Haptic Exploratory Procedures of Children and Youth with and without Cerebral Palsy

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Developmental Psychology
• Rehabilitation Science

Background:

• Haptic exploration is crucial for object recognition and understanding spatial properties.
• Children with spastic unilateral cerebral palsy (CP) often exhibit differences in motor control and sensory processing.
• Assessing haptic exploratory procedures (EPs) and exploratory movements (EMs) provides insights into tactile perception and object interaction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the haptic EPs and EMs of children with typical development (TD) and those with spastic unilateral CP.
• To evaluate the interrater reliability of a novel digital method for recording haptic EPs.
• To investigate the relationship between manual ability and haptic identification performance in children with CP.

Main Methods:

• Participants included 31 children with TD and 23 children with spastic unilateral CP, aged 6 to 15 years.
• Haptic EPs and EMs were recorded using a novel digital method.
• Interrater reliability for expected EPs was assessed using Cohen's kappa.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in the types of expected EPs, additional EPs, or EMs between children with CP and TD peers.
• Children with CP showed a significantly longer mean duration of exploration and lower accuracy in object identification compared to TD children.
• Substantial agreement was observed between raters for expected EPs (κ = .64, p < .0005).

Conclusions:

• Children with CP demonstrate comparable haptic EPs to TD children, suggesting preserved exploratory strategies.
• Despite similar EPs, children with CP require more time and exhibit reduced accuracy, indicating that manual ability is not the sole factor influencing performance.
• The study validates a reliable digital method for recording haptic EPs, offering a valuable tool for research and clinical assessment.