Handwriting speed in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: are they really slower (original) (raw)
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Handwriting difficulties are often included in descriptions of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). They are cited as the most common reason for referral to health professionals following parent and teacher concerns about slow and untidy writing. The aim of this study was to compare handwriting performance in English children with and without DCD across a range of writing tasks, to gain a better understanding of the nature of 'slowness' so commonly reported. Twenty-eight 8-14 year-old children with a diagnosis of DCD participated in the study, with 28 typically developing age and gender matched controls. Participants completed the four handwriting tasks from the Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting (DASH) and wrote their own name; all on a digitizing writing tablet. The number of words written, speed of pen movements and the time spent pausing during the tasks were calculated. The findings confirmed what many professionals report, that children with DCD produce less text than their peers. However, this was not due to slow movement execution, but rather a higher percentage of time spent pausing. Discussion centres on the understanding of the pausing phenomenon in children with DCD and areas for further research.
Human Movement Science, 2008
Deficits in handwriting performance limit the school participation of children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). The aim of this study was to compare the handwriting process and product characteristics of children with DCD to those of typically developing (TD) children in order to determine the best means of differentiation between the groups. Participants were 40 children, from 7 to 10 years old. The experimental group consisted of 20 children who met the criteria of DCD, and the control group consisted of 20 age-and gender-matched controls. The children were asked to perform three graded writing tasks on an electronic tablet, which was part of a computerized handwriting evaluation system (ComPET), in order to obtain measures of their handwriting process. The children's handwriting product was then evaluated by the Hebrew Handwriting Evaluation (HHE). Results showed significant differences between the groups for the handwriting process measures (on-paper and in-air time, mean pressure) and for the handwriting product characteristics (global legibility, number of letters erased or overwritten, spatial arrangement, and number of letters written in the first minute). The discriminant analysis yielded a high significant discrimination (80-90%), with the 'number of letters erased or overwritten' variable as the most differentiating variable (À.67). We concluded that an evaluation of both handwriting process and product characteristics among children with DCD provides a more comprehensive picture of their deficits. Using this method may enable practitioners to focus on children's main deficits and to tailor intervention methods so as to prevent academic underachievement and its consequences on their emotional well-being.
Frontiers in Psychology, 2014
Poor handwriting is a core deficit in Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). In a previous study, we compared the evolution of cursive letters handwriting in a girl with DCD throughout her second-grade year with that of typically developing (TD) children. We found that her handwriting evolved much less than that of TD children and remained similar to that of pre-schoolers at all stages, suggesting that her handwriting skills have reached a steady state level. We present here a continuation of this work, in which we focused on the velocity aspects of handwriting in another French child with DCD. Indeed, different velocity patterns have been observed in Chinese and English children with DCD. In the French cursive style of writing, consecutive letters are joined, a major difference with the English script style of writing. We thus analyzed the handwriting of a second-grade French girl with DCD, not only for isolated letters but also for syllables and words, in comparison to that of TD first-graders (6-7 years old; N = 85) and second-graders (7-8 years old; N = 88). Each written track was digitized, and nine kinematic parameters were measured to evaluate writing fluency. Results showed that the productions of the child with DCD were more similar to those of first-graders than to those of second-graders. In line with our previous study, the most discriminative parameters between the child with DCD and TD children were size and mean speed. Moreover, her handwriting was less fluent than that of TD children. In contrast to previous observations, we observed a higher writing velocity of the child with DCD when compared to TD children, whatever the complexity of the item, and no significant difference with TD children in the pausing time during writing. These differences may reflect linguistic specificities. For syllables and words, each letter was treated separately as a single unit, thus reflecting a problem in anticipation and automation.
Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 2010
Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire HWD-DCD Handwriting deficit combined with developmental coordination disorder; HWD-nDCD Handwriting deficit without developmental coordination disorder MABC Movement Assessment Battery for Children VMI Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration AIM The purpose of this study was to characterize handwriting deficits in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) using computerized movement analyses. METHOD Seventy-two children (40 females, 32 males; mean age 7y, SD 7mo; range 6y 2mo to 7y 11mo) with handwriting deficits (33 with DCD, 39 without DCD); and 22 age-and sex-matched children without handwriting deficits were asked to perform handwriting tasks on a digital tablet for the collection of kinematic and kinetic data. Practice times required to achieve automation of movement when writing an unfamiliar character were used to assess the motor learning of handwriting. The children were asked to copy three simple and three complex characters, and the velocity and axial pen force used for corresponding strokes were compared. RESULTS The attainment of automated handwriting was markedly slower in children with handwriting deficits and DCD, who used a faster stroke velocity to write simple characters (1.22 times those without handwriting deficits), but when writing complex characters, their stroke velocity and pen force were lower (0.85 and 0.89 times those without handwriting deficits, respectively). INTERPRETATION By linking the results with neuromotor control theories, it was determined that children with DCD have difficulties performing the open-loop and closed-loop movements required for fluent handwriting.
L’Année psychologique, 2014
We examined the evolution of cursive letter handwriting in a French girl with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) throughout the second-grade, and compared it to that of typically developing (TD) pre-schoolers (5-6 years old; N = 98), first-graders (6-7 years old; N = 85) and second-graders (7-8 years old; N = 88). Children were asked to write cursively 20 randomly-dictated letters. Each letter track was digitized, and eight kinematic parameters were measured to evaluate writing fluency. Results showed that even with remediation, the DCD child's handwriting productions evolve much less over the year than those of TD children, and remained more similar to those of pre-schoolers than to those of first-or second-graders at all stages. Moreover, the number of parameters which differed significantly between the DCD child and TD children increased over time. The most discriminative parameters were letters size and mean speed. These results again raise the question of the need for handwriting remediation in DCD children once the delay with TD children becomes too important. Suivi sur un an de l'évolution de l'écriture manuscrite des lettres cursives chez une enfant atteinte d'un trouble d'acquisition de la coordination RÉSUMÉ Nous avons analysé l'évolution de l'écriture des lettres cursives au cours de l'année de Cours élémentaire 1 (CE1/7-8ans) chez une enfant présentant un Trouble d'acquisition
Assessment of Handwriting Skill in South Indian Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder
Research & Investigations in Sports Medicine, 2018
Background: Children with developmental coordination dis¬order (DCD) experience difficulties producing controlled and coordinated movement and this difficulty interferes with their activity of daily living and academic achievement. Objective: The purpose of this study was to characterize handwriting deficits in children with developmental Coordination disorder (DCD). Methods: 10 boys with DCD with age ranges from 6 to 8 years with Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT) scoring above 80 were included in the study after hav¬ing satisfied the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders for DCD. Children with pervasive developmental disorder were not included in this study. Result: The attainment of handwriting skill by DASH test was markedly slower in children with DCD, who have difficulties in writing within an appropriate time frame and when writing complex character. Conclusion: Children with DCD have difficulties performing the open-loop and closed-loop movements required for fluent handwriting.
The British journal of occupational therapy, 2016
There is substantial evidence to support the relationship between transcription skills (handwriting and spelling) and compositional quality. For children with developmental coordination disorder, handwriting can be particularly challenging. While recent research has aimed to investigate their handwriting difficulties in more detail, the impact of transcription on their compositional quality has not previously been examined. The aim of this exploratory study was to examine compositional quality in children with developmental coordination disorder and to ascertain whether their transcription skills influence writing quality. Twenty-eight children with developmental coordination disorder participated in the study, with 28 typically developing age and gender matched controls. The children completed the 'free-writing' task from the detailed assessment of speed of handwriting tool, which was evaluated for compositional quality using the Wechsler objective language dimensions. The ...
Journal of Adult Development, 2011
Handwriting difficulties are common in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and frequently continue into adulthood. In spite of increased computer use, handwriting remains an essential everyday life skill. The Detailed Assessment of Speed of Handwriting (DASH) provides an objective measure of handwriting performance for students aged 9-16 years. No equivalent test for adults exists. The aim of this study is to explore developmental trends beyond the age of 16 on the five tasks included in the DASH and to describe the employment of these data in an extension of the test for 17-to 25-year-olds (DASH 17?). A case study is included to illustrate its use in the assessment of young adults with DCD. Three hundred and ninety-three students between the ages of 17 and 25 completed the test. The sample was selected to represent the population of UK students in post-16 education. Statistically significant, but overall modest developmental trends in handwriting performance were found for all tasks. Depending on the task, the year-on-year average increase in performance followed a linear or non-linear trend. Gender effects were generally small. DASH 17? will provide useful information on any individual whose handwriting is causing concern, including those with, or suspected of having DCD.
Sensors
Background: Children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) often experience difficulties with handwriting legibility and speed. This study investigates the relationship between handwriting and upper limb kinematics to characterize movement patterns of children with DCD and typically developing (TD) children. Methods: 30 children with and without DCD matched for age, gender, and parent education were compared across handwriting abilities using a standardized handwriting assessment of both copied and dictated tasks (A-A Handwriting). The 3D motion capture system (Qualysis) was used to analyze upper limb kinematics and characterize movement patterns during handwriting and contrasted with written output. Results: Children with DCD wrote fewer legible letters in both copying and dictation. Children with DCD also showed poor automatization of key writing concepts. Atypical wrist postures were associated with reduced legibility for children with DCD (F (1,27) 4.71, p = 0.04, p-η2 ...