Background: Around 800 million young children worldwide have cognitive-developmental limitations due to issues related to biological, environmental, and psychosocial factors. These problems lead to educational challenges, limited skill development, and higher unemployment rates. Therefore, timely interventions addressing the underlying problems in…

Experience with a visual-spatial language may influence certain cognitive processes (Keehner and Gathercole 2007). Spatial ability is an important cognitive skill (Linn and Petersen 1985). Some research has found that deaf signers outperform hearing nonsigners on certain spatial tasks (e.g., Emmorey, Kosslyn, and Bellugi 1993) and that hearing…

Background: Literature reveals that guided play promotes the development of visuospatial abilities essential for learning to read, write and do mathematics. However, most of these findings have focused on older children who are already literate, and the tests and the instruments used were designed for children in Western contexts. Aim: As there is…

Numerous studies have reported that spatial ability improves through training. This study investigated the following: (1) whether design training enhances spatial ability and (2) whether differing solution strategies are applied or generated following design training. On the basis of these two research objectives, this study divided the…

Background: Conclusive evidence supports the importance of fundamental movement skills (FMS) proficiency in promoting physical activity and countering obesity. In children with Down Syndrome (DS), FMS development is delayed, which has been suggested to be associated with balance deficits. This study therefore examined the relationship between FMS…

Pre-schoolers are in a window period for motor skill development. Visual-motor integration (VMI) is the foundation for academic and sport skills. Therefore, it must develop before formal schooling. This study attempted to improve VMI skills. VMI skills were measured with the "Beery-Buktenica developmental test of visual-motor integration 6th…

Learning complex skills is driven by reinforcement, which facilitates both online within-session gains and retention of the acquired skills. Yet, in ecologically relevant situations, skills are often acquired when mapping between actions and rewarding outcomes is unknown to the learning agent, resulting in reinforcement schedules of a stochastic…

Purpose: To review and assess theory and research supporting DIR/Floortime™, a method proposed for treatment of young children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Methods: Published materials describing the principles of DIR/Floortime™were evaluated. Published outcome research articles were assessed for the adequacy of their design and…

Weaknesses in early number skills have been found to be a risk factor for later difficulties in mathematical performance. Nevertheless, only a few intervention studies with young children have been published. In this study, the responsiveness to early support in kindergarteners with most severe difficulties was examined with two different computer…

Eye direction detection has been claimed to be intact in autism, but the development of this skill has not been investigated. Eleven children with autism and 11 typically developing children performed a demanding face-to-face eye direction detection task. Younger children with autism demonstrated a deficit in this skill, relative to younger…

In a theoretical and philosophical discussion, the author examines the results of two drawing exercises he used with elementary students. Exercise One, "blind contour" drawing from life, was based on child-centered art learning theory. Exercise Two, copying an artwork, emphasized the learning of graphic conventions and cultural forms. (SJL)

A study assessed the practical use of the simplified speech pattern approach to teaching lipreading in a tone language by comparing performance using an acoustic hearing-aid and a Sivo-aid in a tone labelling task. After initial assessment, subjects were given training to enhance perception of lexically contrastive tones, then post-tested. The…