Fundamental movement skills mastery of boys with and without intellectual disability in the Philippines

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: In the Philippines, children with intellectual disability (ID) attend special schools where limited time is allocated for physical education (PE) and motor skills training. Recent studies from developed regions show that fundamental movement skills (FMS) of children with ID are less proficient relative to typically developing (TD) peers (Westendorp et al., 2011). However, the proportion of children with ID who display FMS mastery has yet to be examined. Such evidence is important to identify the need for FMS programs, but is currently limited in developing countries. This study aimed to compare the FMS mastery of children with and without ID in the Philippines, focusing on boys who make up the majority of special schools’ enrollment in the country. METHODS: Participants include boys with ID (n=56; mean age = 7.95±0.82 years) and an age-matched TD group (n=84; age = 7.65±0.91 years). FMS proficiency was tested using ten components of the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (Ulrich, 2000). Locomotor skills included run, hop, leap, horizontal jump and slide, while object control skills included dribble, catch, kick, overhand throw and underhand roll. Raw scores and percentage of mastery for each skill component were calculated. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis of variance showed a significant effect of disability (F(2,132)=67.74, p<.001, ƞ2=.51) on both locomotor and object control skills. Participants with ID had mean scores of 22.07 (SE=.98) for locomotor, and 18.66 (SE=.75) for object control skills. The TD group had mean scores of 31.81 (SE=.82) for locomotor, and 30.16 (SE=.15) for object control skills. Analysis of each skill component showed that locomotor skills mastery ranged from 4% to 38% for those with ID; and from 19% to 80% for the TD group with jumping least mastered by both groups. Object control skills mastery ranged from 2% to 7% for those with ID with throwing least mastered; and from 24% to 60% for the TD group with rolling least mastered. Chi-square tests showed that mastery levels for all skills were significantly lower for the ID group relative to the TD group (all p<.05). Discussion Boys with ID displayed lower FMS mastery relative to TD peers, providing evidence that underpins the value of FMS training programs for children with ID. Specifically, object control skills were found to have larger differences in mastery between the two groups. An important contribution of this study is the population-specific evidence that would serve as an impetus for special schools in the Philippines to address motor development via adapted PE curricula. References Westendorp M, et al. (2011). Res Dev Disabil, 32(3), 1147-53. Ulrich D. (2000). Texas: Pro-Ed.