The diploma thesis is focused on the concept of the psychomotor development in context of remaining primary reflexes in children. The author draws on the knowledge of developmental psychology and neurophysiology that some of developmentally earlier stages must under optimal circumstances and maturation of a child disappear and be replaced by ontogenetically newer forms. Research confirms continuity of persistent primary reflexes, psychomotor development and learning and behavioral problems. The thesis aims to investigate whether inhibition of primary reflexes using Neuro-developmental therapy improves the condition of children with delayed psychomotor development, including their school grades. The author in the introductory chapters focusses on normal psychomotor development of children, in particular gross motor skills, fine motor skills, sensory skills, including proprioception and kinesthesia and their importance for learning ability in school age. The next part of the thesis is focused on particular primary reflexes and their impact on psychomotor development. The author pays special attention to the climbing stage in infancy which she considers as an important milestone in the optimal psychomotor development. Case studies shows, that skipping any developmental stage can be considered as a...

The diploma thesis focuses on persistent primary reflexes in younger school age children, their connection with the correct psychomotor development and insight ainto the connection of specific learning and behavioral disorders with persistent primary reflexes. In the theoretical part, the author describes the psychomotor development of a child based on the findings of developmental psychology and neurophysiology. The next part characterizes the primary reflexes and their influence on specific learning disabilities. At the end of the theoretical part, the author presents programs that are used to inhibit persistent primary reflexes in the Czech republic. In the empirical part of the work, the author describes the diagnosis implementation of persistent primary reflexes in younger school age children via test forms. The author presents the results using tables and graphs. The author confirms the assumption of the occurence of the highest values of persistent primary reflexes in the preparátory class children and states the percentage occurence of persistent primary reflexes in all tested groups. KEYWORDS Persisting primary reflexes, psychomotor development, specific learning disabilities

The aim of the dissertation entitled Neuro-Developmental Stimulation in special education teachers work is to explain a lesser-known phenomenon (persistent primary reflexes and sensory-sensitive integration disorders in children) to determine the prevalence of persistent primary reflexes in pupils from 5 to 8 years and verify effectiveness of the method Neuro- Developmental Stimulation as a possible intervention program for special educators. The theoretical basis is current knowledge about psychomotorics, primary reflexes, sensory perception and sensory-sensitive integration. The main part of the work is research into the prevalence of persistent primary reflexes. The research group consists 345 pupils from 5 to 8 years of age attending regular kindergartens and primary schools and 26 pupils aged 8 to 11 years attending a primary school established pursuant to Section 16, Paragraph 9 of the Czech Education law. Intervention by the Neuro-Developmental Stimulation method is verified in a case study. The next part of the research maps the experience of special pedagogue teachers and speech therapists with the method Neuro-Developmental Stimulation as an intervention program. The research has a quantitative approach. For data collection, questionnaires were distributed among all special pedagogues and...

The first purpose of this thesis was to examine whether sensorimotor therapy utilizing the training program ”Retraining for Balance” might be an appropriate technique for sensorimotor proficiency. The second purpose was to gain increased understanding of the effects of sensorimotor therapy on the physical and psychological development of children and youth. A third purpose was to put sensorimotor therapy in a wider perspective through a somewhat novel extension of the theoretical framework. Two naturalistic studies were conducted. Paper I was quantitative and comprised 232 children (181 boys and 51 girls) divided into three groups (1) a younger group (7 years or younger, n=65), (2) a middle group (8 to 10 years old, n=91) and, (3) an older group (11 years old or older, n=76). The participants presented attentional and motor difficulties before starting therapy. The treatment period was in average close to 3 years. Results indicated significant improvements concerning sensorimotor skills in all age groups. Paper II was a qualitative study, which included the records of 8 children (7 boys and 1 girl) randomly selected from the cohort of 232 children. The analysis used the EPP-method and yielded 3 overarching themes, which together formed “the kinesthetic-vestibular developmental model”. The model illustrated how Introductions of sensorimotor exercises pushed the therapy process forward due to periods of Regression and Transformation. The results were generalized to the remaining 224 children in the cohort by comparing each participant’s records with “the kinesthetic-vestibular developmental model”. The tentative conclusion was that sensorimotor therapy according to the method “Retraining for Balance” might constitute a complement to treatment of ADHD, DCD and LD but controlled studies are necessary before more decisive conclusions can be drawn. / Baksidestext   This thesis had three purposes. (1) to examine whether sensorimotor therapy (SMT) using the training program ”Retraining for Balance” might be a proper technique for sensorimotor proficiency. (2) to gain increased understanding of the effects of SMT on physical and psychological development and, (3) to put SMT in a wider perspective by an extension of the theoretical framework. Two naturalistic studies were conducted. Paper I, which was quantitative, comprised 232 children who presented attentional and motor difficulties. The cohort was divided into three groups depending on age and results after therapy indicated improvements in all groups. Paper II, a qualitative study, selected records of 8 children from the cohort. Analysis yielded 3 overarching themes, which together formed “the kinesthetic-vestibular developmental model” illustrating how Introductions of exercises pushed the process forward due to Regressions and Transformations. The results were generalized to the remaining 224 children. The tentative conclusion of this thesis was that SMT might constitute a complement to treatment of ADHD, DCD and LD but controlled studies are necessary before decisive conclusions can be drawn.