The Foundation. Collaborative research.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to M B Gilligan.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
We tested the following groups for visual pursuit abilities: 54 mentally retarded, 46 cerebral-palsied, and 131 learning-disabled children, 3 to 10 years of age. The resulting five behavioral scores, six directions, and total scores were analyzed for age trends. Comparisons were made between the handicapped groups and between the handicapped and normative samples. The scores were also correlated with other visual and postural abilities. All three handicapped groups scored lower than the normative group and also showed patterns different from the normative group and different from each other. The learning-disabled group most closely approximated the normative group's development patterns. Educational data were not able to be used, and we suggest that future research examine the correlations (both in handicapped and nonhandicapped children) of ocular pursuits and educational achievement, and also obtain more complete data on cerebral-palsied children. Therapists may find the visual pursuits test useful particularly when they want to evaluate a number of aspects of ocular pursuit functioning or when they desire more precision than what is usually available by simple observation.
Developmental stages characterize the growth of both the feminist movement and the field of occupational therapy. The human development stages described by Erik Erikson are used to compare the growth stages of these two groups to the human sequence. It is hypothesized that both female-dominated groups began with an "infancy" period in the early 1900s characterized by the beginnings of identity and confidence in their respective groups. Both continued to develop through stages corresponding to the childhood stages characterized by Erikson and into the adolescent acting out stages as characterized by the demonstrations of the 1960s. Present and future trends are explored in relation to developmental stages, as well as to implications for the field of occupational therapy in education, theory, and practice.