Background Gross motor milestones for children who develop typically have been well established; however, norms for children with Down syndrome (DS) are uncertain. Without a developmental schedule for the gross motor development of children with DS, medical professionals are limited in their ability to identify if the development of a particular child with DS is delayed in comparison with his or her peers (i.e. other children with DS), assess when intervention is needed and answer the questions of parents regarding when their child can be expected to achieve developmental milestones. The objectives of this study are to: (1) provide health care professionals and early intervention providers with longitudinal data on the gross motor development of children with DS gathered prospectively; (2) contribute to the development of a definitive schedule of gross motor development for children with DS; (3) enable the identification of gross motor development that is delayed in comparison with other children with DS; and (4) help medical professionals address the questions of concerned parents who are anxious to know when their child will achieve gross motor skills such as sitting, crawling or walking.

The appropriate goal of physical therapy for children with Down syndrome is not to accelerate their rate of gross motor development as is commonly assumed. The goal is to minimize the development of abnormal compensatory movement patterns that children with Down syndrome are prone to develop. Early physical therapy makes a decisive difference in the long-term functional outcome of the child with Down syndrome. Beyond this goal, there is an additional opportunity that physical therapy makes available to parents. Because gross motor development is the first learning task that the child with Down syndrome encounters, it provides parents with the first opportunity to explore how their child learns. There is increasing evidence that children with Down syndrome have a unique learning style. Understanding how children with Down syndrome learn is crucial for parents who wish to facilitate the development of gross motor skills as well as facilitating success in other areas of life including language, education and the development of social skills.

Motor control mechanisms that mediate both PP and execution of the fundamental RTG movement are potential factors limiting upper extremity activity in school-aged children with DS. They should be addressed in future intervention-based research.

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