of hand function suggest that children with BCP with lesser impairment of both hands are better able to coordinate their hands to perform bimanual tasks. Following HABIT-ILE, children with BCP improved significantly on several temporal measures of bimanual coordination as well as the BoHA. Thus, this study demonstrated that both a kinematic measure of bimanual coordination as well as a measure that relies on video analysis of bimanual performance were both responsive to change following HABIT-ILE.

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Little research has been reported which has assessed the motor skills of children in elementary classroom situations where teacher aides have been involved in the teaching of physical education activities. The purpose of this study was to assess selected motor skills of second and fifth grade students and to determine whether the motor skills of students in classes with college aides differed significantly from the motor skills of students in classes without college aides. The children were tested on the motor skills of throwing, catching, kicking, and striking. The study was conducted over a fourteen week period of time in elementary schools located in Mercer County, West Virginia. Four hundred forty nine children participated in the study. All of the children were pre tested using an adapted form of the Ohio State University Scale of Intra-Gross Motor Assessment (1975) on the four motor skills during the first two weeks of the study. A ten week instructional period then followed for the experimental groups on each grade level, utilizing aides from an elementary physical education methods class at Concord College, located in Athens, West Virginia. The assigned college aide assisted the classroom teachers in conducting physical education activities with the experimental classes four days each week for the ten week period. The control group experienced. their regular instructional period for the interim ten week period, having the classroom teacher being solely responsible for conducting the physical education activities four days each week. Both groups received their regularly scheduled instruction from a physical education specialist one class period each week. At the completion of the ten week instructional period, all of the subjects were post tested utilizing the same instrument which was used in the pretest. A two way factorial MANOVA was applied in order to determine statistically significant differences in motor skill with respect to experimental versus control group, second and fifth grades and the interaction between them. The results indicated that there was a nonsignificant interaction between grades and experimental versus control group. Therefore, the two groups were relatively constant across the two grades. The results indicated that the classes of students with college aides scored significantly higher on the motor skills of catching, kicking, and striking, while there was no significant difference on the skill of throwing from pretest to posttest. The older children (fifth graders) scored significantly higher on the two skills of catching and kicking than did the younger children (second graders). There was no significant difference from pretest to posttest with respect to the grades on the motor skills of throwing and striking. / Ed. D.