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Repeated Motor Training on Attention Reaching Skills and Stereotypies in Rett Syndrome
Rosa Angela Fabio1, Samantha Giannatiempo2, Tindara Caprì3,4
1Department of Economics University of Messina Messina Italy.
Background:
Few studies investigated the effect of a structured and specific training for upper limb motor skills allowing complex movements such as reaching and grasping.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to examine the effects of motor training on attention, reaching skills, and stereotypies in patients with Rett syndrome (RTT).
Methods:
Twenty-eight participants with RTT underwent cognitive and motor assessment to evaluate attention, reaching skills and stereotypies with an ABABABA design: before training (pre-test phase), after a month of training (post-test phase 1), after a month of the second training phase (post-test phase 2) and at 1 month after the third training phase (post-test phase 3). In all three B phases, participants received 30 minutes of motor training for 5 days a week over a 1-month period.
Results:
Patients with RTT show long-term improvements in seconds of attention and reaching skills and decreases in the intensity of stereotypies.
Conclusions:
This study suggests that motor abilities of participants with RTT can be improved with repeated, individual, well-structured training.
