Effect of sensory-motor integration activities on Attention and Working memory in children with developmental coordination disorders(DCDSs)

Background & Purpose: DCD is one of the obvious inadequacies of motor skills in children in primary school age. This study aims to examine the effect of sensory-motor integration activities on cognitive variables such as attention and working memory in children with Developmental Coordination Disorders (DCD). Hence 20 children with DCD (ages 8-1) who were referred to a rehabilitation center in Kermanshah city were selected as available samples and then randomly divided into two groups as experimental and control group. Then the Continuous Performance test and the Wechsler´s working memory test were completed as
Pre-test. The experimental group practiced for 8 weeks, three 120-minute sessions per week which were included activities such as (swinging, trampoline jumping, spinning around themselves, spinning around the coach, etc). Data were analyzed with Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Leven test, Box test and analyze of covariance. The Results shows, in working memory variable, the effect was significant on both practicing (p=0.001) and group (p=0.001). In attention variable, although the effect was significant in practicing (p=0.002), it was not significant in group (p=0.056). This pattern of findings suggests the sensory-motor integration activities could promote Attention and Working memory in children with DCD.