Effects of Down Dog Yoga on Pre-writing Skills in Children With Down Syndrome

Down syndrome is a genetic condition where people are born with an extra chromosome. Most people have 23 pairs of chromosomes within each cell in their body, for a total of 46. A person diagnosed with Down syndrome has an extra copy of chromosome 21, which means their cells contain 47 total chromosomes instead of 46. This changes the way their brain and body develop. Down syndrome causes physical, cognitive and behavioral symptoms. Down syndrome occurs in approximately 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 1,100 live births globally. Each year, around 3,000 to 5,000 children are born with this genetic condition characterized by an extra chromosome. Children with Down syndrome may experience challenges with fine motor skills because of low muscle tone or hypermobility in their hands, wrists, or elbows. This instability in their hands can significantly hinder their ability to perform advanced fine motor tasks such as prewriting, using zippers and buttons, or cutting. Early intervention refers to a structured approach involving therapy, exercises, and activities aimed at addressing developmental delays in children with Down syndrome or other disabilities. For addressing pre writing skills in Down syndrome Down dog yoga will be provided.

The study design will be Randomized Controlled Trial and will be conducted in Bahawal Victoria Hospital with the sample size of 34, age ranging 4 to 8 years. This study will be completed in time duration of 10 months after the approval of synopsis. Non-probability convenient sampling technique will be used and participants will be recruited in study after randomization. The subjects will be divided into two groups i.e one being experimental group and the other control group. Inclusion criteria will be including both genders of age group 4 to 8 years of children with down syndrome and exclusion criteria will be any deformity, injury any previous 6 month surgery. Tools will be Jebsen-Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHFT) , box and block test (BBT) and pre writing skills scale.

Reliability of JTHFT is 0.9, BBT is >0.95 and pre writing skills is 0.91 with high variability in writing performance.

Inclusion criteria

• Children with age group 4-8years
• Both Genders (male female)
• Children who can do Independent standing and walking

Exclusion criteria

• Any deformity
• Pain and/or symptomatic neurologic/orthopedic dysfunction of upper or lower extremities
• Cervical injury and chest wall disorders
• Injury
• Fractures
• History of previous surgery
• Children with impaired Fun