Gross motor skill performance in children with and without visual impairments - research to practice

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Gross motor skill performance in children with and without visual impairments—Research to practice

Matthias O. Wagner

^a,

*, Pamela S. Haibach

^b

, Lauren J. Lieberman

^b

aUniversityofKonstanz,78457Konstanz,Germany

bDepartmentofKinesiology,SportStudies,andPhysicalEducation,TheCollegeatBrockport,StateUniversityofNewYork,USA

1. Introduction

1.1. Backgroundandsigniﬁcance

Thedevelopmentoffundamentalmotorskillsduringchildhoodisacriticalcomponentintheoveralldevelopmentof anindividual.Achildwithfundamentalmotorskillproﬁciencyandthusa highermotorskillcompetencywilllikely participateinmore physicalactivities(Cantell,Crawford,&Doyle Baker,2008;Cawley&Spiess,2008;Hands,2008;

Hands&Larkin,2006)whichprovides manysecondary healthbenefits,includingbothfitnessandmetabolicindices (Cantelletal.,2008;Sallis,Prochaska,&Taylor,2000;Yang,Telama,Viikari,&Raitakari,2006).Conversely,achildwith lowmotorskillcompetencecanbeexpectedtobeatincreasedriskforsedentarybehaviors(e.g.Jarous,Lourie Gelberg, Engel Yeger,&Bart,2011;Magalha˜es,Cardoso,&Missiuna,2011;Smyth&Anderson,2000)andsubsequentsecondary health deficits. This evidence is particularly critical for children with visual impairments as previous research has revealedthatthesechildrenaretypicallybehindinmotorskillcompetence(e.g.Houwen,Hartman,&Visscher,2008;

Houwen, Visscher, Hartman, & Lemmnik, 2007; Schneekloth, 1989) and selected, corresponding motor activities (Brambring,2001)whencomparedtotheirsightedpeers(a comprehensivereviewof recentresearchis providedin Section1.2).

Keywords:

Grossmotorskillperformance Visualimpairments Childrenwhoareblind

TestofGrossMotorDevelopment-Second Edition

Whole-part-wholemethod

ABSTRACT

Theaimofthisstudywastoprovideanempiricalbasisforteachinggrossmotorskillsin childrenwithvisualimpairments.Forthispurpose,grossmotorskillperformanceof23,6 12yearold,boysandgirlswhoareblind(ICD 10H54.0)and28sightedcontrolswith comparableageandgendercharacteristicswascomparedonsixlocomotorandsixobject controltasksusingtheTestofGrossMotorDevelopment SecondEdition.Resultsindicate thatchildrenwhoareblindperformsigniﬁcantly(p<.05)worseinallassessedlocomotor andobjectcontrolskills,wherebyrunning,leaping,kickingandcatchingarethemost affectedskills,andcorrespondingdifferencesarerelatedtomostrunning,leaping,kicking andcatchingcomponent.Practicalimplicationsareprovided.

*Correspondingauthorat:DepartmentofSportsScience,UniversityofKonstanz,10Universitaetsstrasse,Box30,Konstanz,BW78457Germany.

Tel.:+497531883473.

E-mailaddress:matthias.wagner@uni-konstanz.de(M.O.Wagner).

Konstanzer Online-Publikations-System (KOPS) URL: http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-269097

Erschienen in: Research in Developmental Disabilities ; 34 (2013), 10. - S. 3246-3252 https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2013.06.030

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1.2. Empiricalevidenceanddesideratum

Intheircomprehensive review,Houwen,Visscher,Lemmink,andHartman(2009)identified atotal of17 studies focusingonthecomparisonofmotorskillperformancesbetweenchildrenwithandwithoutvisualimpairments.Twelve studiesshowbroadagreementthatchildrenwithvisualimpairmentsperformworseonstaticand/ordynamicbalance (Bouchard&Tetreault,2000;Gipsman,1981;Ha¨kkinen,Holopainen,Kautiainen,Sillanpaä¨,&Ha¨kkinen,2006;Johnson Kramer,Sherwood,French,&Canabal,1992;Leonard,1969;Pereira,1990;Ribadi,Rider,&Toole,1987;Wyver&Livesey, 2003) as well as on fine motor skill/manual dexterity tasks (Caputo et al., 2007; Ittyerah, 2000; Reimer, Smits Engelsman, & Siemonsma Boom, 1999; Webber, Wood, Gole, & Brown, 2008).However, only one study (Houwen, Visscher,Lemmink,&Hartman,2008)wasregardedashavinghighmethodologicalstandardandthus,willbedescribed indetailbelow.

Houwen,Visscher,etal.(2008)aimedtoexaminemotorskillperformanceofchildrenwithvisualimpairmentsusingthe MovementAssessmentBatteryforChildren Secondedition,ageband2,3(Henderson,Sugden,&Barnett,2007),which provides eightsubtestsonmanual dexterity,aimingand catchingaswellasonbalance.Therefore,performanceof48 childrenwithvisualimpairmentsagedbetween7and10yearsand48sightedchildrenwascompared.Whencomparedto thesightedcontrols,childrenwithvisualimpairmentsshowedthepoorestperformanceonunimanualspeed,eye hand coordination,catching,staticbalance,anddynamicbalancewhilemovingslowly.Theseareimportantinformationbecause ifachildcannotmaintaintheirbalanceorcatchaball,theirchancesforactiveparticipationinphysicalactivity,play,and associated socializationprocesses(Kremer Sadlik &Kim,2007)dramaticallydecrease.Possible adaptations tobalance problemswereshowninarecentstudybyHallemans,Ortibus,Truijen,andMeire(2011);theirresultsrevealedthatchildren andadultswithvisualimpairmentshaveslowerwalkingspeed,ashorterstridelength,prolongeddurationofstanceand doublesupportincomparisontoage relatedindividualswithnormalvision.

Reducedgrossmotorskillcompetencyinchildren withvisualimpairmentscanpartlybeassumed duetoamore sedentarylifestyle(e.g. Houwen,Hartman,etal., 2008)whichin turnmightbecaused byreducedopportunities to participateinphysicalactivities(Lieberman&MacVicar,2003).Often,thisresultsfromalackofknowledgeonthepartof physical educatorson howtoappropriately modifycurriculumforthespeciﬁcneedsofthispopulation(Lieberman, Houston Wilson,&Kozub,2002).Inthisregard,Houwen,Visscher,etal.(2008)suggesttoreducethecomplexityofthetask byteachinginastableenvironment,allowingthelearnerextrainstructionandpracticetime,andmodifyingtheequipment byenhancingthevisualcuesaswellasauditoryinputfromballs,targets,andboundaries.Thechancestoprogresswith thesemeasuresaregood,sincechildrenwithvisualimpairmentshavebeenfoundtoenjoyparticipatinginmovement activitiessuchasbaseball,footballandbasketballwhentherehavebeenappropriateequipment,rule,andinstructional modiﬁcations(Conroy,2012;Lieberman,Robinson,&Rollheiser,2006;Perkins,Columna,Lieberman,&Bailey,2013).

However, theremoval of task speciﬁcconstraints alone will not compensate for thefact thatchildren with visual impairmentsneverhad orwillhave thechancetovisually experiencerole modelsinperforminggross motorskills.

Therefore,itseems(evenmore)importanttofocusonhowtoactuallyteachaparticulargrossmotorskillinthispopulation.

Asabasisfordevelopingappropriatecurriculaforchildrenwithvisualimpairments,grossmotordeﬁcitsmustbeidentiﬁed bycomparingchildrenwithandwithoutvisualimpairmentsonavarietyofpracticallyrelevanttaskssuchasrunning, jumping,kicking,throwingorcatching.However,comprehensiveresearchongrossmotorskillperformanceinthisgroupis lackingtoourknowledge.

1.3. Studyaimandhypothesis

The aim of this study was to provide an empirical basis for teaching gross motor skills in children with visual impairments.Therefore,webasicallyquestionedwhethertherearedifferencesingrossmotorskillperformancebetween childrenwithandwithoutvisualimpairments.Consideringtheﬁndingsfromtheliteratureitwasassumed,thatchildren withvisualimpairmentswouldshowlowergrossmotorskillperformancesincomparisontotheirsightedpeers.Toidentify thewholespectrumofpotentiallyaffectedgrossmotorskillsinchildrenwithvisualimpairments,performancesofchildren whoareblindandsightedarecompared.

2. Methods

2.1. Participantsandrecruitment

Atotalof23boys(N=14;meanage=10.00years;SD=1.62years)andgirls(N=9;meanage=10.44years;SD=1.51 years)diagnosedasblindonthebasisoftheInternationalStatisticalClassiﬁcationofDiseasesandRelatedHealthDeﬁcits 10thRevision(WorldHealthOrganisation,2010;ICD 10,H54.0,nolightperception)butnootherdisability,aged6 12years (meanage=10.17years;SD=1.56years)wereincludedinthiscross sectionalstudy.Participantswererecruitedandtested atsevensummercampsforchildrenwithvisualimpairmentsacrosstheUnitedStates(AK,AZ,CA,CT,MD,andNY).

Inaddition,atotalof28sightedcontrols(meanage=9.36years;SD=1.83years;boys:N=15;meanage=9.40years;

SD=2.03years;girls:N=13;meanage=9.31years;SD=1.65years)wererecruitedfromlocalschools.Thestudyreceived institutionalapprovalandeachparticipantandtheirparentagreedtoparticipate.

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Childrenwhoareblindandsightedshowedcomparableage(Total:T(49)=1.70;p=.096;boys:T(27)=0.88;p=.388;

girls: T(20)=1.64; p=.116) and gender characteristics (

x

² ^(1, ⁵¹⁾⁼^0.27; ^p⁼^.777), ^wherefore ^a ^further statistical considerationofbothpotentialconfounderswasdisclaimed.

2.2. Measures

TheTestofGrossMotorDevelopment SecondEdition(TGMD 2;Ulrich,2000)wasusedtodetermineparticipants’gross motorskillperformanceinbothstudygroups.TheTGMD 2,whichisvalidatedforchildrenwith(Houwen,Hartman,Jonker,

&Visscher,2010)andwithout(Ulrich,2000)visualimpairmentscoverssixlocomotor(running,galloping,hopping,leaping, jumping,andsliding)aswellassixobjectcontrolskills(striking,dribbling,catching,kicking,throwing,androlling).The TGMD 2materialswereslightlymodiﬁedinordertoenablethechildrenwhoareblindtoperformalltasks;corresponding modiﬁcationsandcuesarelistedinTable1.

SincethestandardizedadministrationoftheTGMD 2includesademonstrationofeachskill,participantswhowereblind weregiventheopportunitytoreceiveadditionalinstructionand/orfeelthemovementpriortoperformingagrossmotor skill.TheorderofthetestingprocedurefollowedtheTGMD 2manualforeachchild.Thechildrenwereassessedoutdoorsby professorsandgraduatestudentswithexpertiseintheareasofadaptedphysicaleducationandmotordevelopmentwitha focusonvisualimpairment.Evaluationstookapproximately15 20mindependinguponhowmuchadditionalinstruction wasneededbyeachchild.

2.3. Dataanalysis

AllgrossmotorskillassessmentswererecordedwithanHDﬂipvideo,andthevideorecordingswereusedtoassesseach participant’sperformancescoresforallmeasures.Thedataofindividualparticipantswerestoredanonymously,thevideo recordingsandprotocolsheetsweredeletedaftertheconclusionofdataanalysis;therefore,anassignmentofthetestresults toindividualparticipantswasno longer possible.Performancewasassessedbased upon3 5qualitative performance criteria(process orientedcomponents).Eachcriterionisevaluatedasa1,ifthatcriterionispresent,ora0ifitisnot.Each grossmotortaskisperformedtwotimes.Componentscoresarethentotaledforeachgrossmotorskill(seeTable2),andskill scoresaretotaledforthelocomotororobjectcontroltotalscore,respectively.

TGMD 2rawdataarebasedonobservations;thus,total,skill,andcomponentscoreswillbepresentedasmedianswith correspondingrangesandanalyzedwithnon parametricMann WhitneyUtests(onetailed)usingSPSS21.0.Toreducethe likelihoodofatypeIerror,resultingpvalues(apriori

a

⁼^.05)^for^total^(level^1),^skill^(level²⁾^and^component^(level³⁾

comparisonsareadjustedlevel wiseusingBonferroni Holmmethod(Holm,1979).Correspondingeffectsareconsideredas small(

f

>.01),moderate(

f

>.03)orlarge(

f

>.05),respectively(seeCohen,1988),andposthocpower(1

b

⁾^will^be

reportedforthediscussionofnon signiﬁcantcomparisons(Onwuegbuzie&Leech,2004).

Table1

TGMD-2modiﬁcationsandcues.

Item Equipment/spacemodiﬁcations Cuesused

Run Soundbox50feetaway Runbackandforthbetweensoundsources

Gallop Soundbox25feetaway Stephop,stephopforward

Hop Tactilecuetoliftleg

Leap Fluorescenttapearoundbeanbag Jumpforwardwithonefootandlandononefoot

Jump Jumpasfarasyoucanwithtwofeet

Slide Stepside,together,step

Striking Beepbaseballfromatee Shouldertowall,step,swing

Dribble Women’sbasketball Pushwithﬁngertipswaistlevel

Catch Wifﬂeballwithbellsinside Handsout,palmsup,catch

Kick Beepingballontopofbeanbag Run,stepbesideball,kickwithtoe,followthrough

Throw Tennisball,soundbox Stepwithoppositefoot,throw,followthrough

Roll Softball,soundbox Stepwithoppositefoot,bendfrontknee,roll

Table2

TGMD-2scoringusingtheexampleofrunning.

Skill Performancecriteria Trial1 Trial2 Trialscore

Run

1 Armsinoppositiontolegs,elbowbent 0 1 0 1 2

2 Briefperiodwherebothfeetareofftheground 0 1 0 1 1

3 Narrowfootplacementlandingonheelortoe 0 1 0 1 1

4 Nonsupportlegbentapproximately908 0 1 0 1 0

Skillscore 4

Note:0=criterionisnotpresent;1=criterionispresent.

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3. Results

DescriptionandinterpretationofresultswillbeprovidedinSection3.1(locomotorperformance)orSection3.2(object controlperformance),respectively.

3.1. Locomotorperformance

LocomotorperformancesinchildrenwhoareblindandsightedarelistedinTable3.

Children whoareblindshowa signiﬁcantly lowerlocomotortotalscorein comparisontotheir sightedpeers; the differencefound,reﬂectsalargeeffect.

Results of subsequentskill analysis indicate, that children who are blindperform significantly worse in running, galloping,hopping,leaping,jumpingandsliding.Amoderateeffectcanbefoundintheslide;allothersignificantdifferences reflectlargeeffectswherebyrunningandleapingarethemostaffectedskillsandthus,willbeanalyzedindetailbelow.

Adetailedanalysisofcorrespondingcomponentscoresmakesitclearthat,

(i)runningdifferencesarerelatedtoruncomponent1(armsinoppositiontolegs,elbowbent),runcomponent2(brief periodwherebothfeetareofftheground),runcomponent3(narrowfootplacementlandingonheelortoe),andrun component4(nonsupportlegbentapproximately908);allsigniﬁcantdifferencesreﬂectlargeeffects.

(ii)leapingdifferencesarerelatedtoleapcomponent1(takeoffonefootandlandontheoppositefoot),leapcomponent2(a periodwherebothfeetareoffthegroundlongerthanrunning)andleapcomponent3(forwardreachwiththearm oppositetheleadfoot);allsigniﬁcantdifferencesreﬂectlargeeffects.

3.2. Objectcontrolperformance

ObjectcontrolperformancesinchildrenwhoareblindandsightedarelistedinTable4.

Childrenwhoareblindshowasigniﬁcantlylowerobjectcontroltotalscoreincomparisontotheirsightedpeers;the differencefound,reﬂectsalargeeffect.

Resultsofsubsequentskillanalysisindicate,thatchildrenwhoareblindperformsignificantlyworseinstriking,dribbling, catching,kicking,throwingandrolling.Moderateeffectscanbefoundindribblingandrolling;allothersignificantdifferences reflectlargeeffects,wherebykickingandcatchingarethemostaffectedskillsandthus,willbeanalyzedindetailbelow.

Adetailedanalysisofcorrespondingcomponentscoresmakesitclearthat,

(i)kickingdifferencesarerelatedtokickcomponent1(Rapidcontinuoustowardtheball),kickcomponent2(Anelongated strideorleapimmediatelypriortoballcontact),kickcomponent3(Non kickingfootplacedevenwithorslightlyinback oftheball)andkickcomponent4(Kicktheballwiththeinstepofpreferredfoot(shoelaces)ortoe);amoderateeffectcan befoundinkickcomponent3,whereassigniﬁcantdifferencesinkickcomponents1,2and4reﬂectlargeeffects.

(ii)Catchingdifferencesarerelatedtocatchcomponent2(Armsextendwhilereachingfortheballasitarrives)andcatch component3(Balliscaughtbythehandsonly);smallbutnon significanteffectswerealsoobservedincatchcomponent 1(Preparationphasewherehandsareinfrontofthebodyandelbowsareflexed;allsignificantdifferencesreflectlarge effects.

Table3

Comparisonoflocomotortotal,skilland(selected)componentscoresbetweenchildrenwhoareblindandsighted.

Blind(N=23) Sighted(N=28) z p adj.p f 1 b

Median Range Median Range

Locomotor 21.00 10.00–33.00 42.00 35.00–48.00 6.10 .000 .025 .85 .83

Run 2.00 0.00–8.00 8.00 7.00–8.00 6.37 .000 .004 .89 .64

Run1 0.00 0.00–2.00 2.00 1.00–2.00 4.52 .000 .013 .63 .46

Run2 0.00 0.00–2.00 2.00 2.00–2.00 4.77 .000 .006 .67 .40

Run3 0.00 0.00–2.00 2.00 2.00–2.00 5.49 .000 .003 .77 .43

Run4 0.00 0.00–2.00 2.00 2.00–2.00 6.49 .000 .004 .91 .65

Gallop 4.00 0.00–8.00 7.00 4.00–8.00 5.00 .000 .008 .70 .48

Hop 4.00 0.00–6.00 8.00 4.00–10.00 5.22 .000 .005 .74 .45

Leap 0.00 0.00–4.00 6.00 3.00–6.00 6.18 .000 .006 .87 .65

Leap1 0.00 0.00–2.00 2.00 1.00–2.00 5.63 .000 .004 .80 .51

Leap2 0.00 0.00–2.00 2.00 2.00–2.00 4.78 .000 .013 .68 .52

Leap3 0.00 0.00–1.00 2.00 0.00–2.00 6.01 .000 .006 .85 .64

Jump 4.00 2.00–6.00 7.50 3.00–8.00 4.90 .000 .013 .69 .53

Slide 7.00 0.00–8.00 8.00 2.00–8.00 2.46 .007 .025 .34 .22

Notes:Run1=armsinoppositiontolegs,elbowbent;Run2=briefperiodwherebothfeetareofftheground;Run3=narrowfootplacementlandingonheel ortoe(i.e.,notﬂatfooted);Run4=nonsupportlegbentapproximately908(i.e.,closetobuttocks);Leap1=takeoffonefootandlandontheoppositefoot;

Leap2=aperiodwherebothfeetareoffthegroundlongerthanrunning;andLeap3=forwardreachwiththearmoppositetheleadfoot.

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4. Discussion

4.1. Summaryandprogressofknowledge

Inthisstudy,grossmotorskillperformanceof23boysandgirlswhoareblind(ICD 10H54.0)aged6 12yearsand28 sightedcontrolswithcomparableageandgendercharacteristicswascomparedonsixlocomotorandsixobjectcontroltasks.

Resultsfurtherconfirmthegeneralfindingsthatchildrenwithvisualimpairmentsdohavesignificantdeficitsinperforming locomotorandobjectcontrolskills(e.g.Houwen,Hartman,etal.,2008)whencomparingtotheirsightedpeers.However,the presentresultsalsoprovideathreefolddeepeningofourcurrentknowledge.Thatis,that(i)childrenwhoareblindperform significantlyworseinavarietyofgrossmotorskills,whereby(ii)running,leaping,kickingandcatchingarethemostaffected skills,and(iii)correspondingdifferencesarerelatedtoalmosteverymovementcomponent.Thisisessentialinformationin termsofsubsequentpracticalimplications,notonlyforchildrenwhoareblindbutalsoforchildrenwithmoderateorsevere visualimpairment.Thisbreakdowntolowerlevelsofvisualimpairmentisfeasiblewhenconsideringthefollowingtwo aspects.First,childrenwithmoderateorseverevisualimpairmentcannotbeexpectedtoexceedthespectrumofgrossmotor skilldeficitsasshowninthisstudy,eventhoughtherelationshipbetweenthedegreeofvisualandmotorimpairmentisnot entirelyclear,yet(inoverviewHouwenetal.,2009).Second,eveninthecaseofaparticulargrossmotorskillnotaffectedin childrenwithmoderateorseverevisualimpairment,itisclearthatthemoreoneexperiencesthatskill,thebetterthat individualwilllikelyperforminit(Pica,2008;Rink,2010;Smith&Biddle,2008).

4.2. Practicalimplications

Instructorsmuststartwithteachingtheentireskillfirstthroughthewhole part wholemethod.Inthecaseofachildwith residualvision,theteachershouldbeginbydemonstratingthewholeskillinthechild’sfieldofvisionwhileexplainingthe motionsverbally.Anotheroptionistohaveayoungpeerdemonstratetheskillwhiletheteacherdescribesthemovement (forthesignificanceofpeerinvolvementseealsoAyvazoglu,Oh,&Kozub,2006).Forexample,ifthemotorskillisarun,the peerperformsthemovementandtheteachersays,‘‘swingarmsforwardandback,backlegbentandstepwithhealtoewith atimewhenbothfeetareofftheground’’(Lieberman&Haibach,inpress).

Oncetheskillisgenerallyunderstoodtheteachershouldbreaktheskilldownintoitscomponentsandteacheachpartof theskillusingeitherphysicalguidance(movethechildthroughthemotions),and/ortactilemodeling(thechildfeelsthe teacherorapeerdoingthemotions;i.e.,co activemovement).Forexample,achilddoesnotunderstandtheconceptofthe weighttransferinthekick.Theinstructorcanhavethechildfeelapeer(tactilemodeling)goingthroughthemotionof weighttransferseveraltimesuntiltheskillcanbeexecutedcorrectly.Tactilemodelingand physicalguidancearetwo instructionaltechniquesalsousedtoteachchildrenwithvisualimpairmentswhomaynotbeabletoseeademonstration.

Bothofthesetechniqueswouldbecoupledwithclearverbalexplanationandcuessuchas‘‘approachtheball,stepbesidethe ball,kickwiththeinstepofthefootandfollowthrough’’incaseofthekickor‘‘handsout,palmsup,catch,andgrip’’incaseof thecatch.(Lieberman&Haibach,inpress;O’Connell,Lieberman,&Petersen,2006).

Oncethechildhaspracticedthewholeskillandthenreﬁneditbyexecutingeachpart,thentheycanputtheparts togethertoperformthewholeskill.Thiscanalsobeaccompaniedbythecuesforeachstep.

Finally,itisimportanttokeepinmindthatchildrenwithvisualimpairmentscanperformgrossmotorskillsaswellas theirpeerswithsight(Blessing,McCrimmon,Stovall,&Williford,1993;Singh&Singh,1993),buttheyjustneedtobegiven theopportunityandtime(Lieberman&Haibach,inpress;Lieberman,Ponchillia,&Ponchillia,2013).

Table4

Comparisonofobjectcontroltotal,skilland(selected)componentscoresbetweenchildrenwhoareblindandsighted.

Blind(N=23) Sighted(N=28) z p adj.p f 1 b

Median Range Median Range

Objectcontrol 20.00 12.00–38.00 38.50 26.00–47.00 5.69 .000 .050 .80 .86

Strike 6.00 4.00–9.00 9.00 5.00–10.00 4.67 .000 .006 .65 .38

Dribble 2.00 0.00–8.00 6.00 0.00–8.00 3.34 .000 .013 .47 .25

Catch 2.00 0.00–4.00 6.00 0.00–6.00 5.45 .000 .004 .76 .47

Catch1 2.00 0.00–2.00 2.00 0.00–2.00 1.07 .143 .013 .15 .04

Catch2 0.00 0.00–2.00 2.00 0.00–2.00 4.77 .000 .006 .67 .40

Catch3 0.00 0.00–1.00 2.00 0.00–2.00 5.94 .000 .004 .83 .56

Kick 4.00 0.00–7.00 8.00 7.00–8.00 6.55 .000 .005 .92 .69

Kick1 0.00 0.00–2.00 2.00 1.00–2.00 5.34 .000 .003 .75 .40

Kick2 0.00 0.00–2.00 2.00 2.00–2.00 6.71 .000 .004 .94 .69

Kick3 2.00 0.00–2.00 2.00 2.00–2.00 2.84 .002 .013 .40 .19

Kick4 1.00 0.00–2.00 2.00 2.00–2.00 4.29 .000 .006 .60 .32

Throw 3.00 0.00–8.00 6.00 0.00–8.00 3.85 .000 .008 .54 .28

Roll 4.00 0.00–8.00 6.00 2.00–8.00 3.32 .000 .025 .47 .35

Notes:Kick1=rapidcontinuoustowardtheball;Kick2=anelongatedstrideorleapimmediatelypriortoballcontact;Kick3=non-kickingfootplacedeven withorslightlyinbackoftheball;Kick4=kicktheballwiththeinstepofpreferredfoot(shoelaces)ortoe;Catch1=preparationphasewherehandsarein frontofthebodyandelbowsareﬂexed;Catch2=armsextendwhilereachingfortheballasitarrives;andCatch3=balliscaughtbythehandsonly.

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4.3. Limitationsandfutureperspectives

Withinthisstudy,almostallsigniﬁcantdifferences(total,skillandcomponentscores)ingrossmotorskillperformance betweenchildrenwith(blind)andwithout(sighted)visualimpairmentsreﬂectedlargeeffects(

f

.50)¹whichunderlines theclinicalrelevanceofthefindings;thisevenmoresowhenconsidering,thatthisdatawascollectedatsummercampsfor childrenwithvisualimpairmentsandthatmanyofthechildrenassessedwereatcampsfocusinguponathletics.Although noteverychildwasathletic,theirperceivedmotorcompetencemaybehigherand,therefore,theywouldlikelyperform significantlybetterthanachildwhodoesnotattendsportscamps(Shapiro,Moffett,Lieberman,&Dummer,2005).Forthis reason,itislikelythatthesignificancefoundinthisstudywouldbeevengreaterforthegeneralpopulationofchildrenwith visualimpairments.Therefore,areplicationofthefindingsisonecentraltaskforfutureresearch,thisevenmoresowhen consideringthatthepresentstudywasmoreorlessunderpowered,which forexampleis onerivalexplanationofthe statisticallynon significantfindingsincatchcomponent1.However,therealizationofanappropriatesamplesizeseems challengingduetothelowincidenceandgeographicdispersionofthispopulation.Subsequentanalysisshouldalsofocus upontheeffectsofage,gender,andlevelofvisualimpairmentsongrossmotorskillperformanceinchildrenwithvisual impairmentsasthereisinsufficientresearchinthisarea(Houwenetal.,2009).

5. Conclusion

Developingfundamentalmotorskillsduringchildhoodisanimportantcomponentofmotorskillcompetencewhichcan havelifelongeffectsuponphysicalactivityparticipation,fitnesslevels,andoverallhealthandwell being.Resultsofthe presentstudymakeitclearthatchildrenwhoareblindarebehindtheirsightedpeersinthedevelopmentoflocomotorand object control skills such as running, leaping, kicking and catching. An analysis of the underlying process oriented componentsenabledadetailedunderstandingofthespecificareasofweaknessfortheidentifiedgrossmotorskills.These resultsprovidebenchmarksforanappropriatecurriculumtobedesignedforchildrenwithvisualimpairmentsingeneralin theefforttodecreasethemotorskillgap.

Conﬂictofinterest

Theauthorsdeclarethatthereisnoactualorpotentialconﬂictofinterest.

Acknowledgements

TheauthorswouldliketothanktheAmericanPrintingHousefortheBlindandtheFetzerInstitutefortheirﬁnancial supportforthisresearchproject.

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