Rhythm of Motor Performance of Children with Down Syndrome: Clinical Case Series

Abstract

Introduction: The motor development of children with Down Syndrome is characterized by a slower pace in the acquisition of motor skills, as a result of the physical characteristics of children, such as hypotonia, ligament laxity and joint mobility.

Objective: To identify the rhythm of motor performance of children with Down syndrome, from 12 months to the acquisition of independent gait, describing the motor skills acquired each month in the prone, sitting and standing postures.

Case Description: Five children with Down syndrome participated, three of whom were premature (gestational age of 33 weeks). They were evaluated monthly with the consent and presence of those responsible, from 12 months onwards according to the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS), at the Neuromusculoskeletal Performance and Posture Laboratory of the University. At 29 months, all children completed the total AIMS score, which corresponds to independent walking and maintaining squatting.

Conclusions: The pace of motor gains of children with Down syndrome in prone and standing postures was slower, with reciprocal crawling with the rectified lumbar and trunk rotation to the movement acquired between 16 and 24 months and independent walking between 21 and 29 months.