Promoting foot–leg movements in children with multiple disabilities through the use of support devices and technology for regulating contingent stimulation

Abstract

The present study assessed the possibility of promoting pre-ambulatory foot-leg movements in children with multiple disabilities by motivating their action through contingent stimulation combined with a support device. Two children aged 10 and 8 years participated. Microswitch technology (i.e., pressure sensors under the shoes or optic sensors at the front-inner side of the shoes) served for detecting the foot-leg movements and providing contingent stimulation on their occurrence. Sensor activation produced 5 s of stimulation during intervention. Data showed that both children had significant increases in foot-leg movements during the intervention phases. Implications of the data in terms of skill acquisition and further intervention prospects are discussed.

Measuring Outcomes for Children with Cerebral Palsy Who Use Gait Trainers

“…Eleven of the original 17 articles identified in the previous systematic review of gait trainer outcomes [5] were included in this new review specific to outcome measurement [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. These articles described 12 different clinical measurement tools that have been used in gait trainer outcomes research with children functioning at GMFCS levels IV and V and provided information on the tools psychometric properties and clinical utility.…”

“…outcomes research with children functioning at GMFCS levels IV and V and provided information on the tools psychometric properties and clinical utility. The tools include the 10-meter (10-m) walk test [26,27], 10-minute (10-min) walk test [27], Directional Mobility Assessment (DMA) [24,25], Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM) [28], Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) [29], Physical Abilities and Mobility Scale (PAMS) [30], School Function Assessment (SFA)-Travel subscale [31], Step/leg movement count [16,20,21,32], Step length and velocity footprint analysis [24,25], Top Down Motor Milestone Test (TDMMT) [33], Videoing indices of happiness [19,21], and the Functional Independence Measure for children (Wee FIM) [34,35].…”

“…Step/leg movement counting [16,20,21,32] Participant observation capacity measure. Involves counting number of independent steps or leg movements within a set time period.…”

“…Mean agreement of 96% [20] or >90% [32] Step length and velocity footprint analysis [24,25] Participant observation capacity measure.…”

“…Studies that measured step or leg movement counts, or indices of happiness [16,[19][20][21]32] all reported excellent inter-rater reliability with % agreement ranging from 90%-100%. Timed walking tests such as the 10-m walk test have excellent test-retest reliability [26,70] and acceptable inter-rater reliability [70] in adults with neurological impairments.…”