Affordances for Motor Development in the Home Environment for Young Children with and without CHARGE Syndrome

Abstract

Affordances in the home environment are critical to early motor development. Currently, the home environment has not been examined in children with deafblindness or severe disabilities. The present study examined differences in, and relationships between, the home environment and motor development in children with and without CHARGE syndrome. CHARGE syndrome is a low-incidence, complex disorder with sensory and motor impairments. Participants included 28 parents of children with CHARGE syndrome and 32 parents of children without disabilities. Children with CHARGE syndrome achieved motor milestones significantly later and had fewer outside space affordances than children without disabilities. Older children had a greater variety of stimulation and fine motor toys, and those that achieved independent walking later had more outside space and fine and gross motor toys. Early experiences may be more important for children with CHARGE syndrome than children without disabilities. Moreover, parents can play a vital role in their children’s motor development to help them reach their motor milestones.

Applying Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development to understand autonomy development in children and youths with deafblindness: a systematic literature review

“…This most fundamental developmental characteristic was described as "stability in body posture" (Preisler and Preisler, 2005;Beach et al, 2021), "bodily expressions" (Preisler and Preisler, 2005), and "motor development" (Narayan and Bruce, 2006;Beach et al, 2021). Preisler and Preisler (2005) described this characteristic in six children with CDB.…”

“…A study by Beach et al (2021) compared the outcomes of a parental self-report questionnaire about their child's motor development in the home environment. Twenty-eight parents of a child with CDB and 32 parents of a child without disabilities completed this questionnaire (all children aged 1-3 years).…”

The Impact of Home Motor Affordances on Motor Skills of Children Born Preterm

“…With these tools, several studies have reported a signi cant association between the level of affordances in the home and the child's motor skill development. In other words, higher home affordance scores are related to higher motor skill levels (Beach et al, 2021;Cao et al, 2021;Mori et al, 2013;Saccani et al, 2013;Valadi & Gabbard, 2020).…”