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Specific grasp characteristics of children with trisomy 21

Marianne Jover1, Catherine Ayoun, Catherine Berton

  • 1Département de Psychologie Développementale et Différentielle, Centre PsyCLE, Université Aix Marseille 1, 29 Avenue Robert Schuman, Aix en Provence Cedex 1, France. marianne.jover@univ-provence.fr

Developmental Psychobiology
|June 22, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Children with trisomy 21 exhibit distinct manual skills, using fewer fingers and unique grasps. These atypical traits persist throughout development, indicating a unique developmental trajectory.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatrics
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Children with trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) often show differences in motor skills.
  • Understanding manual skill development in this population is crucial for targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the grasp characteristics and their developmental changes in children with trisomy 21.
  • To compare manual skills of children with trisomy 21 to typically developing peers.

Main Methods:

  • Assessed grasp patterns in 35 children with trisomy 21 (aged 4-18) during standardized manual tasks.
  • Included grasping wooden blocks of varying sizes and tasks from the Movement Assessment Battery for Children.
  • Compared findings with 35 age-matched typically developing children.

Main Results:

  • Children with trisomy 21 consistently used fewer fingers across tasks.
  • They exhibited specific grasp patterns, including extending non-engaged fingers.
  • Some atypical grasp features diminished with age, while others remained consistent.

Conclusions:

  • Manual skills in children with trisomy 21 represent an atypical developmental pattern, not merely a delay.
  • These findings highlight the need to consider unique developmental trajectories in trisomy 21.
  • Further research into perceptual-motor development in trisomy 21 is warranted.

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