title: Assessment of visual perception in adolescents with a history of central coordination disorder in early life - 15-year follow-up study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Central nervous system damage in early life results in both quantitative and qualitative abnormalities of psychomotor development. Late sequelae of these disturbances may include visual perception disorders which not only affect the ability to read and write but also generally influence the child's intellectual development. This study sought to determine whether a central coordination disorder (CCD) in early life treated according to Vojta's method with elements of the sensory integration (S-I) and neuro-developmental treatment (NDT)/Bobath approaches affects development of visual perception later in life.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study involved 44 participants aged 15-16 years, including 19 diagnosed with moderate or severe CCD in the neonatal period, i.e. during the first 2-3 months of life, with diagnosed mild degree neonatal encephalopathy due to perinatal anoxia, and 25 healthy people without a history of developmental psychomotor disturbances in the neonatal period. The study tool was a visual perception IQ test comprising 96 graphic tasks.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study revealed equal proportions of participants (p < 0.05) defined as very skilled (94-96), skilled (91-94), aerage (71-91), poor (67-71), and very poor (0-67) in both groups. These results mean that adolescents with a history of CCD in the neonatal period did not differ with regard to the level of visual perception from their peers who had not demonstrated psychomotor development disorders in the neonatal period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Early treatment of children with CCD affords a possibility of normalising their psychomotor development early enough to prevent consequences in the form of cognitive impairments in later life.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce, Poland.
authors.forename: Wojciech
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Kiebzak
authors.forename: Ireneusz M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Kowalski
authors.forename: Małgorzata
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Domagalska
authors.forename: Andrzej
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Szopa
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dwornik
authors.forename: Jolanta
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kujawa
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stępień
authors.forename: Zbigniew
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sliwiński