Low Motor Assessment: A Comparative Pilot Study with Young Children With and Without Motor Impairment.
A Low Motor BSID-II lifts cognitive scores five to ten points in kids with motor impairment without hurting validity.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team made a Low Motor version of the BSID-II. They cut out tasks that need quick or tricky hand moves.
They gave both versions to two small groups. One group had motor impairment. The other group had typical development.
Then they compared the scores to see if the change helped kids show what they really know.
What they found
Kids with motor impairment scored five to ten points higher on the Low Motor form.
Kids with typical development scored the same on both forms.
The change gave a fairer picture of cognitive ability when the body cannot keep up.
How this fits with other research
Coceski et al. (2021) took the same idea to teens. They used motor-free WISC-V subtests with kids who have cerebral palsy. The teens also showed clearer strengths when motor demands were removed.
Wuang et al. (2009) looked at the BOT-2 in children with intellectual disability. They found the regular motor test was reliable, so some teams still use it. The two studies do not clash; one shows you can adapt, the other shows the original still works if you want motor data.
Brown (2019) warns that the short BOT-2 form fails psychometric checks. The Low Motor BSID-II does not replace that tool, but it does offer a safer cognitive route when motor scores are not needed.
Why it matters
If you test a child who has cerebral palsy, spina bifida, or any motor limit, start with the Low Motor BSID-II or motor-free WISC-V subtests. You will see cognitive skills that the standard form can hide. Save the full motor battery for times when you truly need to measure movement, not mind.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Most of the developmental instruments that measure cognitive development in children rely heavily on fine motor skills, especially for young children whose language skills are not yet well developed. This is problematic when evaluating the cognitive development of young children with motor impairment. The purpose of this study is to assess the need for a Low Motor adapation of a standardized instrument when testing children with motor impairment. To accomplish this, we have adapted the procedures, item instructions and play material of a widely used and standardized instrument, the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-Second Edition (BSID-II, Bayley 1993). The Original and the Low Motor versions were administered to 20 children experiencing typical development and 19 children with motor impairment within a period of two weeks. Results showed that children with motor impairments scored significantly higher on the Low Motor version of the Bayley Mental Scale than on the Original version: a difference of between 5 and 10 points when the score is expressed in terms of a developmental index score. Results from children with typical development support the assumption that item content and difficulty remain unchanged in the Low Motor version.
Journal of developmental and physical disabilities, 2010 · doi:10.1348/026151003322535237