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The purpose of this study was to identify possible subtypes of students with learning disabilities based upon gross motor functions. Subjects in a private school for learning difficulties were divided into a group of students with learning disabilities and a comparison group. Gross motor subtests from the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (Bruininks, 1978) were administered to both learning-disabled and comparison groups. The four subtypes yielded by the K-means iterative partitioning method demonstrated distinct profiles. Cluster membership was shown to be fairly stable by internal validation techniques. The external validity of the four subtypes was verified by a teacher’s ratings of students’ physical behaviors. It was recommended that the outcome of type-specific remediation and the longitudinal stability of gross motor subtypes be evaluated.

We investigated the concurrent validity and discrimination accuracy of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-Short Form (BOTMP-SF) and the McCarron Assessment of Neuromuscular Development (MAND) for identifying children with and without motor impairment (MI). From a total of 69 Australian children aged from 5 to 11 years, 26 children were classified with MI according to three criteria, including the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC), and were age- and gender-matched with 26 non-MI controls. Performance rankings for the MI/non-MI children on BOTMP-SF and MAND tests were highly correlated (r_s = .86); however, only 35% of MI cases were classified alike and 71% of cases were agreed on, overall. Comparing each test with MABC, discrimination statistics revealed MAND was the more accurate discriminator of MI, with higher sensitivity and negative predictive values than the BOTMP-SF. The MAND is a more valid test for the identification of MI in Australian children.

This study investigated the effect of gender on the relationship between Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and self-reported participation in organized and recreational free-play activities. A participation-activity questionnaire and the short form Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency was administered to a large sample of children ages 9 to 14 (N = 590). A total of 44 children (19 boys, 25 girls) were identified as having probable DCD. Regardless of gender, children with DCD had lower self-efficacy toward physical activity and participated in fewer organized and recreational play activities than did children without the disorder. While there were no gender by DCD interactions with self-efficacy and play, girls with DCD had the lowest mean scores of all children. These findings are discussed in terms of the social norms that influence boys and girls’ participation in physical activity.

The motor proficiency of 56 boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was compared with that of 56 boys with learning disabilities (LD); both groups were divided into two age groups, 7 to 8 years and 9 to 12 years. Boys with ADHD were taking Ritalin and attending public schools. Boys with LD were medication-free and attending private schools for LD. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency–Long Form (BOTMP–LF) was used to measure balance, bilateral coordination, strength, upper limb coordination, response speed, visual-motor coordination, and upper limb speed and dexterity. MANOVA revealed significant main effects for condition and age. Subsequent univariate ANOVAs revealed (a) expected age differences on all but one item and (b) significantly poorer performance for boys with ADHD than boys with LD on all variables except balance, upper limb coordination, and response speed.

This longitudinal research examined the development of motor proficiency in 99 children with Down syndrome born in Brisbane from 1973 to 1984. The Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP) was used to assess motor proficiency, and the Stanford-Binet L-M was used to obtain a measure of general intelligence. Although significant progress on the BOTMP subtest scores occurred with age for most subtests, this was related to mental age (MA) rather than chronological age (CA). Progress related to CA was associated with upper limb coordination and upper limb speed and dexterity subtests from CA 10 to 12 years, not from 12 to 16 years. There were considerable inter- and intraindividual differences on subtest items. A cluster analysis of 263 assessments revealed no one profile of strengths and weaknesses. Two distinct profiles were found with high scores in either the visual–motor or the running speed and agility subtests, with balance scores at a low level of proficiency in both clusters. Across the study groupings, sex differences were also evident.