The Connection Between Movement and Child Development
Released on = December 6, 2006, 8:35 am
Press Release Author = Dance to Health
Industry = Healthcare
Press Release Summary = How your child moves can tell you if he or she has developmental problems.
Press Release Body = THE CONNECTION BETWEEN MOVEMENT AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
The connection between movement and child development is completely obvious to all parents. We eagerly watch for and rejoice over each new physical achievement.
The 4 to 5 year old should have acquired the co-ordination and balance of an adult. Children should be able to confidently walk and run, negotiate stairs safety, stand on tiptoes, and spin in circles for example. By this age children should be strong enough to do somersaults and high and long jumps.
This may be the point in time when it becomes increasingly clear to some parents that all is not well with their child. They may notice that their offspring walks stiffly or awkwardly, that he or she appears less physically strong than other children of the same age. The child may be unaware how much energy to use to accomplish a task e.g doing up buttons, playing with Lego, writing with a pencil. Although not personally aggressive the child may push, hit, or bang into other children. Possibly the child avoids or needs to jump, push, pull or bounce on things, or chews on clothes and/or objects more than their peers. Does your child always need to look at what he/she is doing , for example when walking or running?
If the answer to some or all of these questions is \"yes\" your child may have a problem with Proprioception. What does this mean? Proprioception is our interior sense that tells us where our body parts are without our having to look at them. Information about our body position travels through the spinal cord and into parts of the brain that we are not conscious of. So we don\'t need to think how to arrange our limbs so that we can sit on a chair without falling off it for example.
Children with Proprioception problems have a very difficult time. They have no idea where their body is in space unless they actually look. Moving and remaining stationary are problems. As mentioned previously such children may be clumsy or move slowly to compensate. They may stumble on stairs or fall when running or have great difficulty writing, buttoning clothing or judging the weight of things. This problem will prevent their bodies obtaining the information needed to maintain the good muscle tone necessary for health.
What can we do to help children who have Proprioception problems and therefore Special Needs? I am a Dance Movement Therapist whose main area was working with children who had multiple Special Needs. I am all in favor of therapies like dance and movement which aim to harmonize and strengthen the Mind-Body-Spirit connection. There are also a number of other therapies which may prove helpful.
. I hope that this information will be useful to you and your child. Please visit http://www.dance-to-health-help-your-special-needs-child.com
TITLE The Connection between Movement and Child Development
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