Motor Skills

a. An article related to motor skills for ind. with dis. {w/ 1 page reflection} (10 pts)

• "Exercise in Individuals with Down Syndrome: A Brief Review" - Rachel Kerstiens and J. Matthew Green

As stated before, those with DS are generally more likely to have learning difficulties as they tend to suffer from both neurological and musculoskeletal impairments. This is especially apparent when it comes to learning basic motor skills when they are young and it's important to identify and have an intervention early on to prevent any further delay of motor skill ability.

Children with DS move slower and often get distracted when performing any given task compared to those who are more high-functioning. They're often known to be clumsy and have slower movements; if a student is told to do something fast, they will likely have more difficulty and have a lower success rate. With that, it's important to start with small, simple tasks, and individualized attention and to build on from there. If an exercise is too difficult to start with, it's likely that the student will not continue being active and will have a more sedentary lifestyle.

Further, it has been proven that participating in sport activities such as gymnastics and swimming helps improve memory, learning, and ability to do basic motor skills in children with DS. By building off of one small task at a time, not only did students have a higher retention rate, students were also able to successfully do eight gymnastics motor tasks after a 14 week program. With this program, both students' form and coordination of basic motor skills showed great development. When children with DS participate in regular routines, they show much better improvement than when activity is more sporadic.

b. Useful activities and/or strategies found AND USED during unit (4 pts)

• It's best to start with activities that children with DS do naturally and build on from that. With that, it's important to keep the child motivated so having them work towards a goal can be beneficial.
• Be sure that the child is ready to participate in the activity before beginning--if they are tired or not feeling confident, it's going to affect the child's success rate and desire to improve. It doesn't matter so much as how long the activity is done, but in how well the activity is done; quality is greater than quantity.

c. Include Motor Skills Lesson Plans (1pt)

*See below

d. Resources found regarding skills, benefits, etc. of motor skill development for your specific mentee (3 pts)

• Since children with DS tend to be visual learners, they often see and want to emulate what they see their peers are doing. They may try to do things such as crawl and walk but have much more difficulty due to their musculoskeletal impairments. With that, they make their own modifications to each skill, but if these modifications aren't monitored it's likely that they could cause complications later on. A benefit is that most children with DS do have the ability to do basic motor skill activities, but it's important for mentors to keep a watchful eye, assist when needed, and keep up a routine and progression of small tasks.

e. Opportunities for families to access programs in the community? (3 pts)

• Occupational or physical therapy is often a good option for caretakers who need extra help in teaching motor skills correctly. They can give great tips and activities to work on with children with DS that can be done at home. There are multiple places in Harrisonburg that can help with this: Sentara, Wampler & Associates Rehab, and Wilson Workforce & Rehabilitation Center.

CITATIONS

Kersteins, R., & Green, J. M. (2015). Exercise in Individuals with Down Syndrome: A Brief Review. Department of Health Physical Education and Recreation, University of North Alabama, Florence, AL, USA. Retrieved April 21, 2017, from http://digitalcommons.wku.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1595&context=ijes

Winders, P. C. (n.d.). Physical Therapy and Down Syndrome. Retrieved April 21, 2017, from http://www.ndss.org/Resources/Therapies-Development/Physical-Therapy-Down-Syndrome/