The Effectiveness of Proximal Sensory Rehabilitation Exercises on Reflex Inhibition in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder

Abstract

The objective of this investigation was to develop a rehabilitation strategy for the proximal senses (Tactile, Proprioception, and Vestibular) and assess its effectiveness in suppressing reflexes in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). Based on its objective, this was an applied investigation. In terms of data collection, it was a pretest-posttest semi-experimental study with a control group. The statistical population consisted of all students with DCD who attended Tabriz schools during the 2021-2022 academic year. After screening and evaluation by the Wilson Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ7), 16 children aged 5 to 12 were purposefully selected and randomly assigned to two groups: Experimental and Control Nine of the children were male and seven were female. In order to ascertain reflex function, the Brunincks-Ozertsky scale (BOT) was implemented in its abbreviated form. The experimental group was provided with the plan, which consisted of two 45-minute sessions per week, separated by two days. The data was analyzed using SPSS-25 at a significance level of 1%, with covariance analysis. The rehabilitation program is effective in inhibiting the reflexes of children, as evidenced by the significant difference between the groups (P-value<0.01). It is recommended that rehabilitation exercises of the proximal senses be implemented in rehabilitation centers, learning disorders, occupational therapy, and sports exercises in both typical and exceptional schools.

Keywords

• clumsiness
• developmental coordination disorder
• reflex
• sensory integration
• sensory rehabilitation