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Kinaesthetic Acuity and Motor Skills of Preschool Children with a Congenital Visual Impairment Preliminary Findings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 October 2015

Shirley R. Wyver  and
David J. Livesey
Shirley R. Wyver*
Affiliation:
Macquarie University
David J. Livesey
Affiliation:
The University of Sydney
*
Institute of Early Childhood, Macquarie University, NSW 2109, Phone: (02) 9850 9859, Facsmile: (02) 9850 9890, E-mail: swyver@iec.iec.mq.edu.au
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Abstract

This paper presents the preliminary findings of a study examining the impact of congenital visual impairment on the development of motor skills and kinaesthetic acuity. Studies of children with a visual impairment have consistently noted deficits in motor development. It was hypothesised that these deficits may be linked with poor kinaesthetic sensitivity. Six preschool children with a visual impairment (mean age 55.17 months) were compared to nine classmates (mean age 56.67 months) matched for age, gender, and general verbal ability, on modified tasks from the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (M-ABC) and the Kinaesthetic Acuity Test (KAT). Although the difference between groups was significant for one task only (static balance), it was noted that all differences observed were in the hypothesised direction. Further longitudinal or cross-sectional data are required to provide a more comprehensive analysis of the relationship between vision impairment, kinaesthetic development, and motor skills.

Keywords

Visual Impairment (VI)BlindnessKinaesthetic AcuityMotor Development
Type
Research Article
Information
The Educational and Developmental Psychologist , Volume 14 , Issue 1 , May 1997 , pp. 72 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © Australian Psychological Society 1997

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