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Toe Walking and Autism

The Journal of Child Neurology published research on a review of records of 934 children with a history of tight heel cords and toe walking. Toe walking (20.1%) and tight heel cords (12%) were present more often in the 324 children with autism but lower in 30 children with Asperger Syndrome (10% with toe walking […]

Nominate a Caring Kid

Do you know a child in the 6-18 years old age range who has made a huge difference in their community? Kohl’s Cares Scholarship Program is giving awards over $400,000 in scholarship and prize money to children who have made a difference. Check out some previous winners to see if you can think of anyone […]

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Walking and Social Interactions

Infant Behavior and Development published interesting research on walking and social interactions. Research has already indicated that crawling is a motor as well as a cognitive milestone. In this study there were three experiments and the results were the following: social and exploratory behaviors were the same in crawling infants whether crawling or in a […]

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ADHD and Overflow Hand Movements

A recent study published in Neurology compared 25 boys and girls with ADHD and 25 boys and girls without ADHD. All of the children were right handed. They were asked to perform left handed finger tapping. Using video and a recording device measuring finger movements, the children with ADHD exhibited more mirror overflow movements with […]

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Executive Function

The Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University has published a paper entitled Building the Brain’s “Air Traffic Control” System: How Early Experiences Shape the Development of Executive Function. This paper provides an overview on executive function and how it develops in children. Executive functions include working memory, inhibitory control and cognitive or mental […]

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Visual Motor Scores and Handwriting

Physical and Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics published research on the relationships between fine-motor, visual-motor, and visual perception scores and handwriting legibility and speed. Klein et. al. evaluated 99 third through sixth graders with learning or behavioral problems. Each child was assessed with the following: Upper-Limb Speed and Dexterity Subtest of the Bruininks–Oseretsky Test of Motor […]

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Kinesthetics and Handwriting

Pediatric Physical Therapy published interesting research comparing 8 children with proficient handwriting and 8 children with non proficient handwriting. All of the children did not have a history of motor or cognitive issues. Each child was tested for kinesthetic sensitivity, discriminate tactile awareness, diadochokinesia, stereognosis, and graphesthesia. Following statistical analysis, the two groups did show […]