Influence of dance training on the development of balance in students with moderate intellectual disability

摘要

In children with intellectual disability movement skills, including balance, are underdeveloped. Physical activity plays a great role in the development of movement skills of children with intellectual disability as well as in maintaining their health in adult life and in improving functional skills for performing everyday tasks. Dance is an appropriate physical activity for children with intellectual disability. udThe purpose of the research was to determine the sense of balance in students with moderate intellectual disability before and after a three-month period of dance exercise. The initial and final results were obtained with the help of Briuninks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency. The sample consisted of ten students with moderate intellectual disability from 14 to 19 years of age. The students were paired up. Each pair consisted of one member of the experimental group who participated in the dance exercise and one member of a control group who did not participate in the dance exercise. Dance exercise took place twice a week: one hour as part of extracurricular activity (folklore club) and one hour as part of physical education. udWe have established that the sense of (static and dynamic) balance of the students in the experimental group has improved while the sense of balance in the control group had remained the same or has worsened. The results have shown that dance exercise has improved balance of the students with moderate intellectual disability. ud