– 2-day course
Course leaders: Mijna Hadders-Algra or Kirsten Heineman
The Infant Motor Profile (IMP) is a novel instrument to assess motor development in infancy. It is a video-based assessment for infants aged 3 to 18 months, or rather until the age of walking independently for a few months. It is based on a video of about 15 minutes of spontaneous motor behavior in supine, prone, sitting, standing, walking and during reaching and grasping – depending on the age of the infant. The IMP does not only include information about the infant’s motor achievement but also information about the way in which the infant accomplishes his/her achievements. The qualitative aspects of the assessment are based on the principles of the Neuronal Group Selection Theory (NGST). This means that key parameters in IMP assessment are the size of the infant’s motor repertoire (sufficiently variable or not; 25 items) and the infant’s ability to make an adaptive selection out of his/her repertoire (15 items). Other domains are performance (23 items), symmetry (10 items) and fluency (7 items). The first studies indicate that the IMP is an instrument with good reliability and promising validity.
Course contents
The course consists of lectures and self-practice sessions. The latter are mostly based on existing video recordings, but also on newly made video recordings of live assessments during the course. The lectures cover:
- theories on typical and atypical motor development
- characteristics and significance of the motor domains of variation, adaptation, symmetry, fluency and performance
- psychometrics properties of the IMP
- use of the IMP in practise and research.
The course leaves ample time for discussion.
Target audience
The course is a post-graduate course for paediatric physical therapists, occupational therapists, neonatologists, (neuro)paediatricians, child neurologists, paediatric rehab doctors, and researchers in the field of child development.
Learner-based Course Objectives
- Knowledge on typical and atypical motor development
- Knowledge on the IMP domains of variation, adaptability, symmetry, fluency and performance
- Knowledge on the IMP-assessment technique
- Knowledge on the psychometric properties of the IMP
- Knowledge on significance of atypical IMP-scores for therapeutic guidance of infants and families and for prognosis.
- Ability to perform an IMP-assessment
For information: k.r.heineman@umcg.nl or m.hadders-algra@umcg.nl
The IMP manual can be purchased via Routledge:
https://www.routledge.com/The-Infant-Motor-Profile/Hadders-Algra-Heineman/p/book/9780367358112