Exploration of a Multisensory Toy in Children with and without Down Syndrome

Background: Early experiences with objects provide critical enrichment opportunities during development. However, infants and children with Down syndrome (DS) show reduced play with objects such as reduced manual exploration and greater visual exploration of objects. Therefore, the primary goal of the current study was to investigate whether experience with a multi-sensory toy would lead to an increase in the overall engagement and exploration of objects in children with DS. Methods: Twenty-eight children with 14 each in the DS (chronological age = 33.14 ± 4.15 months; mental age = 17.01 ± 1.55 months) and TD group (chronological age = 15.15 ± 1.74 months; mental age = 17.07 ± 1.84 months) participated in the study. Children were observed while playing with a multi-sensory toy offering tactile, visual, and auditory feedback at two time points during a single lab visit. Additionally, participants completed the cognitive and the fine motor subtests of Bayley Test of Infant Development- 3rd Edition (Bayley-III). Results: Both children with DS and TD children showed greater activation of the vibration plate offering tactile feedback compared to the sound, light, and null plates. The DS group showed no changes in activation of the sensory plates over the two time periods, whereas children in the TD group showed reduced activation of the vibration plate and increased activation of the sound plate during time 2 compared to time 1. Additionally, the DS group showed less variety in their exploration by reduced switching between different sensory plates during time 1 compared to TD group. Lastly, activation patterns differentially correlated with age, overall fine motor, and cognitive scores of children in both the groups. Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence for the use of sensory toys in infants and young children with DS. Specifically, tactile stimulation such as vibration may be especially engaging for young children with DS. We recommend that clinicians and researchers be cognizant of the preliminary nature of the study before generalizing the study results.