Motor planning for children with autism
· Sergei Toder
The main principle of movement of the human body (child) in space is the work of the muscles of the antagonists.
Any movement is the cyclical tension of some muscles and the relaxation of others. The key role here is played by the muscles-antagonists: some bend, others bend; some are turned on - others are required to relax and relax.
If at the time of the contraction of some muscles the opposites remain in tension (which is simply a common factor among children with characteristics), there is movement with auto-resistance.This is what kills efficiency, speed and freedom of movement.
What happens with the incorrect mechanics of walking and running in children with disabilities, in children with autism and ASD?
When you need to raise the hip, the folders are turned on, but the antagonists who need to relax remain in tension. There is a paradox: the leg moves as if through the resistance - as if the child pulled the door on himself and simultaneously supported it.
As a result:
• Movement becomes heavy and slow;
• the hip rises with effort and is poorly tolerated;
A huge amount of energy and time is wasted; that is why there is rapid fatigue, apathy grows.
• The setup of the foot is delayed.
The positioning of the leg is a very short phase in which the body must instantly collect all the hardness so that no joint - hip, knee, ankle - has "failed," I will say in another way - has not escaped its work.
The joints can be slightly bended, stretched - because the body is not a hard, vertical rod, but a biomechanical, sprinklery system, but often they are held, blocked, and do not go into the same cyclical work (the basic joint and muscle cycle is simply not!!!), like the muscles.
If the leg comes constantly strained, the reaction of the support is prolonged, the foot seems to sink, and the entire system of walking and running loses speed, harmony, beauty.
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