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Background and Aim: As deaf children grow up, they face difficulties that can affect their physical, emotional, motor, and cognitive deve­lopment. This study reviews the recent studies conducted on motor development of deaf chil­dren based on Gallahue's model. Recent Findings: Few studies have been con­ducted on deaf children's motor development stages; reflexive, rhythmic, rudimentary, and specialized movement. However, many studies investigated the fundamental movement stage with an emphasis on balance. They mostly rep­orted the deaf children’s delay in developing gait velocity (during walking), postural control, static balance, dynamic balance, spatial-tempo­ral coordination, gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and motor skills learning, compared with their healthy peers. Conclusion: Delay in motor development in deaf children is not necessarily the result of deafness or vestibular problems, but individual, environmental, and exercise factors are also involved. Providing appropriate educational opportunities for these children, training specia­lized teachers and parents, and holding training courses for hearing specialists can help promote motor development in these children.   Keywords: Motor development; deaf children; fundamental motor skill; Gallahoe's motor development perspective

Background and Aim: Motor development is a continuous process throughout life. Hearing impairment in childhood may have significant effects on motor development. This study compared the motor development of normal-hearing and hearing-impaired children at early developmental ages. Methods: This research was a cross-sectional study. A total of 149 children aged six to eighteen months were selected and divided into three groups: normal-hearing children (NHC) (55 girls and 65 boys) selected by convenient sampling strategy, non-rehabilitated hearing impaired children group (NRHIC) (11 girls and 13 boys) selected by purposive method, and rehabilitated hearing- impaired children group (RHIC) (3 girls and 2 boys) selected by the census method. The Denver developmental screening test 2 (DDST-ll) was used to assess motor development. The obtained data were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney U tests, and curve drawing. Results: The fine motor development of the NHC (9.63±28.83) was significantly greater than the RHIC (-18 ±26.83) and NRHIC (–21.25±30.26) groups, but there was no significant difference between the RHIC and NRHIC groups. In gross motor development, the NRHIC (–32.71±41.26) group had a more significant delay compared to the NHC (13.38±37.73) and RHIC (0±21.21) groups, but there was no significant difference between the NHC and RHIC groups. Conclusion: Hearing rehabilitation can partially compensate for the developmental delay in gross skills, but this compensation has not occurred for fine motor skills. The development of fine motor skills requires a precise synergy of small muscles and the nervous system. Keywords: Deafness; hearing impaired rehabilitation; motor skills

Background: Developmental and behavioral disorders are highly prevalent health conditions in pediatrics. The development of motor, language, and social skills is one of the important issues in developing fundamental skills during the early years of life which can cause the prevalence of developmental disorders if not properly evaluated. The use of standard tools with proper validity and reliability is one of the most important factors that lead to scientific achievements. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the development of gross motor, fine motor, language, and personal-social skills of children 6 to 18 months in Khorramabad based on the Denver II Developmental Screening Test (DDST II). Materials and Methods: A total of 120 (55 girls and 65 boys) children 6 to 18 months participated in the present study in Khorramabad. DDST II (Frankenburg and Dodds, 1990) was used to assess the development of gross, fine motor, language, and individual-social skills. Sampling was performed using the convenience method. Results: No significant difference was observed between gross and fine motor development scores of children in Khorramabad and Denver. Children in Khorramabad were more mature in developing personal-social skills than those in Denver, however, they had a developmental delay in obtaining language skills. Conclusion: DDST II covers a wide range of developmental aspects from birth to 6 years which is recommended to use in health, educational and counseling centers.