title: Dyslexic children fail to comply with the rhythmic constraints of handwriting.
abstract: In this study, we sought to demonstrate that deficits in a specific motor activity, handwriting, are associated to Developmental Dyslexia. The linguistic and writing performance of children with Developmental Dyslexia, with and without handwriting problems (dysgraphia), were compared to that of children with Typical Development. The quantitative kinematic variables of handwriting were collected by means of a digitizing tablet. The results showed that all children with Developmental Dyslexia wrote more slowly than those with Typical Development. Contrary to typically developing children, they also varied more in the time taken to write the individual letters of a word and failed to comply with the principles of isochrony and homothety. Moreover, a series of correlations was found among reading, language measures and writing measures suggesting that the two abilities may be linked. We propose that the link between handwriting and reading/language deficits is mediated by rhythm, as both reading (which is grounded on language) and handwriting are ruled by principles of rhythmic organization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo, 1, 20126 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: e.pagliarini@campus.unimib.it.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pagliarini
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo, 1, 20126 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: mariateresa.guasti@unimib.it.
authors.forename: Maria Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Guasti
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo, 1, 20126 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: carlo.toneatto@unimib.it.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Toneatto
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neurology Unit, Fondazione I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Giovanni Celoria, 11, 20133 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: elisa.granocchio@istituto-besta.it.
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Granocchio
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neurology Unit, Fondazione I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Giovanni Celoria, 11, 20133 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: federica.riva@istituto-besta.it.
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Riva
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neurology Unit, Fondazione I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Giovanni Celoria, 11, 20133 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: daniela.sarti@istituto-besta.it.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sarti
authors.affiliation: Developmental Neurology Unit, Fondazione I.R.C.C.S. Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, Via Giovanni Celoria, 11, 20133 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: bruna.molteni@istituto-besta.it.
authors.forename: Bruna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Molteni
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Piazza dell'Ateneo Nuovo, 1, 20126 Milan, Italy. Electronic address: natale.stucchi@unimib.it.
authors.forename: Natale
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stucchi
mesh_terms: D000381:Agraphia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D034201:Computers, Handheld; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006236:Handwriting; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D011932:Reading; D012858:Size Perception / Q000502:physiology; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Developmental Dyslexia; Digitizing tablet; Dysgraphia; Handwriting; Rhythm