Analysis of the level of somato-functional development among children with cerebral palsy in primary grades

Actuality. Child development from birth to adulthood has been intensively studied over time from a physical, anthropometric, physiological, psychological, sociological and last but not least psychomotor point of view. In children with cerebral palsy, their development is affected in every way. The locomotor system is most affected, which will lead to a range of physical and psychomotor impairments. Because of the difficulties encountered in the early stages of neuro-motor development, the child with infantile cerebral palsy will have around 7-8 years of age multiple impairments in all components of psychomotor development: coordination, balance, spatial orientation, etc. Once children with infantile cerebral palsy enter school, the damage to their cognitive, psychological and social development also extends to their psychomotor impairments. Purpose. An analysis of the somatic-functional development of children with infantile cerebral palsy is needed to focus on correcting early impairments and to minimise the negative impact that these impairments have on all aspects of children's general and complex development. The methodology of the physical education class is built for the healthy and normally developed child and cannot be successfully applied to the child with infantile cerebral palsy. Methods of research. For this study, 48 first grade children, including 30 children with cerebral palsy, were observed and evaluated over the course of a school year during physical education lessons. Waist and body mass values were recorded for the analysis of somatic indicators and chest index, respiratory rate and resting heart rate for the analysis of functional indicators. Indicators were recorded at the beginning and at the end of the school year. Findings and results. Results initially recorded at the beginning of the school year showed substantial differences between healthy children and children with infantile cerebral palsy in both somatic and functional indices. At the end of the year, both groups showed an increase in indicators from baseline, but the results for healthy children showed an average progress of about 36%, while the results for children with infantile cerebral palsy showed an average progress of about 31%. Conclusions and recommendations. Analysing the results of all indicators and making a comparison between the initial and final stages, it can be seen that although the results are positive, it is noted that progress in children with infantile cerebral palsy is not fast enough for their age. The deficits that children with infantile cerebral palsy show at an early age not only have a negative impact on current indicators, but will also influence future acquisition and development. Children with infantile cerebral palsy need special attention when it comes to psychomotor development and need an adapted physical education programme that on the one hand takes into account the level of deficit from which these children start, and on the other hand, focuses on the recovery of the deficit and to ensure a progress more in line with the average levels of healthy children of the same age. Optimising and making the physical education process more efficient in terms of psychomotor components should be a topical issue and a research topic of great interest in teaching practice.