Resumen
Children with disabilities that limit their movement are known to develop relatively poor spatial skills. Children with cerebral palsy, childhood arthritis, and other motoric disorders frequently experience difficulty in finding their way about buildings and towns. Spatial research in this area has been conducted at the University of Leicester in England over many years, showing, for example, that when disabled and able-bodied pupils are asked to make directional pointing judgments about landmarks on their school campus, the able-bodied pupils do this with much greater accuracy. This may be because reliance on others for spatial displacements deprives them on the autonomous spatial exploration necessary to develop accurate "cognitive maps" of their surroundings. This has implications for their general intellectual development, personal safety, and confidence in approaching new situations. The virtual reality (VR) research group at Leicester University has investigated the use VR to enhance spatial awareness in children with motor disorders by allowing such children independent exploration in desktop 3D simulated environments.