While recovering from a serious illness, the author looked for dance classes that would help in regaining flexibility, balance, and core strength. Finding no local dance classes that could accommodate the deconditioning experienced from almost two years of physical inactivity and disuse due to bedrest, the author wondered if there were other…

Community colleges continually experience increasing enrollment of students with physical disabilities. This basic qualitative study implemented face-to-face interviews of 10 community college faculty members that have a variety of academic and disciplines and have assisted students with disabilities. Participants were asked questions developed…

This study provided that people with multiple disabilities can have a collaborative working chance in computer operations through an Enhanced Multiple Cursor Dynamic Pointing Assistive Program (EMCDPAP, a new kind of software that replaces the standard mouse driver, changes a mouse wheel into a thumb/finger poke detector, and manages mouse…

Hereditary spastic paraplegia (HSP) and spastic diplegia (SD) patients share a strong clinical resemblance. Thus, HSP patients are frequently misdiagnosed with a mild form of SD. Clinical gait analysis (CGA) has been highlighted as a possible tool to support the differential diagnosis of HSP and SD. Previous analysis has focused on the lower-body…

Research Findings: Media representations of physical disability can influence the attitudes of child audiences. In the current study, the depiction of physical disability was analyzed in more than 400 episodes of children's television programming to better understand how media depict physical disability to children and, in turn, how exposure may…

In order to identify optimal rehabilitation strategies for spinal cord injury (SCI) participants, assessment of impaired walking is required to detect, monitor and quantify movement disorders. In the proposed assessment, ten healthy and seven SCI participants were recruited to perform an over-ground walking test at slow walking speeds. SCI…

Frailty is a theoretical concept used to track individual age-related declines. Persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) often present with pre-existing deficits that would be considered frailty markers in the general population. The previously developed Vienna Frailty Questionnaire for Persons with ID (VFQ-ID) was aimed at assessing frailty in…

Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) are characterized as having motor difficulties and learning impairment that may last well into adolescence and adulthood. Although behavioral deficits have been identified in many domains such as visuo-spatial processing, kinesthetic perception, and cross-modal sensory integration, recent…

In western democracies like Canada, children develop understandings of themselves by participating in physical, social, and civic activities. Such activities occur in the built environments within which they live, learn, and play. Children with motor impairments are only able to engage in these activities in environments that are accessible. These…

The presence of students with disabilities (SWD) at colleges and universities in the United States has increased significantly in recent years, yet many of these students continue to encounter significant barriers that can have a profound impact on their college experience. Salient factors that contribute to the challenging climate for SWD include…

Arm movements during gait in children with cerebral palsy (CP) are altered compared to typically developing children (TD). We investigated whether these changes in arm movements alter interlimb coordination in CP gait. 3D gait analysis was performed in CP (diplegia [DI]: N = 15 and hemiplegia [HE]: N = 11) and TD (N = 24) children at preferred and…

Executive functions are crucial for efficient daily functioning. However, the contribution of executive functions to the participation in daily life activities of children, have been inadequately studied. The study aimed to examine the unique contribution of executive functions, beyond motor ability, to the diversity and independence of children's…

The process of having inclusive education in Kenya has been very slow for children with special needs yet many of these children are still at home and have attained school going age. The purpose of this study was to assess teacher competencies in handling physically challenged pupils in public primary schools in Kericho County. The study was…

Individuals with autism have higher rates of minor physical anomalies (MPAs) than neurotypical persons. Minor physical anomalies are slight morphological deviations typically harmless and without cosmetic or medical importance to the individual but indicative of an underlying neurodevelopmental disorder. In genetic autism research the utilization…

This study aimed to identify clinical characteristics of impaired trunk control in hundred children with spastic CP (mean age 11.4 [plus or minus] 2.1 years, range 8-15 years). Assessment of trunk control was performed with the Trunk Control Measurement Scale (TCMS). Trunk control was clearly impaired, indicated by a median total TCMS score of…