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The book is intended for an interdisciplinary audience, including physical therapists, occupational therapists, kinesiologists, and psychologists. It is intended to be used as a textbook for graduate students as well as a reference book for practitioners and researchers. The author accomplishes this by integrating the literature from a number of disciplines and incorporating interdisciplinary theories, principles, and strategies in a holistic fashion. A comprehensive glossary is provided to help readers comprehend unfamiliar terms and concepts from other disciplines. Readers also are guided through clear chapter objectives and key points as well as a special feature in each chapter that discusses the reciprocal nature of evidence-based research and therapeutic approaches.
This author delivers a clear, comprehensive, integrated text on infant development with chapters organized in a logical progression. Through an exploration of 4 key focus areas—theory, research, assessment, and intervention—the book details first normal developmental processes, then abnormal developmental processes. The 4 parts of the text are standardized in their organization and provide sufficient coverage of topics. Tables and charts are used judiciously to document stages or patterns of development. Photographs and graphics are also used throughout to illustrate concepts. The first part of the text includes chapters on infant movement, theoretical approaches, and motor control, investigating the relationship between neural development and motor control.
The second part of the text provides an extensive examination of the research on postural control, reaching and grasping, and locomotion. Part III addresses abnormal infant development and the critical nature of early identification of disability. This part describes assessment tools and the importance of the use of appropriate infant assessment tools when examining infant motor abilities. The author distinguishes between the examination of neonates and older infants, dedicating chapters to each group.
The fourth and final part of the text examines aspects of motor control and corresponding interventions to address particular development problems. The first chapter of this part discusses the unique challenges faced by preterm infants, with the final 2 chapters focused on cerebral palsy and Down syndrome. The author selected cerebral palsy because of the nature and potential degree of motor disability and selected Down syndrome because the disorder is identifiable at birth and has motor and cognitive consequences.
The information throughout the text is well supported by evidence and is current. Although one of the unique features of this text is its focus on first year, the emphasis on the research-practice link is a significant aspect of this book. These distinguishing feature of the text, "How Does This Research Inform Therapeutic Practice," is placed in a gray-shaded box that precedes the final summary of each chapter. The author also provides readers with a refreshing interdisciplinary view of development—with the focus on developmental research and its applications—rather than a dependence on discipline-specific approaches. Several chapters include material that is useful to practicing therapists, in that therapeutic techniques and corresponding research are focused and well explained.
This book will be of great value to physical therapist clinicians, educators, and researchers seeking to integrate evidence-based concepts into clinical practice as well as into educational settings.
AM Rosenberg, PT, DrPH, is Assistant Professor, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Division of Physical Therapy, Chapel Hill, NC
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