edn 501 horne presentation

The Use of Motor Skills to Improve Dysgraphia in

Elementary StudentsBy: Angela Horne

EDN 501

What is dysgraphia? “Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects

writing abilities. It can manifest itself as difficulties with spelling, poor handwriting and trouble putting thoughts on paper. Because writing requires a complex set of motor and information processing skills, saying a student has dysgraphia is not sufficient. A student with disorders in written expression will benefit from specific accommodations in the learning environment, as well as additional practice learning the skills required to be an accomplished writer.”ldonline.org/article/12770

http://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading101/spelling

Study 1: Graphomotor skills in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD): Handwriting and learning a new letter.

Purpose of Investigation: analyze the specific handwriting difficulties children with developmental

coordination disorder (DCD), and test the hypothesis that a deficit in procedural learning could offer an explanation.

compare handwriting performance of children with DCD to a non-DCD group, relying on motor skills in handwriting and learning a new letter using a graphic tablet.

The study also narrowed in on how a student with and without DCD process how to write a letter, a word and a whole sentence.

Huau, A., Velay, J., & Jover, M. (2015). Graphomotor skills in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD): Handwriting and learning a new letter. Human Movement Science, 42, 318-332. Doi:10.1016.j.humov.2015.03.008

Study 1: Graphomotor skills in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD): Handwriting and learning a new letter. Procedure:

Students were asked to reproduce a made up “sign” on a graphic tablet.

Student was asked to copy the sign six times with model

The model was then removed, and students were expected to copy the sign again

Students were asked to do this in “normal” and “fast” speed

Study continued with words, and eventually sentences.Huau, A., Velay, J., & Jover, M. (2015). Graphomotor skills in children with developmental

coordination disorder (DCD): Handwriting and learning a new letter. Human Movement Science, 42, 318-332. Doi:10.1016.j.humov.2015.03.008

Study 1 Results


Study 1: Results


Study 1: Results Debriefed Ultimately, children with DCD produced poorer quality new letters than non-

DCD children. Also, students with DCD also demonstrated that they made more “stops” in

their writing when the model was removed than non-DCD children. Children with DCD had difficulty performing this lengthy handwriting task.

Half of them exhibited dysgraphia, and none scored above the mean for handwriting quality. The generally lower level in the children with DCD is consistent with previous studies reporting impaired handwriting in DCD in a number of different tests.” (Huau, Velay, Jover, 328)

In regards to the procedural learning deficit hypothesis, it was expected that children with DCD and non-DCD children would demonstrate a clear-cut difference when learning a new letter. These results were not as clear as expected.

Non-DCD children did produce better quality “new letters”, but the effect of sequence did not significantly increase quality during the learning process. Both groups of children performed similarly.


Study 2: Handwriting Performance, Self-Reports, and Perceived Self-Efficacy Among Children With Dysgraphia

Purpose: To examine the relationships between children’s self-reports of their handwriting performance, their actual production of handwriting, examined the relationships between children’s self-reports on their handwriting, and their perceived self-efficacy, and relate it to the possibility of improving their hand writing skills.

Engel-Yeger, B., Nagauker-Yanuv, L., & Rosenblum, S. (2009). Handwriting Performance, Self-Reports, and Perceived Self-Efficacy Among Children With Dysgraphia. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63(2), 182-192. Doi: 10.5014/ajot.63.2.182

Study 2: Methods: Students began by completing the Children’s

Questionnaire for Handwriting Proficiency (CHaP)

The Perceived Efficacy and Goal Setting System (PEGS)

and then completing a copying task from the Hebrew Handwriting Evaluation (HHE) through use of the Computerized Penmanship Evaluation Tool (ComPET).


Study 2: Results: “When examining the relationship between

the CHaP and handwriting process and product measures, it was found that children with dysgraphia who exhibited lower self-efficacy regarding handwriting abilities indeed had impaired handwriting processes and products, as manifested in impaired fluency and spatial arrangement and slower handwriting velocity.” (189)


Study 3: The Effect of Computer-Assisted Therapeutic Practice for Children with Handwriting Deficit: A Comparison with the Effect of the Traditional Sensorimotor Approach.

Purpose: to compare the effects of computerized-assisted practice with the sensorimotor approach to remediate students with dysgraphia.

Chang, S., & Yu, N. (2014). The effect of computer-assisted therapeutic practice for children with handwriting deficit: A comparison with the effect of the traditional sensorimotor approach. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35(7), 1648-1657. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.03.024

Study 3:

Computerized Assistance


Study 3 Results


Study 3 Results:


Study 4: Changes in Kinetics and Kinematics of Handwriting During a ProlongedWriting Task in Children with and without Dysgraphia

Purpose: to examine the changes in the biomechanics of handwriting over a prolonged writing task.

Kushki, A., Schwellnus, H., Ilyas, F., & Chau, T. (2011). Changes in kinetics and kinematics of handwriting during a prolonged writing task in children with and without dysgraphia. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(3), 1058-1064. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.01.026

Study 4: MethodsBefore the assessment began, students

were given time to practice writing on the digitizing tablet for one minute.

Afterwards, students copied a fourth grade text onto the digitizing tablet for 10 minutes. This duration was purposeful, as it had previously shown to be an amount of time which induced fatigue in children of similar age.


Study 4: Setup


Study 4: Results


Study 5: The Effect of a Computerized Visual Perception and Visual-Motor Integration Training Program on Improving Chinese Handwriting of Children with Handwriting Difficulties

Purpose: To examine the effect of a computerized visual perception and visual motor integration program to increase Chinese handwriting performance among children with learning disabilities, especially those with handwriting deficiencies.

Poon, K., Li-Tsang, C., Weiss, T., & Rosenblum, S. (2010). The effect of a computerized visual perception and visual-motor integration training program on improving Chinese handwriting of children with handwriting difficulties. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 31(6), 1552-1560. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2010.06.001

Study 5: Procedures The computerized training program used an interactive

computer. The software contains 8 different games: Supermarket, School, Family, Sport, Restaurant, Picnic, Occupation and Playground.

Each game trains the child visual perception skills, visual-motor integration skills and the grip modulation skill. This study specifically focused on the intended training of visual-motor integration ability of the participants, including hand-eye coordination and fine motor control.

Students were to complete 8, 45 minute computerized game sessions. They were to practice once a week with parent supervision. Poon, K., Li-Tsang, C., Weiss, T., & Rosenblum, S. (2010). The effect of a computerized visual

perception and visual-motor integration training program on improving Chinese handwriting of children with handwriting difficulties. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 31(6), 1552-1560. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2010.06.001

Study 5:


Study 5: Results


REFERENCES Chang, S., & Yu, N. (2014). The effect of computer-assisted therapeutic practice for

children with handwriting deficit: A comparison with the effect of the traditional sensorimotor approach. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 35(7), 1648-1657. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.03.024

Engel-Yeger, B., Nagauker-Yanuv, L., & Rosenblum, S. (2009). Handwriting Performance,

Self-Reports, and Perceived Self-Efficacy Among Children With Dysgraphia. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 63(2), 182-192. Doi: 10.5014/ajot.63.2.182

Huau, A., Velay, J., & Jover, M. (2015). Graphomotor skills in children with developmental

coordination disorder (DCD): Handwriting and learning a new letter. Human Movement Science, 42, 318-332. Doi:10.1016.j.humov.2015.03.008

Kushki, A., Schwellnus, H., Ilyas, F., & Chau, T. (2011). Changes in kinetics and kinematics

of handwriting during a prolonged writing task in children with and without dysgraphia. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(3), 1058-1064. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2011.01.026

Poon, K., Li-Tsang, C., Weiss, T., & Rosenblum, S. (2010). The effect of a computerized

visual perception and visual-motor integration training program on improving Chinese handwriting of children with handwriting difficulties. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 31(6), 1552-1560. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2010.06.001

Resource ListWebsites: http://www.ldonline.org/article/5890/ https://ldaamerica.org/types-of-learning-disabilities/dysgraphia/ http://www.resourceroom.net/readspell/dysgraphia.html

Journals: Kouhbanani, S. S., Khosrorad, R., & Sani, A. R. (2014). The comparison of

motor-coordinated skill in students with dysgraphia disorder and normal ones. Journal of Current Research in Science, 2(6), 977.

Deuel, R. K. (1995). Developmental dysgraphia and motor skills disorders. Journal of Child Neurology, 10 Suppl 1(1 suppl), S6-S8. doi:10.1177/08830738950100S103

Tatiana, B. N. (2015). Physical therapy - an alternative for rehabilitating motor dysgraphia in school age children. Gymnasium, 16(1), 311.

Rostami, A., Allahverdi, F., & Mousavi, F. (2014). Dysgraphia: The causes and solutions. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 4(2), 7.

http://www.ldonline.org/article/5890/

https://ldaamerica.org/types-of-learning-disabilities/dysgraphia/

http://www.resourceroom.net/readspell/dysgraphia.html

edn 501 horne presentation

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