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Published on: November 21, 2013
Handwriting features of children with developmental coordination disorder--results of triangular evaluation
Sara Rosenblum1, Jumana Aassy Margieh, Batya Engel-Yeger
1Department of Occupational Therapy, Faculty of Welfare and Health Sciences, University of Haifa, Israel.
Insights
Children with Developmental Coordination Disorders (DCD) show significant handwriting deficits. A triangular evaluation revealed differences in speed, legibility, and spatial arrangement compared to typically developing peers.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Developmental Psychology
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Developmental Coordination Disorders (DCD) are prevalent in school-aged children.
- Arabic-speaking children with DCD face unique handwriting challenges.
- Objective assessment of handwriting is crucial for diagnosis and intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the handwriting performance of Arabic-speaking children with DCD.
- To utilize a triangular evaluation method for detailed analysis.
- To identify specific handwriting deficits in children with DCD.
Main Methods:
- Study included 58 children (29 with DCD, 29 controls), aged 11-12 years.
- Participants copied Arabic text using a digitizer for objective handwriting measures.
- Handwriting Proficiency Screening Questionnaire (HPSQ) and written product analysis were employed.
Main Results:
- Children with DCD exhibited significantly longer on-paper and in-air times per stroke.
- Handwriting legibility, letter recognition, and spatial arrangement were notably poorer in the DCD group.
- Significant differences were observed in HPSQ scores between groups.
Conclusions:
- Triangular evaluation effectively highlights handwriting deficits in Arabic-speaking children with DCD.
- Objective measures and teacher assessments provide a comprehensive understanding of DCD-related handwriting difficulties.
- Findings support the use of standardized triangular evaluation for personalized intervention strategies.
Abstract:
Developmental coordination disorders (DCD) is one of the most common disorders affecting school-aged children. The study aimed to characterize the handwriting performance of children with DCD who write in Arabic, based on triangular evaluation. Participants included 58 children aged 11-12 years, 29 diagnosed with DCD based on the DSM-IV criteria and the M-ABC, and 29 matched typically developed controls. Children were asked to copy a paragraph on a sheet of paper affixed to a digitizer supplying objective measures of the handwriting process. The handwriting proficiency screening questionnaire (HPSQ) was completed by their teachers while observing their performance and followed by evaluation of their final written product. Results indicated that compared to controls, children with DCD required significantly more on-paper and in-air time per stroke while copying. In addition, global legibility, unrecognizable letters and spatial arrangement measures of their written product were significantly inferior. Significant group differences were also found between the HPSQ subscales scores. Furthermore, 82.8% of all participants were correctly classified into groups based on one discriminate function which included two handwriting performance measures. These study results strongly propose application of triangular standardized evaluation to receive better insight of handwriting deficit features of individual children with DCD who write in Arabic.
