Children with cerebral palsy tend to have problems with their muscles and lack the ability to contract or relax muscles, something which is normally done subconsciously.
Children with severe motor disabilities, to a high degree are dependent on their eye gaze, not only for simple everyday activities but also for interaction and communication. Eye contact is also important for their socio-emotional and cognitive development.
It is extremely difficult to assess the extent to which young children with severe physical disability also experience impairments such as learning disability. One way of doing this is to monitor how they move their eyes during tasks. However, in order for observation of children’s eye movements during assessment to be informative, doctors first need to establish the extent to which children can use their eyes to fulfil basic functions such as their ability to fix gaze, disengage and transfer gaze between stimuli.
Surprisingly, credible assessments of functional gaze control to support intervention in children with severe and complex physical disorders are not available. This project will develop effective procedures for doctors to assess eye control in this group of children who are often labelled as ‘unassessable’.
Potential impact
This project should have direct benefit for children and their families. Knowledge of their child’s functional gaze control will inform families’ expectations and armed with a reliable and holistic description of children’s strengths and difficulties, families and their representatives will be empowered to engage with clinical services in ways that best support their child’s current needs while also planning effectively for the future.
Location
University College London, Great Ormond Street Hospital and Barnsley Hospital, Yorkshire
Grant awarded
£52,700 over 18 months
Supported by The Rooney Foundation
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