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Autism, Motor Skills and Vision

Recently, there have been more studies on autism and motor skill development. Many children with autism exhibit delays in motor skill acquisition. Some research has shown deficits in the following areas: 1. dynamic balance and diadochokinesis (rapid pronation/supination of forearms)2. fine motor skills with regards to timed movements3. increased variability to perform simple movements4. performing […]

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Therapuetic Horseback Riding and Children with Autism

The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders published research on the effects of therapeutic horseback riding on children with autism. A 12 week intervention of therapeutic horseback riding for 19 children with autism resulted in less inattention, distractibility and sedentary behavior. In addition, the children displayed increased social motivation, sensory seeking behaviors and greater sensory […]

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Auditory Filtering and Reading

A Northwestern University study researched how children processed three sounds with background noise present in the room. The three sounds, “ba”, “ga” and “da” were difficult for children to interpret. The researchers used a new technology that is sensitive enough to measure how the nervous system represents differences in sounds in each person. This study […]

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Autism, Proprioception and Visual Cues

The journal entitled Nature Neuroscience recently published research on how autistic children use proprioceptive information and visual information. The researchers concluded that autistic children relied much more on the proprioceptive information to learn new movement patterns rather than external visual cues when compared to typically developing peers. In addition, they found that the children who […]

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5 Unique Physical Activity Programs for Children with Disabilities

After writing many previous blog posts on the importance of physical activity in all children, I wanted to list some specialized programs for children with disabilities that encourage physical activity. These activities are not available everywhere but it does offer some suggestions of what you could be proactive in starting in your community. Hippotherapy – […]

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Free Communication on the Go

Came across this website with free communication software downloads for smart phones and PDA’s (personal digital assistant) for autistic children. According to the website, it has been developed by a team of researchers and funded partially by Microsoft. It is meant to be used with young children or children with severe autism. You download the […]

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Can you name one simple activity that encourages 6 developmental skills?

The answer is…MUSIC! Most children love to listen and dance to music. Music and dance are a great avenue to promote motor skills, listening skills and sensory processing skills. There are few movement activities that incorporate all of the 7 senses with minimal to no preparation. Therapists, parents and teachers love how easy it is […]