Relationships between fine-motor, visual-motor, and visual perception scores and handwriting legibility and speed

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.