Contribution of a Proposed Motor Education Programme to the Improvement of Overall Dynamic Coordination and Motor Balance in Children with Down syndrome

Abstract

     The study aimed to determine the effect of a motor education programme on the development of general dynamic coordination and motor balance in children with Down syndrome (8-10 years old), and to determine the differences between the experimental and control groups. The study sample consisted of 16 children with Down's syndrome, with mental retardation ranging from 50 to 75 degrees, from the special school "Tamani" in Algiers. The researcher used the experimental method, dividing the sample into an experimental group and a control group, each containing 8 children with Down syndrome. The proposed motor programme was applied to the experimental group for 24 weeks, at a rate of 3 sessions per week.

The results showed that the motor education programme had a positive effect on the development of motor competence in the motor dimensions represented by bilateral coordination, upper limb coordination, dynamic and static balance.