Dyspraxia is a developmental condition in which the ability to ideate, plan and
execute new and novel actions is impaired (Bundy, Lane & Murray, 2002:477-
478).
The aim of this study was to investigate the childâs, parentâs and educatorâs
perceptions on dyspraxia, in order to identify comprehensive client-centred
treatment goals. This study was carried out in order to further the
understanding of the complexities surrounding a child with dyspraxia, as it
pertain to the occupational performance areas of school, play and leisure,
and self-care. A lack of literature on the use of a family-centred approach in
assessment and treatment of children by South African occupational
therapists and the growing emphasis on including the voice of the child in
decision-making that affects them, gave relevance to this undertaking.
A descriptive, cross-sectional study was done. The study population consisted
of children aged 5 years 4 months to 8 years 2 months, living in Bloemfontein
and surrounding areas, and diagnosed with dyspraxia as per the criteria of
the Sensory Integration and Praxis Test (SIPT) (Ayres, 1989). The study
sample further consisted of the parent(s) of the child who were involved in
the occupational therapy process, as well as the educator of the child
concerned.
The PEGS (Missiuna, Pollock & Law, 2004) was used as the measuring
instrument to obtain the perceptions regarding dyspraxia from the child,
parent and educator. The PEGSâs assessment for children consists of 24 pairs of cards showing children participating in activities from the occupational
performance areas of self-care, school/productivity and leisure/play. The child
had to indicate if he is like the picture of the child who is âmore competentâ
or âless competentâ in the activity. During separate interviews with the
parents and educators, the researcher asked the parent(s) and educators to
rate the childâs competency on the same activities as those of the childâs
cards of the PEGS. The child, parent and educator respectively also chose
activities as goals to be addressed during occupational therapy intervention.
Demographic information was also obtained from the parent(s) during a
structured interview. The data analysis was done by Department Biostatistics,
Faculty of Health Sciences, UFS.
Findings indicated that dyspraxia reached across all functional spheres. Play
and leisure was perceived by all to be the occupational performance area
children with dyspraxia were the least competent in, with skipping with a
rope perceived by all as the most troublesome activity. The perceptions of
the parent, child and educator regarding the childâs competence in specific
activities differed. Children were able to express their perceived efficacy and
made themselves out to be both less and more competent in some items the
adults did not agree with. A statistical significant difference was found
between the child and educatorâs summary score percentages of their
perceptions of the childâs competence as it relates to the OPA of
school/productivity.
Parents, children and educators selected different combinations of items as
goals, with almost half of the total number of goals selected by all
participants related to the OPA of leisure. Printing, playing ball games that
require hitting a ball, such as tennis and cricket, skipping with a rope and cutting with scissors were the specific goals selected by the greatest number
of participants.
In conclusion, recommendations towards child-centred practice were made.
These included realising the extent of the influence of dyspraxia on all areas
of the childâs functioning, considering all environments and all role-players in
the childâs life when planning intervention and providing the child with an
opportunity to express his perceptions of his abilities and goals for therapy.
The limitations of the study were acknowledged and recommendations were
made for future research.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-06142013-151211 |
| Date | 14 June 2013 |
| Creators | van Staden, Carli |
| Contributors | Mrs A van Jaarsveld |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-06142013-151211/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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