The development of motor skills in babies/young children

: The Development of Motor Skills in babies /Young Children

Introduction

A child 's earlier experience and environment influence their future development , health and wellbeing . It is recognized that children 's development occurs in stages and that they need the right supports to critical period in their life to achieve their potentials . If a child does not acquire skill the way he /she should , then there are certain factors that are responsible for that , they include : low birth weight prematurely , birth injury , disability , chronic illness , delayed development , lack of parenting knowledge . But

if a child is guided against the stated above in terms of independence , good problem solving skills , and positive self-concept , these in turn are influenced by motor skill acquisition

Skill acquisition relates to developmental skill and these encompasses area such as gross motor , fine motor , self help , social , language and cognitive development skills . Physiotherapists have experts in the development of gross motor skills , which is concomitantly on positive self-concept

The relationship between skill development and health /well-being is difficult to define in an academically rigorous fashion . Studies involving a variety of children with special needs have demonstrated that motor skills and positive self concept are critical to children 's ability to participate at school (Jongmans et all 1996

Little data clearly define the parameters of motor coordination difficulties in children . Various grades of severity and co morbidity seem to exist . Some children have only a relatively minor form of motor dyscoordination , whereas others have associated learning disabilities attention deficit , and other difficulties

In 1996 , fox and lent found that , in contrast to the common belief that children grow out to these difficulties , they tend to linger without intervention . Early intervention is beneficial when the brain is changing dramatically during the first year of life and new connections and abilities are acquired

Path Physiology

Motor coordination is the product of a complex set of cognitive and physical processes that are often taken for granted in children who are developing normally , smooth , targeted and accurate movement both gross and fine , require the harmonious functioning of sensory input , central processing of this information in the brain and coordination with the high executive cerebral functions , e .g . violation , motivation , motor planning of an activity . Also acquired is the performance of a certain motor pattern . These elements must work in a coordinated and rapid way to enable complex movement involving different parts of the body

Muscular Tone

Muscular tone refers to the basic and constant ongoing contraction or muscular activity in the muscles . It can be understood as a baseline or background level . Tone may be normal , too low , or too high . If a muscular tone is too high , children appear somewhat stiff and do not move in smooth and natural way

Gross Motor skills

Gross motor skills refer to the ability of children to carry out activities that require large muscles or group of muscles . It acts in a coordinated fashion to accomplish a movement or a series of movements Postures are...