Fluency and functional motor skills following brain injury

Abstract

The focus of this study was to try to establish key component, or element skills, and their underlying tool skills to improve functional gross motor skills to fluent levels for individuals who had suffered brain injuries. Four participants using the key component Big 6 skills of reach, point, touch, grasp, place, and release were studied to determine whether building these skills to a high rate could increase the functional motor skills in the impaired hand or in the non-impaired, non-dominant hand. The study indicates that increasing these skills to fluent levels increases the functional use in the participant's gross motor skill impaired hand and the non-impaired, non-dominant hand.

A virtual tabletop workspace for upper-limb rehabilitation in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI): A multiple case study evaluation

“…This finding is consistent with a previous study showing that repetition and goal-setting improved arm function in TBI patients', particularly the nonpreferred hand. Patients motivation to improve was seen to explain the effect [18]. This is supported in our study since AN more often chose to perform the elements tasks with his left hand.…”

The effects of fluent levels of Big 6 + 6 skill elements on functional motor skills with children with autism

“…There are few empirically validated treatments for building motor skills (Eastridge & Mozzoni, 2005) and those that have been validated (e.g., backward or forward chaining) focus exclusively on accuracy. Research has shown that chaining procedures are not likely to be effective if they do not focus on the accuracy and speed of composite skill completion.…”

“…Currently, there are few published research studies that have explore the ‘Big 6’ as an intervention; however, those that have been published provide evidence of its effectiveness. For example, Eastridge and Mozzoni (2005) studied the effects of fluency training on Big 6 + 6 on functional motor skills with four participants who experienced hand and arm impairments due to brain injury. The Big 6 skills included reach, grasp, place, and release.…”

Upper-limb virtual rehabilitation for traumatic brain injury: A preliminary within-group evaluation of the elements system

“…Research has indicated that unilateral upper-limb training can improve bimanual coordination [49,50]. Thus, the nuts-and-bolts task from the MAND battery was used to assess bimanual dexterity.…”