Improvement of fine motor skills in children with visual impairment: an explorative study

In this study we analysed the potential spin-off of magnifier training on the fine-motor skills of visually impaired children. The fine-motor skills of 4- and 5-year-old visually impaired children were assessed using the manual skills test for children (6-12 years) with a visual impairment (ManuVis) and movement assessment for children (Movement ABC), before and after receiving a 12-sessions training within a 6-weeks period. The training was designed to practice the use of a stand magnifier, as part of a larger research project on low-vision aids. In this study, fifteen children trained with a magnifier; seven without. Sixteen children had nystagmus. In this group head orientation (ocular torticollis) was monitored. Results showed an age-related progress in children's fine-motor skills after the training, irrespective of magnifier condition: performance speed of the ManuVis items went from 333.4s to 273.6s on average. Accuracy in the writing tasks also increased. Finally, for the children with nystagmus, an increase of ocular torticollis was found. These results suggest a careful reconsideration of which intervention is most effective for enhancing perceptuomotor performance in visually impaired children: specific 'fine-motor' training or 'non-specific' visual-attention training with a magnifier.