Relationships Between Fine-Motor, Visual-Motor, and Visual Perception Scores and Handwriting Legibility and Speed

Abstract

Occupational therapists assess fine motor, visual motor, visual perception, and visual skill development, but knowledge of the relationships between scores on sensorimotor performance measures and handwriting legibility and speed is limited. Ninety-nine students in grades three to six with learning and/or behavior problems completed the Upper-Limb Speed and Dexterity Subtest of the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency, the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration-5th Edition, the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills-Revised, the Visual Skills Appraisal, and a handwriting copying task. Correlations between sensorimotor performance scores and handwriting legibility varied from .07 to .38. Correlations between sensorimotor performance scores and handwriting speed varied from .04 to .42. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that the variance in handwriting explained by these measures was ≤ 20% for legibility and ≤ 26% for speed. On the basis of multivariate analysis of variance only scores for the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration differed between students classified as "skilled" and "unskilled" handwriters. The low magnitude of the correlations and variance explained by the sensorimotor performance measures supports the need for occupational therapists to consider additional factors that may impact handwriting of students with learning and/or behavior problems.

Functional Handwriting Performance in School-Age Children With Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders

“…Additionally, our findings are congruent with results from a study that examined the relationship between sensorimotor skills, visual-motor integration, and handwriting in a diverse sample of children with learning or behavioral disabilities or both (Klein, Guiltner, Sollereder, & Cui, 2011). The researchers found that although sensorimotor skills explained little of the variance in handwriting proficiency, visual-motor integration was a significant predictor in classifying children as either "skilled" or "unskilled" handwriters.…”

The development and discussion of computerized visual perception assessment tool for Chinese characters structures — Concurrent estimation of the overall ability and the domain ability in item response theory approach

“…These tools have good reliability and validity. Some studies use visual perception and visual motor ability to predict English word recognition (Goyen & Duff, 2005;Kaiser, Albaret, & Doudin, 2009;Klein, Guiltner, Sollereder, & Cui, 2011). However, the characteristics of these visual perception tests vary greatly from those of Chinese language characters children read in Taiwan.…”

Respecting the evidence: Responsible assessment and effective intervention for children with handwriting difficulties

“…Examples are visual-motor integration, visual perception, fine motor function, kinaesthesia and biomechanical factors such as writing grasp, posture and muscle tone. Although the relationship of most of these performance components to handwriting speed and legibility has been examined (e.g., Feder & Majnemer, 2003;Goyen & Duff, 2005;Kaiser, Albaret & Doudin, 2009;Klein, Guiltner, Sollereder & Cui, 2011;Ryan, Rigby & Campbell, 2010;Schwellnus et al, 2012;Volman, van Schendel & Jongmans, 2006;Weintraub & Graham, 2000), substantial limitations exist in many of the studies. Participants in some studies did not have handwriting difficulties and some assessments used for identifying deficits in performance components had not been evaluated for psychometric rigour.…”