Visual-motor integration skills: accuracy of predicting reading

This article investigated the contribution of visual-motor integration (VMI) to reading ability when known predictors of later reading outcomes were also present in the data analysis.

Participants included 778 first and second grade students from a large diverse urban district in Texas. The data were analyzed using multiple regression models with a forced entry of predictors for each regression model, and each model was run separately for each outcome.

The results indicate that VMI drops out of the prediction models once more reading- and language-specific skills are introduced.

Although VMI skills make a statistically significant contribution in some aspects of the regression model, the reduction in contribution reduces the predictive validity of VMI skills. Therefore, a VMI skill measure will not sufficiently determine if a child has a reading disability.