Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Yoga Birds, Maddy Wagler

Zea E-Books Collection

Singing crows, diving swans, and preening peacocks join eagles in this fun, kid-friendly yoga book. Yoga brings together the mind and body, connecting breath with posture, presence, and play.

Yoga Birds is written by a certified yoga teacher with experience teaching a wide range of students—toddlers to octogenarians. The illustrator is an occasional yogi with a good eye for spotting birds.

This book is designed to be shared and read aloud by adults and children. The easy how-to pose guide includes Sanskrit, too. Young yoga students can develop language skills as they build strength, flexibility, and balance.

The journey of …

Development Of Lip Closing Function During Taking Food Into The Mouth In Children With Down Syndrome, Tomoko Isoda, Fumiyo Tamura, Takeshi Kikutani, Miki Mizukami

International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy

Children with Down Syndrome (DS) show developmental retardation of gross motor function including acquisition of oral movements related to eating and swallowing. To characterize the process of development/acquisition of eating/swallowing function of children with DS, interlabial pressure (IP) during taking food into the mouth was assessed. This study included 99 children with DS (birth to 4 year-old), and 112 age-matched control children showing typical development. IP during taking food into the mouth was measured as an objective index of lip closing function. The system for measuring IP during taking food into the mouth consisted of a strain gauge-pressure sensor connected …

Investigating Factors Related To The Acquisition Of Masticatory Function In Down Syndrome Children, Miki Mizukami, Takeshi Kikutani, Miwa Matsuyama, Keigo Nagashima

International Journal of Orofacial Myology and Myofunctional Therapy

Down syndrome (DS) has the highest prevalence of any chromosomal abnormality identified in newborns. DS children have specific eating and swallowing difficulties such as poor tongue control, mouth opening, swallowing food without chewing, and both facial and occlusal abnormalities. DS children are also at high risk of aspiration, and swallowing food without chewing is considered to be a factor associated with increased risk of aspiration and eating problems. This study aimed to identify factors preventing the acquisition of masticatory function in DS children. The subjects were 75 outpatient DS children (44 males, age range 12 to 36 month-old, mean age …

Physical, Occupational, And Speech Therapy For Children With Cerebral Palsy., Sarah Westcott Mccoy, Robert Palisano, Lisa Avery, Lynn Jeffries, Alyssa Laforme Fiss, Lisa Chiarello, Steve Hanna

Physical Therapy Publications

AIM: To explore the relationship between rehabilitation therapies and development in children with cerebral palsy (CP).

METHOD: We conducted a prospective, longitudinal study involving 656 children with CP (mean age [SD] 6y [2y 8mo] at study entry; 1y 6mo-11y 11mo; 287 females, 369 males), and their parents. Children were assessed two to five times over 2 years by therapists using standardized measures of balance and walking endurance. Parents completed questionnaires on demographics, rehabilitation therapies, and their children's performance in self-care and participation in recreation. Therapists and parents collaboratively classified children's Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels. We created longitudinal …

Motor Competency And Physical Activity In Elementary School Aged Children Who Participate In Nontraditional Sports, Courtney Norman, Wesley Geer, Julia Looper

All Faculty Scholarship

One after school program, Youth Ambassadors of Physical Education (YA), is designed to promote physical activity in school age children to help combat the growing levels of childhood inactivity. However, this program utilizes skills that are vastly different from the locomotor and object control skills assessed with the Test of Gross Motor Development. Purpose: The purpose of this study it to determine whether the TGMD-2 can identify the children in YA as competent in their motor skills. This study also examines if there is a link between the overall physical activity level of the children in YA and their motor …

Beyond Regression: An Investigation Of Art Material Choice For Children With Trauma, Natalie Lane

Expressive Therapies Capstone Theses

Choice in art materials and the artistic process are arguably two of the primary facets of how art making can be therapeutic. The purpose of the present inquiry was to investigate the impacts of art material choice in children who have experienced trauma. Using the expressive therapies continuum (ETC) as a foundation for choosing art materials in a therapeutic context, this inquiry sought to introduce art materials in the kinesthetic/sensory component of the ETC (e.g., clay, paint, large paint brushes, etc.). As a mediating consideration, this inquiry articulated the responsibilities and obligations that the art therapist possesses in working with …

Exercise And Autism Spectrum Disorder, Savannah Hollifield, Karlee Moore

EXSI 432/532: Research Methods in Exercise Science: Research Proposal Posters

No abstract provided.

Evidence And Interventions For Children With Handwriting Deficits, Josephine Hatch

Thinking Matters Symposium Archive

The purpose of this project was to determine effective interventions shown to increase fine motor skills in children who experience handwriting deficits related to ADD/ADHD or other attention deficits. The project was prepared for a pediatric outpatient OT at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. The information was found via the USM databases through specific search terms and parameters.
This work is significant because many OTs and teachers are working with children who have deficits in handwriting and fine motor abilities. There needs to be additional research conducted specifically with children who have ADD/ADHD and exhibit fine motor and handwriting deficits.
The research …

Developmental Trajectories For The Early Clinical Assessment Of Balance By Gross Motor Function Classification System Level For Children With Cerebral Palsy., Alyssa Laforme Fiss, Sarah Westcott Mccoy, Doreen Bartlett, Lisa Avery, Steven E Hanna, On Track Study Team

Physical Therapy Publications

Background: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) characteristically present with impairments in balance. Currently, the pattern and timing of the development of balance ability have not been described for children with CP of varying Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to document longitudinal developmental trajectories in a measure of balance, the Early Clinical Assessment of Balance (ECAB) scores, along with age-specific reference percentiles and the amount of change typical over a 1-year period for children within different GMFCS levels.

Design: The design was a longitudinal cohort study.

Methods: Participants included 708 children with …

Variability Of Spatiotemporal Gait Parameters In Children With And Without Down Syndrome During Treadmill Walking, Matthew Beerse, Gena Henderson, Huaqing Liang, Toyin Ajisafe, Jianhua Wu

Physical Therapy Faculty Research

Methods: Thirteen children with DS (aged 7–10 years) and thirteen age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) children participated in this study. Subjects completed two bouts of 60-second treadmill walking at two different speeds (slow and fast) and two load conditions (no load and ankle load equaling to 2% bodyweight at each side). Kinematic data was captured using a Vicon motion capture system. Mean and coefficient of variance of spatiotemporal gait variables were calculated and compared between children with and without DS.

Results and significance: Across all conditions, the DS group took shorter and wider steps than the TD group, but …

Examining The Perceived Impacts Of Recreational Swimming Lessons For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Erin Kraft M.A. Ed.

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived impacts of recreational swimming lesson participation for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Although swimming lessons are a suitable form of physical activity for children with ASD, minimal research has examined the impacts of these lessons. The author conducted semi-structured interviews with an Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) certified therapist and a swim instructor, each with experience working with children with ASD in swimming lessons. The participants suggested that swimming lessons encouraged children with ASD to socialise. Both participants agreed that distractions in swimming lessons and barriers in communication created challenges …

The Sensory Processing 3-Dimensions Scale: Initial Studies Of Reliability And Item Analyses, Shelley Mulligan, Sarah A. Schoen, Lucy Jane Miller, Andrea Valdez, Deborah Magalhaes

The Open Journal of Occupational Therapy

Background: The Sensory Processing 3-Dimensions Scale (SP-3D) is a performance-based measure for assessing sensory processing abilities and challenges, including sensory modulation, sensory discrimination, and sensory-based motor disorders. Initial studies of reliability were conducted, and item response theory was applied to assist in refining the measure.

Methods: Descriptive and correlational methods were used to examine internal consistency of the scales and inter-rater reliability. Item response theory using Rasch analyses was applied to examine unidimensionality of scales, model fit, and item difficulty.

Results: Internal consistency for most measures was acceptable, demonstrating the subtests, domains, and behavior scales as distinct …

Movement Opportunities Through Vestibular Engagement To Rhythm (Mover), Lindsay B. Williams

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Background: Across the United States, school systems have decreased the amount of proprioceptive activities and vestibular-based movement opportunities within the school day to focus on academic skills and test score improvement (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2010). Stemming from this curriculum modification, children’s free play and movement opportunities are being replaced by more sedentary experiences such as structured academic activities and screen time. As a result, elementary school students with attention deficits, especially those who have a history of prenatal drug exposure, are not receiving sufficient movement opportunities needed during the day to maximize their attention and to regulate …

Parental Self-Efficacy Of The “Unexpected Parent”, Cinthia L. Arbogast

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Background: Research focused on the “unexpected parent” is limited. This population of parent is increasing in frequency.

Purpose: The purpose of this capstone study was to provide support to unexpected parents. The study focused on the area of establishing and maintaining routines and consistency as a means to decrease negative behavior in order to improve parental selfefficacy. With improved skills and perceived improved abilities, the aim of this study was to improve this performance of this group of parents during their participation in the occupation of parenting.

Theoretical Framework. The theory driving this research is the occupation-based model called the …