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The handwriting of children with spina bifida
A M Pearson1, J Carr, M D Hallwell
1Dept. of Psychology, St. George's Hospital Medical School, Tooting, London, U.K.
Insights
Children with spina bifida (a birth defect) exhibit slower, poorer handwriting compared to their peers. This indicates an educational disadvantage affecting their writing skills.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Developmental Psychology
- Educational Psychology
Background:
- Spina bifida is a complex congenital condition impacting physical and cognitive development.
- Handwriting difficulties are frequently observed in children with spina bifida, but specific characteristics require further elucidation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate and compare the handwriting characteristics of 11-year-old children with spina bifida against a control group.
- To identify specific handwriting dimensions that differentiate children with spina bifida based on various factors.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 131 children with spina bifida and 56 controls participated in the Greater London Council (GLC) Spina Bifida Survey.
- Children copied a standard sentence, and their handwriting was assessed on ten dimensions, including speed, letter formation, and spacing.
Main Results:
- Nine out of ten handwriting dimensions significantly distinguished children with spina bifida from controls.
- Children with spina bifida demonstrated slower writing speed, poorer letter formation, and inadequate word spacing.
- Handwriting scores correlated with IQ, disability severity, and school type, with brighter, less disabled children in mainstream schools performing better.
Conclusions:
- Children with spina bifida face significant handwriting challenges, suggesting an educational disadvantage.
- Handwriting assessment can serve as a sensitive indicator of developmental and educational disparities in children with spina bifida.
Abstract:
As part of the Greater London Council (GLC) Spina Bifida Survey the handwriting of 131 11-year-olds with spina bifida and 56 controls was examined. The children copied the sentence "The dog sits in his box" in the course of an extensive battery of intelligence and attainment tests. Writing speed formed one scoring dimension and nine further categories were devised in collaboration with a handwriting consultant. All but one of these ten dimensions consistently discriminated between the spina bifida children and the controls, and between the spina bifida children divided according to such variables as IQ, school type, degree of disability, reading scores and presence or absence of a valve. In every case the differences were in the predicted direction, with the handwriting scores of the brighter, less damaged children, and those attending ordinary schools being higher. These findings are consistent with those obtained by other researchers and reflect an educational disadvantage in that the children with spina bifida had handwriting which was slow, with the letters being poorly formed and the words poorly spaced.