The current study aimed to compare differences in the cognitive development of children with and without upper limb motor disorders. The study involved 89 children from 3 to 15 years old; 57 children with similar upper limb motor disorders and 32 healthy children. Our results showed that motor disorders could impair cognitive functions, especially memory. In particular, we found that children between 8 and 11 years old with upper limb disorders differed significantly from their healthy peers in both auditory and visual memory scales. These results can be explained by the fact that the development of cognitive functions depends on the normal development of motor skills, and the developmental delay of motor skills affects cognitive functions. Correlation analysis did not reveal any significant relationship between other cognitive functions (attention, thinking, intelligence) and motor function. Altogether, these findings point to the need to adapt general habilitation programs for children with motor disorders, considering the cognitive impairment during their development. The evaluation of children with motor impairment is often limited to their motor dysfunction, leaving their cognitive development neglected. The current study showed the importance of cognitive issues for these children. Moreover, early intervention, particularly focused on memory, can prevent some of the accompanying difficulties in learning and daily life functioning of children with movement disorders.

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BACKGROUND: The difficulties or gross disturbance in motor development, which are diagnosed in children at an early age, are one of the prognostic markers of further problems in their speech development. AIM: This study aimed to determine the speech development of children with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita with upper limb deformities. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Speech examination was conducted in 21 children with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita preschool age (average age: 5.16 1.49 years) from 2020 to 2021. Patients were divided into 2 groups: group 1 (10 people) with children of younger and middle preschool age (average age 3.81 0.63 years) and group 2 (11 people) with children of older and preparatory preschool age (average age 6.39 0.78 years). The speech examination results were exposed to statistical analysis. RESULTS: The majority of children with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita had speech pathology (90.5%), whereas general speech underdevelopment dominated over speech development delay (78.9% and 21.1%, respectively). A high frequency of perinatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy in children with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita (80.9%), a complicated perinatal anamnesis (57.1%), and a delay in early motor or speech development (100% and 52.4%, respectively) links with speech disorder development in the future. Patients with arthrogryposis have a large percentage of congenital pathology of the articulatory apparatus structure (57.1%). Of the children, 76.2% were with a total form of arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, whereas 23.8% with an isolated upper extremity lesion. No statistically significant differences were determined in the form of speech pathology between patients with various forms of arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. Children of the first age group had speech disorders in 90% of cases, whereas 90.9% in group 2. Based on the form of speech pathology, patients with general speech underdevelopment and speech development delay were determined in group 1 (55.6% and 44.4%, respectively), whereas children with general speech underdevelopment in group 2 (100%). In the clinical form of speech pathology, dysarthria prevailed in children of both age groups (80%). CONCLUSIONS: Children with arthrogryposis multiplex congenita with upper limb deformities have a high incidence of speech disorders. Early speech examination and speech therapy eliminated all detected disturbances.