Evaluation of Potential Developmental Precursors to Executive Function in Young Children with Motor Delays: Exploratory Study.

This study aimed to explore whether early developmental abilities are related to future executive function (EF) in children with motor delays. Fourteen children with motor delays ( = 10.76, = 2.

The impact of severity of motor delay, timing of task mastery, and START-play intervention on the development of means-end problem solving in young children.

Background: Children with motor delays are at increased risk for delayed means-end problem-solving (MEPS) performance.

Objectives: To evaluate children with motor delays: 1) the impact of motor delay severity and MEPS mastery timing on developmental trajectories of MEPS; and 2) the effectiveness of Sitting Together And Reaching To Play (START-Play) intervention for improving MEPS.

Methods: This represents a secondary analysis from a multi-site randomized controlled trial, with blinded assessors and prospective registration.

Biological and environmental factors may affect children's executive function through motor and sensorimotor development: Preterm birth and cerebral palsy.

Disruptive biological and environmental factors may undermine the development of children's motor and sensorimotor skills. Since the development of cognitive skills, including executive function, is grounded in early motor and sensorimotor experiences, early delays or impairments in motor and sensorimotor processing often trigger dynamic developmental cascades that lead to suboptimal executive function outcomes. The purpose of this perspective paper is to link early differences in motor/sensorimotor processing to the development of executive function in children born preterm or with cerebral palsy.

START-Play Physical Therapy Intervention Indirectly Impacts Cognition Through Changes in Early Motor-Based Problem-Solving Skills.

Purpose: This study tested whether the Sitting Together and Reaching to Play (START-Play) physical therapy intervention indirectly impacts cognition through changes in perceptual-motor skills in infants with motor delays.

Methods: Participants were 50 infants with motor delays randomly assigned to START-Play plus Usual Care Early Intervention (UC-EI) or UC-EI only. Infants' perceptual-motor and cognitive skills were assessed at baseline and 1.

The Effect of START-Play Intervention on Reaching-Related Exploratory Behaviors in Children with Neuromotor Delays: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial.

Aims: Children with neuromotor delays are at risk for reaching and object exploration impairments, which may negatively affect their cognitive development and daily activity performance. This study evaluated the effectiveness of the Sitting Together And Reaching To Play (START-Play) intervention on reaching-related exploratory behaviors in children with neuromotor delays.

Methods: In this randomized controlled clinical trial, 112 children ( = 10.