IMPULSIVITY AND ATTENTION IN CHILDREN WITH MILD MOTOR DISABILITIES

Impulsivity is a reaction that does not include thinking about the possible consequences of behavior Attention is a psychological state that expresses a focus on something. In the first two years of life, impulsivity and short-term attention are part of normal development. Motor restlessness persisting at later age can be due to emotional or organic causes. Children born with a risk including children with mild motor disabilities appear to show a higher percentage of symptoms of the attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), later manifested as learning and behavioral disorders despite an average development of intelligence. Results of the present study performed by reviewing medical records on 50 children aged 12-36 months hospitalized at Department of Children's Rehabilitation, Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital, showed that 50% of children had short-term attention on the selected material, while 48% of children were impulsive. The aim of the study was to assess the percentage of children manifesting short-term attention and impulsivity at a very young age, thus enabling their continuous follow up for persistence of such behavior. In this way, their learning and behavioral problems later in life could be minimized or even prevented.