Ayres' Clinical Observations: Performance of Four and Five Year Old Children

Abstract

Data was gathered on 41 children aged four and five years, using the Ayres' clinical observations form. Significant differences were found between the two age groups on items measuring co‐ordination, co‐contraction, maintenance of anti‐gravity postures, reflex integration and standing balance. Four year old children in particular, had difficulty assuming the prone extension, supine flexion, asymmetrical tonic neck reflex (ATNR) inhibiting posture, and standing balance positions and the use of these items with four year old children was questioned. The results also suggested that the present qualitative scoring may not be suitable for both these age groups and could be modified according to the quantitative scores reported in this article. Further work is needed to extend these age norms using a wider population, and to provide further reliability and validity data.