Movement and Action in Learning and Development: Clinical Implications for Pervasive Developmental Disorders [Anglais] [Relié]

"Movement and Action in Learning and Development presents the most current literature, both clinical and theoretical, on cognitive development and the central role of movement. Stockman eloquently presents the thesis that “cognitive” movement derived through the tactual-kinesthetic systems and integrated with visual and auditory input is essential to normal human development as well as the habilitation of children with PDD. In part one of the book, seven chapters written by pre-eminent developmental psychologists, present perspectives on the underlying processes through which infants and children construct knowledge of their world through life experiences that emanate from movement as well as from vision and audition.

The four chapters in the second part of the book discuss approaches to (re) habilitation
that focus on the development of essential cognitive constructs develop from guided movement interventions which are the result of environmental action and interaction. Habilitation of children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) is highlighted but the clinical interventions apply to many other impairments such as “developmental apraxia,” “apraxia of speech” and adult acquired aphasia.

Stockman has assembled and eloquently integrated theoretical perspectives from a bevy of cutting-edge scholars and forward-thinking master clinicians to present an exciting treatise on the central role of movement, action and interaction in human development. She also successfully argues her thesis of the relevance and central importance of action-based clinical interventions for successful treatment of PDD and other developmental and acquired disorders that require neuro-rehabilitation. This book is a “must read” for clinicians involved in neuro-habilitation and rehabilitation as well as for researchers and theoreticians interested in normal and abnormal human development. The ideas set forth in this volume will surely set the course for future ground-breaking advances in rehabilitation for individuals with PDD and many other specific neuro-developmental disorders and for some individuals with aphasia.
--Paula A. Square, University of Toronto

“Movement and Action in Learning and Development has as its focus the understanding and treatment of children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD). These children exhibit both verbal and nonverbal deficits that cannot be accounted for by visual, auditory, or motor impairments and who do not always fit the standard criteria for autism. Such children are often at the bottom of the developmental ladder. In this text the authors emphasize the role of sensory-motor experience in learning. The focus is on the process by which children learn and the specific role of action in learning. This book provides a fresh approach to the treatment of children with PDD. It is quite literally a "hands on" approach in which the clinician physically guides the child through nonverbal events and the production of speech about events. The therapy teaches the child what has not been learned in the normal interaction with the world. Learning is expected to occur as a result of the enhanced tactiual-kinesthetic input that the child receives from guided participation in natural learning activities. The book provides a perspective that will interest both clinicians and investigators.”
--Pat Broen, University of Minnesota

This book presents theories and clinical practices for dealing with children diagnosed with pervasive developmental disability or PDD. These are children who have a wide range of disabilities that affect their participation in even the most routine events of daily life, such as eating, dressing, bathing, and so on. Unlike many who are diagnosed with classic autism, however, these children seem to have normal social behavior, normal physical appearance, the ability to learn, hear, see, and move their bodies at will—in other words, none of the well-known reasons that cause autistic and other children to develop differently. These children have the use of all their senses, but their brains are unable to process the information that is fed through them. While much new research is being done in genetics and neurobiology to explain why something in these children has gone fundamentally wrong with their development, clinicians and therapists who deal with them on a daily basis have needed to develop practical therapies based on how the children react to their environments.

Movement and Action in Learning and Development suggests that when therapists plan treatment strategies, children’s experiences and interactions with the world should be given the same consideration as the limits of their biological makeups. Too often children diagnosed with PDD are lumped into therapy groups for the classically autistic, where the focus tends to be on the distance senses—hearing and vision. Case studies presented in the first half of the book suggest that for children with PDD, there is a disconnect between the brain and the tactile-kinesthetic senses that involve body movement and physical interaction with the world. Movement, in turn, seems to be connected to perception, interpretation of the world around, and ultimately, the acquisition of knowledge. For children with PDD, "normal" learning seems to be limited not only by their tactile-kinesthetic sense but also by the lack of collaboration between all the senses. The second half of the book demonstrates how these new theories translate into clinical practices.