An examination of writing pauses in the handwriting of children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (original) (raw)
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
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.
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.
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 ...
Visual perceptual and handwriting skills in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder
Human movement science, 2016
Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder demonstrate a lack of automaticity in handwriting as measured by pauses during writing. Deficits in visual perception have been proposed in the literature as underlying mechanisms of handwriting difficulties in children with DCD. The aim of this study was to examine whether correlations exist between measures of visual perception and visual motor integration with measures of the handwriting product and process in children with DCD. The performance of twenty-eight 8-14year-old children who met the DSM-5 criteria for DCD was compared with 28 typically developing (TD) age and gender-matched controls. The children completed the Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI) and the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills (TVPS). Group comparisons were made, correlations were conducted between the visual perceptual measures and handwriting measures and the sensitivity and specificity examined. The DCD group performed below the TD group on ...
Journal of Modern Rehabilitation, 2017
This study investigated the relationship between bimanual coordination and writing skill in the elementary school children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) living in Urmia City, Iran. Material and Methods: A total of 60 elementary school children, both male and female, with DCD aged 7 to 9 years old were selected based on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) test and relevant questionnaires. These subjects were requested to perform in-phase and anti-phase patterns. Writing composition scores and bimanual coordination tool were used as measures of children's writing performance and bimanual accuracy. Descriptive statistics and coefficient regression were used for data analysis. Results: The results indicated a statistically positive correlation between children's bimanual accuracy and their writing skill. In other words, regression indicated that bimanual coordination accuracy test was a significant predictor for the writing skill (R 2 =0.331, P=0.001). Conclusion: In general, motor control ability of children with developmental coordination disorder and its relationship with writing performance should be considered.
Online control of handwriting in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder
2011
Background : Previous research indicates that children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) present difficulties in forward modeling and online control. Most of these studies emphasize speeded discrete movements, but controlling movements online is imperative for movement sequences of longer duration such as control necessary in handwriting. Aim: To examine online planning in children with DCD during a handwriting task. It
Human Movement Science, 2015
The aim of the present study was to analyze handwriting difficulties in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and investigate the hypothesis that a deficit in procedural learning could help to explain them. The experimental setup was designed to compare the performances of children with DCD with those of a non-DCD group on tasks that rely on motor learning in different ways, namely handwriting and learning a new letter. Ten children with DCD and 10 non-DCD children, aged 8-10 years, were asked to perform handwriting tasks (letter/word/sentence; normal/fast), and a learning task (new letter) on a graphic tablet. The BHK concise assessment scale for children's handwriting was used to evaluate their handwriting quality. Results showed that both the handwriting and learning tasks differentiated between the groups. Furthermore, when speed or length constraints were added, handwriting was more impaired in children with DCD than in non-DCD children. Greater intra-individual variability was observed in the group of children with DCD, arguing in favor of a deficit in motor pattern stabilization. The results of this study could support both the hypothesis of a deficit in procedural learning and the hypothesis of neuromotor noise in DCD.
Developmental Coordination Disorder
Physical Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 2001
Handwriting problems are readily apparent to classroom teachers but may be only the tip of the iceberg for children who have significant coordination difficulties. School is a daily frustration for these children as their finished work does not reflect their abilities, they struggle with the simplest of tasks and are victimized by their peers. Strong evidence is now available indicating that children who appear to only have "mild" motor difficulties go on to experience serious secondary social and emotional problems. Educators have a pivotal role in early identification and in facilitating success using a strategy that will better M.A.T.C.H. each task to the child with coordination difficulties. In this article, the typical characteristics of these children are described, behavioral observations are explained, and practical suggestions are outlined.