Abstract
During everyday life we move around busy environments and encounter a range of obstacles, such as a narrow aperture forcing us to rotate our shoulders in order to pass through. In typically developing individuals the decision to rotate the shoulders is body scaled and this movement adaptation is temporally and spatially tailored to the size of the aperture. This is done effortlessly although it actually involves many complex skills. For individuals with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) moving in a busy environment and negotiating obstacles presents a real challenge which can negatively impact on safety and participation in motor activities in everyday life. However, we have a limited understanding of the nature of the difficulties encountered. Therefore, this current study considered how adults with DCD make action judgements and movement adaptations while navigating apertures. Fifteen adults with DCD and 15 typically developing (TD) controls passed through a series of aperture sizes which were scaled to body size (0.9-2.1 times shoulder width). Spatial and temporal characteristics of movement were collected over the approach phase and while crossing the aperture. The decision to rotate the shoulders was not scaled in the same way for the two groups, with the adults with DCD showing a greater propensity to turn for larger apertures compared to the TD adults when body size alone was accounted for. However, when accounting for degree of lateral trunk movement and variability on the approach, we no longer saw differences between the two groups. In terms of the movement adaptations, the adults with DCD approached an aperture differently when a shoulder rotation was required and then adapted their movement sooner compared to their typical peers. These results point towards an adaptive strategy in adults with DCD which allows them to account for their movement difficulties and avoid collision.
Highlights
The ability to locomote through the environment without falling or bumping into obstacles is a fundamental skill
This study considered the nature of action judgements and movement adaptations when adults with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) pass through an aperture
DCD compared to the typical adults and the adults with DCD rotate their shoulders to pass through an aperture for which a typically developing (TD) adult would not turn
Summary
The ability to locomote through the environment without falling or bumping into obstacles is a fundamental skill One example of such an obstacle is a ‘gap’ or ‘aperture’ that is created by two parked cars, street furniture or a partially blocked doorway. These findings extended the geometric scaling model, originally proposed by Warren following work on ‘climbability’ of stair height, which suggests that our ability to judge our own actions is based on our body size [2]. This model proposes that our knowledge of body size allows us to determine whether or not we could step on a given riser height or pass through an aperture without turning laterally. Slightly different critical ratio values have been found in other studies, the use of body size to judge ‘passability’ has been consistently demonstrated [3,4]
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