Perceived Barriers Before and After a 3-Month Period of Modified Ride-On Car Use.

PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to examine how perceived barriers change before and after a 3-month period of modified ride-on car use. METHODS: This study used a qualitative content analysis of perceived barriers. Fourteen caregivers (13 mothers; 1 grandmother) responded to a single-question, free-response survey before and after a 3-month period of modified ride-on car use. RESULTS: A total of 11 and 20 perceived barriers were reported before and after the 3-month period. Environmental barriers were the most frequently reported before and after the 3-month period. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric physical therapists need to be aware of the potential perceived barriers that families may experience in regard to young children with disabilities using modified ride-on cars and determine strategies to support families on an individual basis.

Perceived Barriers of Modified Ride-On Car Use of Young Children With Disabilities: A Content Analysis.

PURPOSE: Modified ride-on cars have emerged as an early powered mobility option for young children with disabilities. The purpose of this study was to identify, extract, and synthesize perceived barriers of modified ride-on car use reported in previous studies. METHODS: This study was descriptive using a qualitative content analysis of previously published studies identified from a systematic literature search. RESULTS: Categories of perceived barriers were identified: device, environmental, child-related perceived barriers regarding health, tolerance, and abilities, and caregiver-related perceived barriers regarding physical requirements, time, and motivation. Device and environmental perceived barriers were the most reported. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric physical therapists play a critical role in working with families to promote their self-efficacy for using the modified ride-on car and their capacity for overcoming the inherent difficulties associated with use. Most of the reported perceived barriers are modifiable, at least to some degree, with likely effects on modified ride-on car use.

Exploratory analysis of a developmentally progressive modified ride-on car intervention for young children with Down syndrome.

BACKGROUND: Children with Down syndrome (DS) may have limited opportunities to engage in self-directed mobility and play due to motor delays. A recent modified ride-on car innovation is the sit-to-stand (STS) model, which incorporates functional standing and walking training with the experience of powered mobility. AIMS: This study aimed to: (1) describe total dosage and daily usage of three modified ride-on car modes (seated, standing, and power-push) by young children with DS; (2) examine the ability of young children with DS to independently activate the modified ride-on car in seated and standing modes; (3) describe the age of onset of selected motor milestones of the sample in comparison to DS norms. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eight young children with DS (8.6 ± 2.0 months) used three modes of the modified ride-on car over a 9-month intervention. RESULTS: All eight children independently activated the modified ride-on car in seated and standing modes. Most motor milestones were achieved earlier in this sample than expected for DS norms, including the onset of independent walking. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: The developmentally progressive nature of the intervention and high dosage may have been instrumental in encouraging the onset of independent activation and earlier motor milestones.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONYoung children with Down syndrome were able to achieve independent activation in seated and standing modified ride-on cars.Developmentally progressive modified ride-on car interventions may facilitate motor skill development, but future work utilizing a randomized control group is needed to examine the potential motor developmental benefits of the STS model and power-push mode.The developmentally progressive nature of the intervention may have been instrumental in encouraging the onset of independent switch activation in both seated and standing modes, as well as the high dosage and adherence rates compared to previous studies.

Real World Tracking of Modified Ride-On Car Usage in Young Children With Disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Go Baby Go is a community program that provides modified ride-on cars to young children with disabilities. AIMS: (1) To describe the real world modified ride-on car usage of young children with disabilities; (2) To compare subjectively reported modified ride-on car usage recorded by parents with objectively reported usage based on electronic tracking data. METHODS: 14 young children (1-3 years old) with disabilities used a modified ride-on car for three months. RESULTS: On average, parent-reported activity log data indicated that children used the modified ride-on car for 17.8 minutes per session (SD = 9.9) and 195.1 total minutes (SD = 234.8) over three months. Objective tracking data indicated 16.5 minutes per session (SD = 8.6) and 171.4 total minutes (SD = 206.1) over three months. No significant difference of modified ride-on car usage was found between parent-reported activity log data and objective tracking; yet, the mean absolute difference between tracking methods was 96 minutes (SD = 8.6) and suggests over- or under-reporting of families. Children used the modified ride-on car more in the first half compared to the second half of the three-month period (p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: This study may inform future research studies and local chapters of the Go Baby Go community program.

Why We Move: Social Mobility Behaviors of Non-Disabled and Disabled Children across Childcare Contexts.

BACKGROUND: Social mobility is defined as the co-occurrence of self-directed locomotion and direct peer interaction. Social mobility is a product of dynamic child-environment interactions and thus likely to vary across contexts (e.g., classroom, gymnasium, and playground). PURPOSE: The purpose of this present study was to examine differences in children's social mobility: (1) across contexts by age and (2) between non-disabled and disabled children. METHOD: Participants (n = 55 non-disabled and three disabled children; Mage = 3.1 years, SD = 1.4) were video recorded within a university-based early learning center. Children were recorded for 20 min in each context: classroom, gymnasium, and playground. A 15-s momentary time sampling method was used to code social mobility, the simultaneous occurrence of self-directed locomotion, and direct peer interaction. This variable was calculated as percent time within each context. RESULTS: A planned Friedman's rank ANOVA (n = 55), stratified by age, indicated that older children (3-5 years old) differed across contexts in their social mobility [χ2(2) ~ 7.3-10.5, p < 0.025], whereas younger children (1-2 years old) were similar across contexts. Social mobility was significantly lower in the classroom compared with the playground and gymnasium (with no difference between the latter contexts) for older children. Visual analysis confirmed that disabled children (n = 3) engaged in substantially less time in social mobility (average 0-1%), compared with non-disabled, age-similar peers (2-3 years old average 1-12%) across all contexts. CONCLUSION: A substantial gap exists between non-disabled and disabled children for social mobility. There is an increase in magnitude and variability of social mobility around age three that suggests the gap between non-disabled and disabled children will continue to widen.