Gestural praxis in young adults with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities.
Adults with mild-moderate ID can copy gestures but commit more errors, so give extra practice and clear visual cues.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Nijs et al. (2016) watched young adults with mild-moderate intellectual disability copy hand gestures.
They compared the group to same-age peers without disability.
Everyone tried to repeat meaningless hand moves while researchers counted errors.
What they found
The ID group finished every gesture, but they made more little mistakes along the way.
Their extra slips point to quiet motor-planning problems, not helplessness.
How this fits with other research
Crucitti et al. (2020) looked at autistic children and saw a different picture: only kids in specialist schools showed clear praxis trouble.
That feels like a clash, but age and diagnosis explain it.
S et al. found steady errors across all adults with ID, while Joel found wide scatter in young autistic kids; the disorders differ and kids often outgrow or learn around motor gaps.
Estival et al. (2021) extend the idea by showing adults with Prader-Willi syndrome plan actions more slowly and wrongly even after IQ is controlled, hinting that specific genetic syndromes add extra planning weight beyond general ID.
Why it matters
When you teach job or daily-living gestures to adults with ID, expect extra practice trials.
Break the move into smaller chunks and give visual cues for hand shape and direction.
Do not assume failure means they cannot learn; they just need more reps to smooth the plan.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Praxis functioning in the population with intellectual disabilities (ID) has been poorly studied. The goal of this research was to look for a starting point to study the praxic functioning in young adults with mild to moderate ID. METHOD: Thirty young adults with ID and 30 young adults without ID, between the ages of 18 and 35 years, participated in this study. All participants completed tests that assessed gestural praxis. RESULTS: It was possible to observe similar praxis behaviour in the group with ID in almost all domains studied, albeit showing statistical values lower than those of the group without ID. DISCUSSIONS: Despite the high number of errors committed, the sample of participants with ID was able to reach the goal of praxic tasks performed; such errors may be associated with a deficit in the development of various brain functions and not only with praxis functioning, mainly related to a lower yield in terms of planning, monitoring and correcting intentional movement.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2016 · doi:10.1111/jir.12266