Midline Crossing Behavior in Children with Learning Disabilities

Abstract

The purpose was to compare children with and without learning disabilities (LD), ages 6–8 years, on midline crossing inhibition (MCI). Participants were 44 children (24 boys and 20 girls) in two groups (LD and non-LD), matched on age and gender. MCI was operationally defined as significantly slower contralateral movement when choice reaction time (CRT) and movement time (MT) performance were examined for ipsilateral, midline, and contralateral tasks with both upper and lower extremities. Participants completed 12 days of tests (30 trials each day) using a protocol developed by Eason and Surburg (1993). A 2 (Group) × 2 (Extremity) × 3 (Direction) repeated measures MANOVA revealed significant difference for each dependent variable. Children with LD displayed MCI, whereas children without LD did not.

Caution regarding exergames: a skill acquisition perspective

“…The reliability coefficients for RT across the three treatment groups ranged between 0.87 and 0.92. This finding is in accordance with past investigations of reliability using this apparatus to assess choice RT in children (Woodard and Surburg 1999;Pedersen et al 2004;Pedersen 2014).…”

Retained primary reflexes in preprimary-aged Indigenous children: The effect on movement ability and school readiness

“…It is proposed that the retained ATNR in all three of these students may have contributed to the lack of detailed body-part representation and attention to fine detail in their self-portraits. The effect of retained ATNR and consequent deficits in manual dexterity should also be considered as a factor in these drawings, as writing and drawing requires fine motor skills with the hands, as well as hand-eye coordination (Callcott, 2008;McPhillips, 2001;Woodard & Surburg, 1999) The behavioural characteristics of the three children with high ATNR scores, as described in the personal interviews with teachers and revealed in the questionnaire, indicate some obvious trends (Table 4). According to Taylor et al (2004), there may be a symptomatologic overlap between AD/HD behaviours and the retention of a set of primary reflexes (including the ATNR).…”

Assessing Midline Crossing Ability in Adults with Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy

“…The implications are that the complexity of the task (e.g., direction) is a processing issue, which is demonstrated by increased reaction time. CRT delays, as evidenced by a slowness when comparing contralateral to ipsilateral movements (MCI), are identifi ed in individuals with neurological processing issues, including children with learning disabilities (Woodard & Surburg, 1999) and adolescents and adults with mental retardation (Eason & Surburg, 1993;Porretta, 1987;Surburg et al, 1994;Woodard et al, 1998). In comparison, agematched adolescents and adults with typically developing cognitive abilities have not displayed midline crossing defi cits.…”

“…Similar to the integration of primitive refl exes, midline crossing becomes integrated during the early years of development, but this may not occur in individuals with certain types of disabilities. The inability to cross the midline of the body has been found with both the upper and lower extremities in populations that are developmentally delayed, including mental retardation (Eason & Surburg, 1993;Porretta, 1987;Surburg & Eason, 1999;Surburg, Johnston, & Eason, 1994;Woodard, Surburg, & Lewis, 1998) and learning disabilities (Woodard & Surburg, 1999). Assessment of the lower extremity was examined in two populations that experience a neurological degeneration: Huntingtonʼs Disease (Lewis, Woodard, & Surburg, 1997) and the elderly (Lombardi, Surburg, Eklund, & Koceja, 2000).)…”