Early infant crawling experience is reflected in later motor skill development

Percept Mot Skills. 1991 Feb;72(1):75-9. doi: 10.2466/pms.1991.72.1.75.

Abstract

The influences of early crawling experience on motor skill development were examined in children identified by parents as crawlers or noncrawlers during early infancy. Relative to the performance of crawlers, noncrawlers showed lower average and subtest-specific performance on selected measures of the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers. These results, interpreted through Ayres' sensory integration theory and applied to current occupational therapy practice, support Farber's hypothesized importance of early crawling experience in the development of sensory and motor systems of the body and general motor skill development.

MeSH terms

  • Child Development*
  • Child, Preschool
  • Exploratory Behavior*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Locomotion*
  • Male
  • Motor Skills*
  • Orientation
  • Psychomotor Performance