How does deafblindness affect motor development?
Normal development occurs in a series of steps, with each motor act building on skills that have been previously acquired. Both senses of hearing and vision drive the developing young child to orient and move toward people and objects in the environment. When impairments of both these senses are present, the young child who is deafblind usually experiences delays in motor development due to the decrease in vital sensory input needed to stimulate movement. These delays can occur even when the young child’s motor system is intact and can include delays in gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and self-help skills like dressing, bathing, etc. Some children who are deafblindness also have additional problems with development of motor skills. Children with cerebral palsy would be in this category. Are certain motor skills more affected than others due to deafblindness? Motor skills hat require movement into the environment, such as crawling and walking, can be particularly delayed in child
