Background: Motor development of many children in rural areas of South Africa is compromised because of various socio-economic factors, hence, the need to address these developmental needs. Aim: To examine the immediate and sustainable effects of a 9-week movement programme on fundamental movement skills (FMS) of school children. Setting: Seven to…

A semistructured preschool motor program was developed in response to the paucity of evidence-based motor programs for preschoolers with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. A randomized controlled trial (RCT) was undertaken to examine the impact of the "CHildren in Action: Motor Program for PreschoolerS (CHAMPPS)," a 21-week…

Purpose: To investigate the effect of an obstacle course based physical education program, designed according to contemporary insights on motor learning, on motor competence (MC) of 6- to 7-year-old Flemish children. Method: Pupils from 16 primary schools were randomly allocated to either control (n = 173, 50.3% boys) or intervention group (n =…

Children with Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS) often present motor co-ordination difficulties accompanying their speech and sound delays. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of a paired versus a small group gross motor intervention on selected pre-school children, pre-identified with CAS. Children pre-identified with…

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a dance program on static and dynamic balance in young children (6.62 ± .65 years old). Forty-six children were randomly assigned to either an intervention group (24 children) who took part in a four-week dance program (three times a week, total 12 sessions, 45 min/session), or a control group…

Purpose: There is a relationship between motor and language skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), but little work addresses the ramifications of this relationship for professionals who teach motor skills to this population. Within a motor skills intervention, this study probed the importance of language skills for motor…

This study explores the cognitive development of children born to adolescent mothers within South Africa compared to existing reference data, and explores development by child age bands to examine relative levels of development. Cross-sectional analyses present data from 954 adolescents (10-19 years) and their first-born children (0-68 months).…

Background: The Move 2 Learn (M2L) program is an evidence-based intervention designed to improve movement and pre-literacy skills in children ages 1.5-6 years. Purpose: The objective of the current study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention as delivered by non-experts in a community-based setting. Methods: Staff from four…

Aim: The present study aimed to examine the effect of mothering handling training (mothers learn to provide caring in the more right manner) at home on the motor functions of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: In this single-blind randomized control trial study, 40 children with CP (6-72 months old) were recruited from rehabilitative…

Background: Cycling has gained more attention as an important lifelong physical activity. Learning to cycle independently without assistance is a milestone for most children that requires time and practice to master. Cycling was recently added to the motor development model and so a valid and reliable measure of cycling ability is required to…

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to examine different speech profiles among children with dysarthria secondary to cerebral palsy (CP) and to characterize the effect of different speech profiles on intelligibility. Method: Twenty 5-year-old children with dysarthria secondary to CP and 20 typically developing children were included in this…

Naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder share key elements. However, the extent of similarity and overlap in techniques among naturalistic developmental behavioral intervention models has not been quantified, and there is no standardized measure for assessing the implementation of their…

Purpose: This study investigated the effects of enhanced milieu teaching (EMT) on caregiver implementation of language support strategies and child communication skills using a hybrid telepractice service delivery model. Method: Four caregivers and children with language delays aged 18-27 months participated in a multiple baseline across behaviors…

Young children with HCP experience difficulties performing age-appropriate daily activities such as self-care and play. Research in neuroplasticity has shown that intensive, task-specific training in early development is ideal to maximize functioning in children with HCP. The aim of this study was to analyze the feasibility of a new manualized…

Early math instruction is the subject of increasing attention by early childhood researchers. There is evidence to suggest that early math skills are highly predictive of later academic achievement but that there are disparities in early math skills among young children. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of a systematic…