Citation

te Velde AF, Savelsbergh GJ, Barela JA, van der Kamp J. Acta Paediatr. 2003; 92(10): 1197-1204.

Affiliation

Perceptual Motor Control: Development, Learning and Performance, Institute for Fundamental and Clinical Human Movement Sciences, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. arenda.tevelde@fbw.vu.nl

Copyright

(Copyright © 2003, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

14632338

Abstract

AIM: Children with cerebral palsy (CP) are

regularly confronted with physical constraints during locomotion. Because

abnormalities in motor control are often related to perceptual deficits, the aim

of this study was to find out whether children with CP were able to walk across

a road as safely as their non-handicapped peers. METHOD: Ten children with CP

and 10 non-handicapped children aged 4-14 y were asked to cross a simulated road

if they felt the situation was safe. RESULTS: With respect to safety and

accuracy of crossings, the behaviour of children with CP was comparable with

that of non-handicapped children. However, a closer examination of

children's individual crossing behaviour showed considerable differences

within the CP group. In contrast to children with damage to the left hemisphere,

children with damage to the right hemisphere made unsafe decisions and did not

compensate for them by increasing walking speed. CONCLUSION: The differences in

unsafe behaviour and in the ability to compensate for it within the group of

children with CP might be related to damage to specific regions of the brain

that are involved in the processing of spatial or temporal

information.