|
Research Information |
Sharon
A. Cermak Department of Occupational Therapy |
My research examines how
an impoverished social and physical environment may contribute to primary
disability by limiting the development of critical social, cognitive, and
sensori- perceptual processes and, conversely, the extent to which placement in
an enriched environment can mitigate these effects. My current studies focus on
understanding the effects of early institutional rearing on subsequent
development, especially in the domains of sensory integration and
perceptual-motor performance. With my
graduate students, I have been investigating these issues in populations of
children reared in Romanian and other Eastern European orphanages and
subsequently placed in adoptive families in the United States.
A second, related focus
of my research is characterizing and understanding the clinical disorder of
developmental dyspraxia or developmental coordination disorder. One of my
doctoral students developed an observation measure to examine the
ideational aspects of praxis and identify children whose functional performance
difficulties are associated with deficits in this aspect of the movement
planning process. A recent culmination of this work has been the publication
of, Developmental Coordination Disroder, edited by Sharon A. Cermak and
Dawne Larkin (2002). Delmar-Thomson Learning.
I enjoy mentoring students. Graduate students have
always been in integral part of my research. They participate in research in
which I am involved and therefore contribute to my research program. One
of my research goals is to provide funding for my graduate students to pursue
our joint research interests.
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Last Updated 4/25/2006