Deprivation of early sensorimotor experience and cognition in the severely involved cerebral-palsied child.

Severely quadraplegic cerebral-palsied children suffer profound deprivation of early sensorimotor experiences considered by Piagetian theory as critical to the development of cognitive structures. In the present study, 34 children quadraplegic from birth, ranging in age from 9 months to 12 years, were tested for level of object permanence which, according to Piaget, signals the emergence of mental representation. Sixteen demonstrated high levels of object permanence. Severity of physical handicap accounted for less than 15% of the variation in scores. With severity held constant, mental age explained 25% of the variance. These results indicate that early cognitive milestones can be achieved by children severely physically handicapped since birth and that general intellectual level may be more important than severity of the motor handicap in determining such achievement.