Achieving meaningful motor skills: Conceptual and empirical bases of a neurobehavioral intervention approach

The goals of motor intervention for children with cerebral palsy have shifted over the past decade from an emphasis on isolated components of movement and developmental milestones to a focus on demonstrating functional skills as a part of meaningful activities. Recent theoretical development and research focused on understanding the development of motor skills in very young children support the position that function and repetition facilitate the acquisition and expression of early motor skills. These advances suggest that learning, social interaction, and experience are integrally involved in the process of motor development in both typically and atypically developing children. Taken together, these issues support the need for developing interventions that combine the strengths of multiple approaches. This article describes the evolution of an intervention approach termed neurobehavioral. A brief review of the literature that forms the foundation of the approach is provided. This is followed by a description of the intervention and a summary of empirical work to date. MRDD Research Reviews 3:138-144, 1997.