Perceptual-motor function of school-age children with slow handwriting speed.
OBJECTIVE
This study investigated differences in perceptual-motor measures and sustained attention between children with slow and normal handwriting speed and the relationship between these factors.


METHODS
Thirty-four slow handwriters and 35 normal speed handwriters (7 to 11 years of age) attending elementary schools in Taiwan were given three perceptual-motor tests and a vigilance task to assess sustained attention. Performances on these measures were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance and regression analyses.


RESULTS
A significant difference was found between slow and normal handwriters in upper-limb coordination, visual memory, spatial relation, form constancy, visual sequential memory, figure ground, visual-motor integration, and sustained attention. The three significant predictors of handwriting speed for the slow handwriters were age, visual sequential memory, and visual-motor integration. For the normal speed handwriters, age and upper-limb speed and dexterity were the only two significant predictors.


CONCLUSIONS
Slow and normal speed handwriters responded to handwriting demands through different perceptual-motor systems. Whereas upper-limb speed and dexterity seems to play an important role in normal speed handwriters, slow handwriters seem to rely more on visually directed processes, including sequence memory and visual-motor integration.
Tseng
M H
MH
School of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, Taipei, R.O.C. mhtseng@ha.mc.ntu.edu.tw
Chow
S M
SM
D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D005260:Female; D006236:Handwriting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory; D008606:Mental Processes; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014796:Visual Perception