title: The relationship between gross motor skills and academic achievement in children with learning disabilities.
abstract: The present study compared the gross motor skills of 7- to 12-year-old children with learning disabilities (n = 104) with those of age-matched typically developing children (n = 104) using the Test of Gross Motor Development-2. Additionally, the specific relationships between subsets of gross motor skills and academic performance in reading, spelling, and mathematics were examined in children with learning disabilities. As expected, the children with learning disabilities scored poorer on both the locomotor and object-control subtests than their typically developing peers. Furthermore, in children with learning disabilities a specific relationship was observed between reading and locomotor skills and a trend was found for a relationship between mathematics and object-control skills: the larger children's learning lag, the poorer their motor skill scores. This study stresses the importance of specific interventions facilitating both motor and academic abilities.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Human Movement Sciences, University Medical Centre Groningen, University of Groningen, Section F, PO Box 196, 9700 AD Groningen, The Netherlands. m.westendorp@med.umcg.nl
authors.forename: Marieke
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Westendorp
authors.forename: Esther
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hartman
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Houwen
authors.forename: Joanne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Visscher
mesh_terms: D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development / Q000502:physiology*; D002659:Child Development Disorders, Pervasive / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007859:Learning Disabilities / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics / Q000193:education; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology*; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading