A $45,300 grant from the Women's and Children's Hospital Foundation will help to identify and quantify the prevalence of tactile sensory agnosia (the lack of touch sensitivity) in the hands of children with cerebral palsy (CP). A lack of touch sensitivity in the hand can lead to a condition known as limb neglect (or “learned non-use”), which can affect a child’s participation levels and how they use their affected limb.

The grant, secured by Dr Ray Russo (School of Medicine), David Hobbs (School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics), Dr Susan Hillier (University of South Australia) and Professor Karen Reynolds (School of Computer Science, Engineering and Mathematics) will support a study that will be an Australian first - determining the prevalence of sensory dysfunction in the hands of children with CP in a large cohort.

The 12-month study will recruit children aged between 5 and 15 years from the South Australian Cerebral Palsy Register, and is the first stage in Hobbs' PhD that will eventually attempt to train sensory function in those children that are identified as having a sensory loss in their hands using an innovative "in-home" haptic computer gaming system."