Effect of Selective Physical Practice Intervention on Object Control Skills in 7-10 Year Old Children with Mental Disability

Background and Aim: Children with mental disability have delayed object control motor skills. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of selective physical practice intervention on object control skills of 7-10 year old children with mental disability. Materials and Methods: In this quasi-experiment study, 30 children aged 7-10 years with mental disability were selected from mentally disabled care centers of Ahvaz based on available time sampling and randomly classified in two experimental (height, 128.8±14.8; weight, 29±9.12) or control (height, 126. 5±15.7; weight, 31.12±28.2) groups. Then, they were evaluated by gross motor development subscales in pre-test. Participants in the experimental group trained 3 times a week, 45 mins each session in motor skill training programs for 8 weeks. Children in the control group, on the other hand, performed typical school activities and were not involved in regular sport training. A post-test was conducted after training period. Statistical analysis was done with one way-anova and paired T test using SPSS v. 20 software. The significant level was set at p< 0.05. Ethical Considerations: This study was approved in Research Ethics Committee of Sport Sciences Research Institute with the code IR.SSRI.REC.1397.390. Findings: The results revealed that 8-week selective physical practice significantly affected object control variables such as striking a ball with hand (p=0.001), dribbling (p=0.001), catching (p=0.001) and throwing (p=0.001), however it did not affect striking a ball with foot (p=0.001) and rolling significantly (p=0.001). Conclusion: According to the finding of the present study, physical practice intervention seems to improve object control skills in children with mental disability