The ongoing google doc will be kept here:
http://docs.google.com/a/nyu.edu/document/d/1Ej4vCLvnTe4OFNBOSOtEbzO_sJwacg4CSyiy8cQND2Y/edit?usp=sharing
An infant’s development is usually broken down into the following categories: gross motor, fine motor, social, emotional, and cognitive. When designing products that assist in the tracking, recording, and promotion developmental milestones, it is important to keep these categories in mind in order to properly assess an child in the most holistic manner. However, recent literature shows that these developmental categories should not be viewed in isolation but suggests that the development or non-development of one aspect of development impacts all of the others. This is an important consideration to account for when designing assistive technology devices to children with special needs such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and just developmental delays in general. Additionally, the interconnectedness of infant development is also important to consider when data tracking and visualizing data regarding this matter.
Rivera, M. Campos, J. Spatial Cognition in Infants with Myelomeningocele Impact of Mobility. University of California Berkeley Infant Studies Laboratory. 2012.
This article overviews the impact on an infant’s spatial cognition of using mobility via assistive technology devices such as wheelchairs and motor scooters on those infants suffering from Myelomeningocele, a form of spina bifida. It documents three spatial cognitive processes as infants grow: visual proprioception, joint visual attention, and form extraction. Good source for an overview of how one domain of infant development (motor skills), impacts others the cognitive domain.
Ragonesi, BS. Chen, Xi. Power Mobility and Socialization in Preschool: A Case Study of a Child With Cerebral Palsy. Infant Motor Behavior Laboratory. Wolters Kluwer Health. Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy Association. 2010.
This is an article that presents a study showing the impact of a child using a motor chair in a pre-school classroom and how it impacted them cognitively, socially, and emotionally. It also presented data regarding the caretakers, educators, and parental perception of the impact of using the technology with the child. Overall, the chair impacted the child positively, but there was no impact on the child socially and how they interacted with other children. They said that may be it had to do with the child’s initial mental capacities and so could not necessarily attribute it to the scooter itself.
Huang, Hsiang-Han. Galloway, James. Modified Ride-on Toy Cars for Early PowerMobility: A Technical Report. Infant Behavior Laboratory. Wolters Kluwer Health. Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy Association. 2012.
This is an article presenting a study showing the impact of a child using a modified toy car at the University of Delaware. There were modifications made on the modified car ride regarding its seating, steering systems, and drive systems to accommodate infants and toddlers with special needs. Before the car was designed/modified, researchers surveyed current toy car’s that were on the market from Fisher Price and began implementing modifications grounded in research. These modifications are important in giving postural and trunk support, while giving a therapeutic experience that supports cognitive, emotional, and social growth. The results of the study demonstrate this growth.
Ostensjo, Sigrid. Carlberg, Eva. Vollestad, Nina. The Use and Impact of Assistive Devices and other environmental modifications on everyday activities and care in young children with cerebral palsy. 2005.
The article presents a broad study qualitative and quantitative study where 95 children aged 3 months old to 4.5 years old with cerebal palsy used assistive technology devices during everyday activities such as self-care skills, mobility, and social activities. Overall, the modifications benefitted the kids, but as in the other study, in the social realm, the children still experienced very little difference.
Uchiyama, Ichiro. Campos, J. Locomotor Experience Affects Self and Emotion. Developmental Psychology. Vol. 44, No. 5, 1225-1231. 2008.
This article goes in depth into how an infants ability to move independently and dependently impacts their awareness of self and their emotional state. It also impacts their cognition. On the other hand, the article also notes that in order for cognition to take place, a child does not necessarily have to have yet experienced locomotion. However, in order for cognition to continue to grow at a steady rate, motor activity needs to take place in order to develop cognitive, emotionally, and socially.