Gross-Motor Development Essay PDF

Preview

Summary

Download Gross-Motor Development Essay PDF

Description

GROSS-MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 1

Gross-Motor Development in Children Kiana Nichols 5563879 November 7th, 2017

GROSS-MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 2 Between birth to 24 months, gross-motor development represents children’s growing ability to control posture and movement by using the large muscles of the body. Larger muscles such as; arms, legs, feet or their entire body are only some examples of gross-motor skills. Crawling, running and jumping are those random movements children make that are going to turn into highly controlled and coordinated movement. During this period, the understanding of gross-motor development in the developing child is varied. Ordinary movement skills are important elements for children’s social, educational, and community life (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.163). Additionally, gross-motor skills provide a foundation of many different skills such as; cognition, communication, adaptive skills, social and emotional capacity in the typically developing child (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.163). This research is demonstrated in the development of crawling on hands and knees (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.163). For the simple reason that, observation of some type of movement on the part of the child will need assessment of development of language, cognition, self-care skills, and socialization in young children (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.163). It is important for caregivers to understand the behavior infants make that indicate attachment to and separation from their primary caregiver (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.163). For example, behaviors such as; turning toward, gazing at, smiling at the caregiver, and moving away from the caregiver are some of the behaviors that need to be taken into consideration when making assessment (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.163). It is important for early interventionist to understand where delays in motor development exists and why they have occurred so that an appropriate intervention plan can be developed, and children can successfully participate in daily activities (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.163-164). An important case in identifying motor development is knowing the order in which grossmotor skills develop and knowing when the child gain new skills. For example, when a child

GROSS-MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 3 rolls over, typically sitting up would be the next step. In lecture we have talked about each motor skill steps that occur between birth to 24 months. To start, during birth to 4 months, head control is a skill that develops when infants turn their head to the side while on their back to clear their airway to the stomach (John McNamara, Personal Communication, October 24th). Their movements are made from their primitive reflexes which they must resolve prior to attaining voluntary control over motor development (John McNamara, Personal Communication, October 24th). During 4 to 7 months, infants begin to roll over from belly to back while laying on a firm surface. They use momentum and gravity to lift their heads when pulled into the sitting position which improves and should be close to independent (John McNamara, Personal Communication, October 24th). During 6 to 9 months, infants are working on sitting up independently. At 6 months, infants may be sitting briefly before falling over backwards or on their side. While at 7, 8, and 9 months infants will start to rely less on their hands and can sit still. This will allow infant’s hands to be available to play while maintaining itself (John McNamara, Personal Communication, October 24th). Between 9 to 12 months, infants will begin to pull themselves into a standing position and begin to take steps, typically called cruising (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.172). Soon after that, infants will be able to let go and independently walk alone while using furniture’s as support if necessary. Most infants begin to walk independently between 12 to 17 months as a new walker. Infants will typically have their legs wide apart and arms up to help with balance, and often they are not bending too much on their knees. Over the next few months, certain changes will occur such as their legs will come closer, the arms will come down and there will be more bending of the knees. During this period, infants will climb, stoop, recover, and squat when they play. Finally, between 18 to 24 months, infants walking will turn into fast walking which will eventually turn into running (John McNamara, Personal Communication,

GROSS-MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 4 October 24th). They will also learn how to pick up and throw a ball. Most of the motor development have been acquired to 24 months but from here it’s a matter of refining. There are many different exceptionalities focused around gross-motor development. One that I will be focusing on is Autism. Gross motor development in children with autism have been found to be widespread (Pusponegoro et al., 2016). Children with autism are characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication, restricted behavior, and intellectual impairment. They may perform certain social awareness queues such as gaze and smile mismatch, lack of babbling, lack of reciprocity, dysfunctional attachment patterns, and perspective taking. These deficits need to be taken into consideration when assessing motor developing in children with autism. Because of this, there is still research being done on this disorder as a pattern of motor deficits has not yet emerged (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.191). Children with autism may have a generic motor planning deficit that may go beyond the problems of preparing for movement, planning movement, and using objects as tools (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.191). Children with autism were also known to have a greater joint mobility and abnormalities in gait which resulted in a stiff and awkward gait that had limited arm swing (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.192). Also, children with autism are less coordinated in walking and have difficulty walking in a straight line compared to children who are developing typically (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.192). Additionally, gross-motor problems in children with autism have trouble staying up straight and have poor postural control (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.192). Poor postural control, difficulty learning new motor tasks and poor visual attentions are the main factors that have been reported in children with common developmental skills (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.192).

GROSS-MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 5 There are many supports available for children with autism that can be alternated around gross-motor development. Supports such as; direct therapy, supervised therapy, and consultation can benefit the child and the program to sustain parent involvement (Jones et al., 2016). It is important that the family make the decisions about the interventions as the family is a tremendously important factor during this process. It is also important to allow parents and caregivers to be a part of the assessment, intervention and program planning (Jones et al., 2016). Most parents get inspired through their child’s early intervention program which gets them involved in making decisions about their child’s educational experiences beyond age 3 (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.195). Depending on the needs of the child, appropriate specialist such as occupational or physical therapist need to take into account and determine how services should be provided to children with autism (Jones et al., 2016). The role of the occupational therapists examines the child’s physical, social, and cultural situation. This is while examining how the environment influences the child’s performances in such areas as self-care, play and school work (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.195). The role of the physical therapist will examine the child’s posture and movement. They will address issues related to mobility and gross-motor skill acquisition and will provide certain equipment to support these functions (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.195). It is discussed that children with disabilities should receive the same amount of physical education services as children without disabilities (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.196). These professionals should be involved in adapting physical educational activities for students that foster development of fitness and gross-motor skills which will aid specific problems such as posture and body movement (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.196). In conclusion, gross-motor skills are the big movements that are made when infants start to crawl, learn to stand, walk, and run. Children need to be confident and able to carry those

GROSS-MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 6 affectively to develop higher functioning skills. For example, being able to stand on one leg to put your shoes on or being able to use your hand to eat. Children need to be able to use their big core muscles to develop further skills. Children with exceptionalities tend to have difficulties in developing these skills. Because of this, they may avoid engaging in activities with other children because they have a fear of failing which limits their opportunities to improve motor skills performances and tend to isolate themselves from other children. Interventionists such as special physical educator, physical therapist, and occupational therapist are helpful in finding ways to modify motor tasks for success (Hooper & Umansky, 2014, p.200). It is important that children get that reassurance and feedback regarding their performance. This encourages children to assess their own performance instead of having to rely on others.

GROSS-MOTOR DEVELOPMENT 7 Reference Hooper, S. R. & Umansky, W. (2014). Young Children with Special Needs (6th ed.). Toronto, Pearson Pusponegoro, H. D., Efar, P., Soedjatmiko , , Soebadi, A., Firmansyah, A., Chen, H., & Hung, K. (2016). Gross motor profile and its association with socialization skills in children with autism spectrum disorders. Pediatrics & Neonatology, 57(6), 501-507. doi:10.1016/j.pedneo.2016.02.004 Jones, R. A., Okely. A. D., Hinkley, T., Batterham, M., $ Burke, C. (2016). Promoting gross motor skills and physical activity in childcare: A translational randomized controlled trial. Journal Of Science & Medicine In Sport, 19(9), 744-749....