OJKO-project:Longitudinal study on the development of young children with a serious cognitive and motor developmental delay

Recently, a longitudinal project on the development of children with a serious cognitive and motor developmental delay has started in Belgium and the Netherlands. The aims of this study are to evaluate the cognitive, motor, communicative and social-emotional abilities of young children with a severe cognitive and motor developmental delay (between 6 and 59 months old at the first administration moment); to analyze the developmental trajectories and patterns in these children; to evaluate the effect of family and broader contextual variables on the developmental trajectories; and to identify subgroups of children with different developmental patterns or trajectories. Six-monthly assessments of the child’s cognitive, motor, communicative and social-emotional abilities and of contextual variables are realized by means of standardized observations and questionnaires. Methods and preliminary results for motor abilities will be presented and discussed. Motor abilities are measured by means of the Portage Program Netherlands- Revised - PIMD questionnaire of motor development (PPN-R-PIMD). Questionnaires of 18 participants were completed by parents. Initial analyses suggest atypical trajectories of motor development for children with PIMD. Global comparison of subgroups of children with similar additional problems suggest specific patterns related to comorbidity