Gait Transitions of Persons With and Without Intellectual Disability

Abstract

This study examined whether the walk-to-run transition speed (W-RTS) and the run-to-walk transition speed (R-WTS) were different or more variable between participants with and without intellectual disability (ID). Nine adults with ID and 10 adults without ID completed in a series of walk-to-run and run-to-walk trials on a treadmill. W-RTS and R-WTS were identified using force-sensitive resistors. When transition speeds were expressed as Froude numbers to account for differences in leg length, W-RTS was slower, and intraindividual variability of W-RTS and R-WTS was greater in participants with ID. These findings support the idea that the unique constraints of individuals with ID result in altered attractor dynamics for walking and a weaker coupling between locomotor speed and order parameters governing gait transitions.

Key words:

• locomotion
• motor control
• variability

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Stamatis Agiovlasitis

Please address all correspondence concerning this article to Stamatis Agiovlasitis, Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Rehabilitation Education Center, 1207 S. Oak St., Champaign, IL 61820