Physical activity in individuals with Down syndrome – a case study

Abstract

„Down syndrome is one of the most common genetic disorders caused by presence of all or part a third copy of chromosome 21. (Čulić, and Čulić, 2008). People with Down syndrome (DS) are characterized by hypo tonicity of the complete musculature, which along with reduced strength and endurance significantly aggravates mastering fundamental movement skills. Furthermore, those people at an early age get the characterization of joint hyper mobility, which is especially evident on the flexibility of the shoulders, hips and feet. Also, what is typical for children with DS is lack of muscle strength which can be  developed trough exercise as with any other person. (Piteti, Baynard, and Agiovlasitis, 2013). That is why the characteristics and importance of physical activity are a key role in the development and progress of children with DS. What are going to be results mostly depends on careful and appropriate selection of content. Physical activity is extremely important and indispensable for people with DS and their functionality of the loco motor system. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of physical activity on the functional and psychomotor development of a child with DS based on a case study of a girl attending first grade of primary school before the emergence of epidemiological measures adopted in accordance with pandemic of COVID-19 were the child was included in a regular Physical education program at school and in addition attended Dance classes, to compare it with the time of pandemic when the child physical activity was reduced, regarding to absence of regular classes which includes Physical education and absence of Dance classes. The results of the research indicated that there are differences between the conditions before of the appearance COVID-19 pandemic measures and after the appearance of the measures. Although the differences are not large, they do exist, and are manifested in the motor abilities of flexibility, coordination, and repetitive strength in favour of the condition that existed before the advent of the measures. It can be concluded that the effect of physical activity is extremely important for the entire psychomotor and social development of children with DS. That is why we
must not ignore it but encourage it both in Physical education classes and extracurricular activities.