Link between learning disability and not crawling

[Matryoshka]

Thanks ladies... I just posted out of curiousity really, MIL made a comment about DS2 skipping crawling and straight to walking as he is so much more active than my DS1, and it triggered a memory about skipping crawling and that link, i think there may have been a really old thread about it as i'm not sure where else i'd heard this.

[Pandora]

It depends who you talk to.

The link is supposed to be between crawling & reading - crawling develops the connections in your brain between the left & right hemispheres (or something like that). .

This was what I was told both by my MCHN, and by two different friends who are primary school teachers, who have actually been known to get their prep-1 classes to crawl around on the floor for a bit.

[Mumma&Bubba(s)]

Hi all -
I'm not sure that this is entirely relevant but I know that my DH never crawled as a bubba and went from bum shuffling to walking - and he's a really intelligent bloke. He's a software engineer for defence - I certainly don't think his lack of crawling ability meant anything for him in terms of lack of intellect.
My 2 c worth!

[ShootingStar]

Gee ive never heard of that.
I walked before i crawled.. i never crawled. I walked at 9 months. Ive never had any disabilities or problems with learning, in fact not big noting myself, but i would think im quite smart and very creative. So yeh its a myth to me!

[*Lisa*]

Sounds like BS to me, has anyone else noticed the societal trend to scare the crap out of mothers over every little thing their child does or doesn't do.

[SammyRo]

I get how crawling would get the connections between the right and left hemispheres, but there are other ways too. Teachers do a lot of stuff to get this going.
Has anyone seen any real evidence/reports to back the link between no crawling and learning disabilities, rather than just anecdotal or going off what the mchn's have said etc?

[HotI]

I do see merit in the theory, but i don't think you can stop kids from walking if that's what they are ready to do. However, even if kids can walk there's nothing to stop you getting down and doing some crawling with them. It's all about getting the connections in the brain working.

My post on the first page talked abit about research done by Glenn Doman. They found that with kids with disabilities standing them up in splints and frames etc didn't help get them walking independently because their bodies and brains hadn't accomplished the first steps. Getting kids on the floor, and mastering those first important steps (rolling, creeping, crawling etc) were so much more beneficial. When the kids had moved through the stages, and mastered them, they were then ready for the next stage (body and brain).

We often learn how things work (like the human body and brain) by examining what happens when things don't work. By looking at kids who had difficulties getting moving, it kinda slowed down the process and was easier to see what was going on and what helped and what didn't.

[MantaRay]

I think it is a myth based on fact. Crawling establishes the link between the left and right sides of the brain, and can therefore help create the synapses needed down the track for reading and writing. So babies who don't crawl might take a little longer to create them unless they do some other activity which achieves the same result (wheelbarrows, ladder climbing etc). However, I think the difference would be barely noticeable and surely would not constitute a learning delay as such.

[Liz]

However, even if kids can walk there's nothing to stop you getting down and doing some crawling with them. It's all about getting the connections in the brain working.

Exactly. They don't have to NEVER crawl. I'd be pretty surprised if these people that claim they never crawled really never crawled. They probably just walked first

[Visitor8]

Crawling helps link up the left and right side of the brain, aparently.

Jaidan bum shuffled until he was 11 months, then he crawled 2 weeks before his 1st birthday, and walked 2 months later.
Chase crawled for 4 months (from 4.5 months till 8.5 months when he walked)
Seems Ash will not be far off, he's discovered that he can push backwards.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

I "never" crawled (although I can now so must have done at some point!). DS walked before he crawled, a long time before he crawled (cruising 6.5m, crawling 14-15m).

We're both bright little buttons so I don't think there's a problem with not crawling.

[~Raven~]

Maybe it's one of those theories that has come about because some kids who have learning difficulties skipped the crawling stage. Could have some merit but it could also be a coincidence.