Objective -The Down's syndrome children present important motor problems which affect static and dynamic balance. Equilibrium represents the capacity of keeping the body steady in standing position as well as the ability to perform usual dynamic tasks (walking, jumping and running) without falling. The objective of this paper is to present by comparison the postural control in Down syndrome subjects and non-disabled persons. Method -Five young Down syndrome subjects, aged 8 to 15 years old, and five normal age-matched subjects were included in the study. Static equilibrium was evaluated on a posturograph (Smart Balance from NEUROCOM) which has a force-plate. Equipment allows time and frequency domain analysis of the centre of pressure of the subjects. Subjects have to maintain upright position as steady as they can for 20 seconds, on the stabilised force-plate in two conditions -eyes closed and eyes open. Results -Analysis of the postural control revealed lower performance in maintaining the upright position from time domain point of view in Down syndrome group. Conclusion -Motor control problems are present in Down syndrome children since birth (hypotonia, low joint stability and joint hypermobility) and impede upon the development of motor control if early rehabilitation is not provided. This characteristic lasts for the whole life of the Down syndrome person.
The body schema represents one of the person's fundamental psychic structures. It has an important role in the drawing of one's own image. It is based on the reflection of the parts of one's own body (when it is static or dynamic). It is made up step by step over time with the help of the multiple sensorial mechanics. At the same time, it is based on the association of several visual, tactile, hearing and other information and each person's experience. One of the most useful instruments for evaluation of one's own body scheme is Goodenough-Harris test. We applied initial testing in July 2014 to a Down's syndrome child, aged 13. We asked him to draw a man, a woman and himself respecting all the requests of the test. The second evaluation was in January 2015 (intermediary testing), when the subject had the same drawing to make. Between the two evaluations, our subject attended the swimming lessons. They had as objectives accommodation with the water, learning of the specific aquatic breathing and floating, learning of the arm and kick movements from the freestyle and integral technique too. At the same time, all these skills started being consolidated. These objectives were achieved using the specific means of swimming, which requested simultaneous and successive movements of the different parts of the body. These had straight effects towards the construction of the body schema.
Sports represent a contemporary social reality which has a strong relationship to other possibilities of the physical exercises. Within the physical activities, the feeling of belonging to a group and the capacity of the self-assessment is developed. Down's syndrome patients who attend sport programmes can gain a series of these specific competences which help them on their way to social integration. Our paper is based on a questionnaire and it is written using the answers of disabled people. Also we used our experiences through activities with these people as well. At the beginning we tested our questionnaire on a few subjects. After modifying and adapting it we could apply our questionnaire on 140 people suffering from Down's syndrome. These subjects were members of a NGO, practiced different sports and also attended sport competitions.Finally we can state that the influence of the attendance of different sport activities is beneficial and it's result -the social inclusion-is obvious.
The motor development of Down's syndrome children is slow. The different components of the motor capacity are developed gradually using practice. The education is more difficult, the progress is observed very difficulty and the decreasing of the level at which the Down's syndrome children reached is very quick. The deficit of the balance is associated with the Down syndrome too. The balance influences positively both the manner in which the children step and the possibility of changing the different directions during the movement without the children being injured. All these are possible if the balance is developed early in their life. Our research wished to evaluate the balance development at the tree Down's syndrome children using the computer equipment - SMART Balance Master. This stressed the progress obtained from the initial testing to the final testing. At the same time, it showed us the analyzer / analyzers where the development appeared after we had applied the stimulation programs (swimimng lessons) during a year. The children learnd to swim the fundamental techinque skills, freestyle and breaststroke during the stimulation programs (swimming lessons). Finally, we concluded: the family and social environment where the children grew up influnced all the activities that they practiced during the swimming lessons; the balance evaluation could achieve using the computer equipment. Which offered objective data about the level of the balance development of the children; SMART Balance Master stressed the improvement of the balance and indicated the level where the improvement appeared (proprioceptor level and vestibular level). The research was a part of a post-PhD thesis which was achieved and published under the aegis of the National University of Physical Education and Sports of Bucharest, as a partner of the programme co-funded by the European Social Fund within the Operational Sectorial Programme for Human Resources Development 2007-2013 through the project Pluri- and interdisciplinary in doctoral and post-doctoral programmes Project Code: POSDRU/159/1.5/S/141086, its main beneficiary being the Research Institute for Quality of Life, Romanian Academy.
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