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The oxygen consumption (VO₂) of 30 (10 females, 20 males) legally blind adolescents and their sighted controls were compared for treadmill walking (3 mph, 4.8 km/h) and running (6 mph, 9.6 km/h). The VO₂ of the visually impaired subjects averaged 24.4% and 10.8% higher than those of their same-sex age-matched controls, and 42.8% and 11.2% higher than the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) norms for walking (p<.01) and running (p<.05), respectively. The normal association between aerobic capacity and locomotor energy costs was evident among the sighted controls (r= .44, p<.05) but insignificant (r=.35, p>.05) for the visually impaired subjects. The energy costs of both walking and running were highest among the totally blind subjects, and decreased toward normal as a function of residual vision among the legally blind subjects. The energy costs of walking and running for blind adolescents are higher than both those of sighted controls and the ACSM norm values.

We assessed the validity of the Computer Science and Applications, Inc. (CSA) accelerometer as a measure of energy expenditure during wheelchair pushing. Participants completed three timed pushes over an indoor course at three different speeds while wearing a CSA accelerometer on both wrists. Pushing speeds were assigned in a random order and separated by a 5–10 min rest. Heart rate and energy expenditure were measured using an Aerosport TEEM 100. Results indicated pushing speed, heart rate, and oxygen consumption increased significantly over the three conditions (p < .01). Significant associations (p < .01) were noted between CSA readings from both wrists and energy expenditure over the three pushing speeds (left wrist, r = .66, right wrist r = .52). These results suggest that the CSA accelerometer worn at the wrist may provide a useful measure of physical activity in persons who use wheelchairs as their primary mode of locomotion.

The purpose of this study was to describe the developmental stepping movements of 5 infants with Down syndrome who participated in a pediatric strength intervention. Pretest and posttest data were collected with the Hawaii Early Learning Profile Strands, Battelle Developmental Inventory, and specially designed gait analysis. An 8-week individualized pediatric strength intervention was implemented according to theoretical principles of progressive interactive facilitation (Cowden, in press). Posttest data and the Snyder-McLean (1987) intervention developmental quotient suggested an increase in the subjects’ rates of motor development during intervention as compared to their lifetime rates prior to intervention. One subject showed increased rate and distance, 2 subjects acquired independent upright locomotion, and 1 subject established independent sitting movements and creeping patterns. One subject was unable to complete the study.

The purpose of this study was to assess fitness and gross motor performance of children with ADHD, including users and nonusers of methylphenidate medication. Seventy boys took part in the study. Fitness level of children with ADHD using medication or not, including body composition, flexibility, and muscular endurance, was similar to that of a control group. The only difference was observed for body mass index, which was lower in children with ADHD using medication. Aerobic capacity was also similar when measured by a treadmill test. A lower performance was observed when aerobic capacity was estimated using a field shuttle test, however, suggesting that the methodology used is important. Finally, both groups of children with ADHD presented significantly lower scores for locomotion skills.

The purpose of this experiment was to design a gross-motor task that would quantify the perceptual sensitivity of developmentally disabled (DD) and nonhandicapped (NH) children to the relationship between their personal constraints and the constraints in the environment in a movement context. Three groups of subjects participated in this experiment: 17 DD preschoolers, 25 NH kindergarteners, and 27 NH fourth-graders. The subjects moved through a sequence of four high-jump barriers six times as quickly as possible, negotiating the barriers any way they wanted. They also went through the course without the barriers as quickly as possible to establish a baseline movement time. Relative to their own baseline, the fourth-graders moved through the obstacle course significantly faster than the kindergarteners, while the kindergarteners went through the course significantly faster than the DD preschoolers. In addition, significant differences were found between the NH kindergarteners and DD preschoolers for two sets of perceptual variables: percent error and the slopes of two identified transitions from one mode of locomotion to another. These results and further analyses showed that at least some of the movement problems experienced by DD children can be attributed to perceptual difficulties, and established the potential of the present methodology in examining perceptual sensitivity in a movement context in DD and NH children.