Going Beyond Conventional Assessment of Developmental Motor Disorders: Exploring Video Methods for Early Identification Among Children 0 to 3 Years

Motor skills and movement-related functioning significantly shape how children experience and interact with the world around them. Among infants and young children, developmental motor disorders contribute to delays with motor, cognitive, and psychosocial development. Early and accurate identification of these disorders is necessary to facilitate timely access to therapeutic interventions that minimize the long-term effects of disability on everyday activities and participation. In the United States, motor assessments commonly used among children 0 to 3 years focus on completion of specific motor skills at a single point in time, which provides only a part of the greater picture that is a child’s motor and movement-related functioning. Video-capture methods, like the General Movements Assessment (GMA) and the Infant Motor Profile (IMP), offer greater accuracy and predictive power to (1) identify motor deficits in young children and (2) facilitate early access to supportive, therapeutic intervention.