Original research articles regarding visual motor integration skills in children with developmental disabilities and the impact of occupational therapy were identified, appraised, and synthesized. Twenty-four articles were chosen for this review. Themes were noted during the critique of articles. Three themes emerged: “age,” “gender,” and “diagnosis.” Regarding the impact on visual motor integration, there was strong evidence for age, moderate evidence for gender, and strong evidence for diagnosis. Future research investigating visual motor integration in children should control for age and diagnosis.

Data of 107 children (84 males and 23 females) who received occupational therapy services were collected. Data collected included age, gender, prescribed frequency of occupational therapy, number of sessions attended within the six-month timeframe, pre and post Beery Visual Motor Integration scores.

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Limited studies have examined the relationship between occupational therapy, sensory processing, and visual motor integration abilities of preschool aged children with autism spectrum disorder

Visual motor integration (VMI) is the ability to control hand movements through vision. Children with autism are at risk for VMI deficits although this correlation is well described in previous research not much else is known about the relationship between autism and VMI. This study investigated the potential predictors of VMI performance in children with autism. The impact of occupational therapy attendance, age, gender, and pre-Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of VMI scores on post-Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of VMI scores were analyzed. Secondary data from 104 subjects were analyzed using multiple linear regression. It was concluded that the pre-Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of VMI score was the greatest predictor of the post-Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of VMI score. Age and gender were not predictive. Occupational therapy attendance was not a significant predictor; however, there was a significant difference between pre and post-assessment scores. The findings of this study illustrate that children with autism who have VMI deficits can benefit from rehabilitation services, that all ages and both genders can expect similar positive outcomes, and that these positive changes were not limited by attendance. Professionals can utilize the predictive model to formulate realistic goals based on current VMI performance for both rehabilitative and school settings.

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