Abstract
Although research on the motor development of deaf children is limited previous investigations have reported delayed development. The purpose of the present study was to compare the fundamental motor skill development of deaf and hearing children ages 3-8. Fifty-four deaf children and 56 hearing children were evaluated on the Ohio State University Scale of Intra Gross Motor Assessment (OSU-SIGMA; Loovis and Ersing 1979). Chi-squared analysis by age level (3 and 4; 5 and 6; 6, 7 and 8) revealed significant (p <.05) isolated differences between deaf and hearing children. However after age six motor development ratings of deaf and hearing children were similar. Consequently physical educators should have high performance expectations for deaf children assigned to their classes. If also appears that delayed motor development in deaf children cannot be attributed to deafness per se. Future investigations on deaf children's motor development should examine the effects of environmental factors such as type of school curricular emphasis parenting styles opportunities for practice and play and motor development test procedures.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 2-6 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Clinical Kinesiology |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| State | Published - Jan 1 1993 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation
- Rehabilitation