I was told that if a baby does not learn to crawl that they will have problems reading. Has any one heard this?

By Ladypeacek on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 12:20 pm:

well...my daughter never crawled and she was reading before she started school. In fact she is in an advanced reading class, Now she is in 3rd grade with a college reading level. So it sounds like an old wives tale to me!

By Mommmie on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 12:40 pm:

My son is dyslexic and never really crawled. I've heard of this theory and hear it discussed often in the LD community. Re-teaching these kids to crawl (and do other specific exersizes) often helps the connections in the brain which, in turn, helps dyslexic kids. These kids are trying to read (and do other things, like tie shoes, crawl) with an inefficient part of the brain.

By Pamt on Wednesday, July 7, 2004 - 02:32 pm:

Well, yes and no. Crawling is not necessarily considered to be a developmental milestone per se. The key milestone is that a child has some type of locomotion whether that is bottom-scooting, army crawling, etc. However, with that said, some research has shown that non-crawlers do tend to have a higher than average prevalence of learning disabilities. The reciprocal movement of crawling (right hand, left leg and vice versa) is what is felt to be important for good brain connections.

My oldest son never crawled. He rolled over and over to get where he wanted and finally learned to belly crawl at about 8-9 months of age. He was also a late walker (15.5 months), but he said his first word at 9 months and was reading proficiently (chapter books) in kindergarten. He will be going into 5th grade and he is an excellent creative writer and it is one of his favorite things to do in his free time. He also reads complicated adult books like the whole "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. He has always had excellent fine motor skills, but he is still an awkward runner and it bothers him sometimes. A PT that I work with gave me some exercises, involving reciprocal movements, for him to do at home. She thought his non-crawling did have some effect on his running. My mom says that I never crawled--just scooted around on my butt. I did walk at right around a year though and learned to read when I was 4. I have always excelled at anything to do with language, reading, and writing as opposed to other school subjects.

All this to say that YES---research indicates that lack of crawling MAY predict some later learning problems, but NO---just because a child doesn't crawl it doesn't assume poor reading skills.

In hindsight, I think my oldest DS could have benefitted from some physical therapy and I wish I had pursued it. My ped. wasn't concerned, but I wish I had been a little more aggressive.

By Bobbie~moderatr on Thursday, July 8, 2004 - 12:55 am:

Children aren't cookie cut outs. No one thing stands true for them all. My oldest and my son crawled for a very limited amount of time once they became mobile they got up on their feet running. DD never actually crawled she would push pull until she got herself to something and would pull up and walk around holding on the things. If you have concerns contact you PED and ask for testing.

By Emdee on Thursday, July 8, 2004 - 10:11 am:

We did physical therapy on my 14 month old when she was 10 months b/c she wasn't doing certain things she should have been doing. Teaching her to crawl was one thing the PT said needed to happen to develop certain motor skills to be used later on in life. Just putting her on all fours and rocking her back and forth did wonders for her! It didn't take her long to catch on and start crawling.

By Emily7 on Thursday, July 8, 2004 - 11:48 am:

So as with anything else, it depends on the child. Thank you all for your comments, it really is an interesting subject for me & I think I am going to research it a little bit.

By Lauram on Thursday, July 8, 2004 - 09:39 pm:

DS#1 didn't crawl until after he walked (he took some steps, decided he wasn't up for that and then crawled for about 3 months). He is an excellent reader (started at age 4) but does have issues. He had OT intervention for low tone, balance and proprioception issues and now is doing really well with those. I'm pretty much convinced that's WHY he didn't crawl, but don't thing the not crawling caused the issue. Make sense?

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, July 8, 2004 - 10:53 pm:

My oldest daughter crawled at 12 months (army crawled before that) and walked at 13.5 months. She is a straight A student who LOVES to read.

My second daughter crawled at 10 months and walked at 13 months. I just think neither of my kids had much use for crawling. Second dd also LOVES to read.

By Feona on Friday, July 9, 2004 - 05:47 am:

No the boy down the block skipped crawling and is reading fine. He is also a super athlete.