The Effect of Developmental Bottom-up Approach Through Perceptual-motor Interventions on Performance of Children With Mild Intellectual Disability

Intellectual disability manifests through defects in cognitive, motor, and perceptual skills as elements affecting learning and acquiring individual skills. Efforts to improve these skills are essential in these children. This study investigated the durable effects of perceptual-motor process-oriented interventions with the Ramon and Johnston protocol on the motor, cognitive, and perceptual performance of children with mild intellectual disability. 

In this quasi-experimental research, 21 children with mild intellectual disability aged 7 to 12 years were selected using the available sampling method and according to the inclusion criteria. Then, they were assigned to an experimental group of 10 students (10 weeks of perceptual-motor intervention according to the Johnstone and Ramon protocol, two sessions per week) and a control group of 11 students (no intervention) using a simple random method. The participants were evaluated before and 2 months after the intervention with movement assessment battery for children 2nd Edition, Conners’ continuous performance test-II, the working memory test of Wechsler intelligence scale for children fourth edition, and the test of visual perception skills revised. Univariate covariance test was used for data analysis.

The findings showed a significant difference between the intervention and control groups in general motor performance, aiming and catching, the correct answer in the attention test, visual sequential memory, and visual figure-ground in the delayed post-test stage (P<0.05). Also, no significant difference was seen in other subtests (P>0.05).

 Bottom-up approach interventions through Ramon and Johnston’s comprehensive perceptual-motor training can significantly help improve general and ball motor skills, sustained attention, visual sequential memory, and visual figure-ground in children with mild intellectual disability.