Fine Motor Skills For Children With Down Syndrome

This book explains the best practices and procedures for helping children master the finger and hand skills needed for home and school activities.

Revision of: Gross motor skills in children with Down syndrome. 1997.

Written for parents, health professionals and teachers, this is a guide to understanding and developing fine motor skills in children with Down Syndrome. The author draws on her expertise as a occupational therapist and parent to show readers how to help children develop the hand skills required for such tasks as holding a pencil, cutting with scissors, or using a computer. The author is sensitive to the medical, physical and psychological characteristics of children with Down Syndrome and how these can effect motor development. Dozens of articles are provided, complete with photographs and step-by-step instructions, which are appropriate for children in infancy to early adolescence. In addition to hand skills, some cover basic gross motor skills, which help to lay the foundation for fine motor development. Readers can choose among different categories of skills - self-help, school activities, leisure and recreation - and easily incorporate most activities into daily home or school routines.

Newly revised and updated, this compassionate and authoritative guide is based on Libby Kumin's more than thirty years experience working with children and adolescents with Down syndrome and their families. As the founder of the Down Syndrome Center for Excellence at Loyola University in Maryland, she draws on her vast experience to show parents how they can support and encourage their child's speech and language development from birth to age 6 (or when a child can form 2- to 3- word sentences). Parents and teachers learn how to work through characteristic challenges, including hearing loss, intelligibility issues, apraxia (difficulty planning oral-motor movements), or a slower pace of development. Families soon see that many children with Down syndrome are natural and willing communicators. In a warm and conversational style, the author shares her professional expertise in parent-friendly terms. She uses specific examples of difficulties and successes to illustrate the concepts behind speech and language development, and includes the latest research supporting current early intervention and preschool approaches that can be used at home and in schools. This third edition of EARLY COMMUNICATION SKILLS features expanded information on the needs of children with apraxia, dual diagnosis of autism and Down syndrome, and updated terminology and information on special education law. A new chapter explains how technology and augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) ? smartphones, iPods, iPads, and apps ? can help with speech and language, foster communication, and provide inexpensive transitional language systems. Dozens of forms are now included on a CD-ROM to be used for assessment, developing treatment plans, and keeping detailed records of progress. Teachers, speech-language pathologists, and parents will love the convenience of printing multiple copies of forms and organizing information for IEP meetings or periodic evaluations.

The popular book, Fine Motor Skills for Children with Down Syndrome is now available in a completely revised third edition. The author, an occupational therapist and parent of an adult with Down syndrome, describes how the characteristics of Down syndrome can impact the acquisition and progression of fine motor skills. She presents a thorough overview of the building blocks of fine motor development, from infancy through to adulthood: Early arm and hand control; Stability; Bilateral coordination; Sensation; and Dexterity. Use the book's step-by-step activities to build daily living skills for home and school: Scissor skills; Pencil grasp development; Pre-printing, printing & cursive writing; Keyboard skills; Computer & tablet skills; and Dressing, grooming, and feeding skills. Throughout the book, the author suggests ways to incorporate fine motor skill development opportunities into as many day-to-day activities as possible, recognizing how impractical it is to constantly be in "therapy" mode with a child. Suggestions for gift ideas are offered in "Grandma's and Grandpa's list" at the end of each chapter. With expanded and updated information on fine motor skills and computer and personal electronic device use, keyboarding skills, postural support, sensory processing, and the adult years, readers will have at their fingertips a cornucopia of information and guidance to support the fine motor development of children and adults.

Children with Down syndrome master gross motor skills -- everything from rolling over to running but need additional help and encouragement to maximise development. In this book the author, a physical therapist, shares her experience gained from sixteen years specialising in the motor development of children with Down Syndrome. This book provides parents and professionals with essential information about motor development including the impact of temperament and the effect of physical and medical conditions associated with Down syndrome.

Covers speech and language development in children with Down syndrome from infancy through to early adolescence, and what parents and carers can to to help maximise their child's communication potential.

Take a cognitive approach to treating children with DCD! Developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is frustrating for the children who must deal with it every day, for their parents, and for the professionals who work with these children. Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder offers new hope to children who are exeriencing this distinctive movement skill syndrome. It suggests ways they can overcome the challenges they encounter wherever motor skills are needed: in the classroom, on the playground, and at home doing self-care. This groundbreaking volume challenges pediatric therapists to examine the assessment and intervention approaches that are currently being used with children who have DCD. Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder offers new model that draws on research in the fields of motor learning, educational psychology, cognitive strategies, and occupational therapy. In addition to theoretical background, this book provides a detailed protocol for CO-OP (Cognitive Orientation to Daily Occupational Performance), an intervention that has been shown to facilitate problem-solving and enhance motor skill acquisition for children with DCD. Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder offers a comprehensive discussion of the disorder, including: identification and assessment of children with DCD analysis of the Bruininks Osortesky Test of Motor Proficiency and the Movement Assessment Battery for Children the theoretical and empirical basis for current treatment approaches new motor learning theories and their implications for treatment the systematic development and evaluation of the CO-OP approach, from early case studies through videotape analysis and retrospective chart review Based on six years of systematic, cooperative research, Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder demonstrates the success of a unique cognitive approach to intervention with these frustrated children.