Everyday Spatial Behaviors: A Comparison between Individuals with Down Syndrome and Typically Developing Children

Spatial abilities assist in manipulating, constructing, and navigating the physical world and are employed in a number of everyday activities (Newcombe & Shipley, 2014; Montello, 2001). Research suggests that individuals with Down syndrome (DS) perform either at or below the level of their mental-age matched typically developing (TD) controls on visio-spatial tasks, suggesting that this is an area of weakness in individuals with DS (Yang, Conners, & Merrill, 2014). Much of the research examining spatial abilities in people with DS has focused on their performance on laboratory measures of spatial abilities. Yet spatial abilities measured in a laboratory setting are different from everyday spatial behaviors which consist of what one actually does on a daily basis. In this study, we sought to examine everyday spatial behaviors in individuals with DS compared to mental-age matched TD children as indicated by caregiver self-report. We grouped everyday spatial behaviors into four unique spatial categories (e.g., intrinsic static, extrinsic static, intrinsic dynamic, and extrinsic dynamic) based upon Newcombe and Shipley's (2014) conceptualization. Overall, caregiver reports did not significantly differ in terms of the difficulty their child experienced with tasks within each of these categories. However, caregiver reports indicated that individuals with DS have greater difficulty with sense of direction compared to their TD counterparts. Difficulties related to sense of direction may pose limitations in independent living skills (e.g., navigation) among individuals with DS. Limitations and future directions will be discussed.