School Readiness in Preschool-Aged Children With Cerebral Palsy
Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children
Summary
The goal of this feasibility and proof of concept study is to learn about the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of a school readiness program for preschool-aged children with unilateral cerebral palsy. The main question\[s\] it aims to answer are: 1. Is it feasible to implement an intensive school readiness program for preschool-aged children with UCP? 2. Is the program acceptable to the children and their caregivers? 3. What is the impact of the program on school readiness? Participants will complete two pre-intervention assessments, participate in an intensive, goal directed, school readiness program, and complete 1 post-intervention assessment.
Description
Introduction and Purpose Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a congenital non-progressive motor disorder caused by a brain lesion that occurs in the early stages of development and persists throughout adulthood. CP is one of the most common disabilities in childhood, with a prevalence of 3.3 per 1,000 children in the United States. It is noted that "children with disabilities have a greater risk of poor or sub-optimal development in early childhood compared to children without disabilities". Due to the nature of CP, the child and their families can experience many limitations in their day-to-day lives and…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 3–5 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * ages 3 years to 5 years 11 months * unilateral cerebral palsy * ability to visually attend to objects * demonstrates an interest in objects * attempt to reach for or grasp an item with the impaired upper extremity * English-speaking participants Exclusion Criteria: * uncontrolled epilepsy * significant visual impairment * severe behavioral problems * inability to complete the assessment protocol
Interventions
- BehavioralSmart Start - School Readiness Program
Participants will complete 64 hours of intervention focused on goal directed school readiness. Each of the five domains will be addressed in each session, and the activities will be tailored to support the individual goals of the participant using a goal-directed training approach. A goal-directed training approach includes the child, caregiver, and researcher collaboratively setting goals that are meaningful to the child and their family. Intervention strategies for goal attainment will include both remediation of skills (i.e. learning to button a button) or the accommodation of skills (i.e. using Velcro instead of a button) depending on the child's goals and current ability. The primary focus of the intervention will be goal attainment related to school readiness.
Location
- Scottish Rite for ChildrenFrisco, Texas