Motor performance of children with mild intellectual disability and borderline intellectual functioning.
Most kids with mild or borderline ID fail MABC motor cut-offs, so treat motor goals as part of the IEP, not an after-thought.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team gave the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) to the kids. Half had mild intellectual disability (IQ 50-69). Half had borderline IQ (70-84). All were 8-11 years old.
They compared each child’s total score to the test norms. A score at or below the 5th percentile counts as motor impairment.
What they found
More than 80 % of the mild-ID group landed in the impaired range. About 60 % of the borderline group did the same. Lower IQ was linked to lower motor scores.
Girls and boys showed the same pattern. No one scored above average.
How this fits with other research
Cheng et al. (2014) saw the same MABC-2 pattern in kids with developmental coordination disorder. Both studies flag the same balance, fine-motor, and ball-skills tasks as weak spots.
Venetsanou et al. (2011) warns that the MABC test family lacks strong reliability data. So the high impairment rate here may over-state the problem. Use the tool, but re-check with clinical observation.
Hinckson et al. (2013) adds that kids with ID move less overall. Low activity could widen the motor gap you see on the MABC. Plan to boost practice time, not just measure it.
Why it matters
If you screen a child with mild or borderline ID, expect motor delays and plan goals early. Pair the MABC with direct play samples. Add extra trials for balance and ball skills. Build fun, daily movement into the behavior plan so the deficit does not grow.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: There is a relatively small body of research on the motor performance of children with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) and borderline intellectual functioning (BIF). Adequate levels of motor skills may contribute to lifelong enjoyment of physical activity, participation in sports and healthy lifestyles. The present study compares the motor skills of children with intellectual disability (ID) to the abilities observed in typically developing children. It also aimed to determine whether there is an association between degree of ID and motor performance. METHODS: A total of 170 children between 7 and 12 years old with MID or BIF, who attended schools for special education, were examined on the test component of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) test. Both groups were compared with the norm scores of the total score, sub-scale scores and individual items of the MABC test. RESULTS: Of the children, 81.8% with MID and 60.0% with BIF performed below the 16th percentile on the total score of the MABC. Both groups demonstrated a relative weakness in the area of manual dexterity. Comparisons between both groups showed small to moderate effect sizes on the total score of the MABC, as well as for all three sub-scales, favouring the children with BIF. CONCLUSIONS: Children with ID had significantly more borderline and definite motor problems than the normative sample and there was an association between degree of ID and performance of manual dexterity, ball skills and balance skills. This study highlights the importance of improving motor skill performance in both children with borderline and mild ID, and the results support the notion that the level of motor and cognitive functioning are related in children with ID.
Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR, 2010 · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2788.2010.01318.x