title: Efficacy of a perceptual and visual-motor skill intervention program for students with dyslexia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To verify the efficacy of a perceptual and visual-motor skill intervention program for students with dyslexia.
  
  
  METHODS
  The participants were 20 students from third to fifth grade of a public elementary school in Marília, São Paulo, aged from 8 years to 11 years and 11 months, distributed into the following groups: Group I (GI; 10 students with developmental dyslexia) and Group II (GII; 10 students with good academic performance). A perceptual and visual-motor intervention program was applied, which comprised exercises for visual-motor coordination, visual discrimination, visual memory, visual-spatial relationship, shape constancy, sequential memory, visual figure-ground coordination, and visual closure. In pre- and post-testing situations, both groups were submitted to the Test of Visual-Perceptual Skills (TVPS-3), and the quality of handwriting was analyzed using the Dysgraphia Scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The analyzed statistical results showed that both groups of students had dysgraphia in pretesting situation. In visual perceptual skills, GI presented a lower performance compared to GII, as well as in the quality of writing. After undergoing the intervention program, GI increased the average of correct answers in TVPS-3 and improved the quality of handwriting.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The developed intervention program proved appropriate for being applied to students with dyslexia, and showed positive effects because it provided improved visual perception skills and quality of writing for students with developmental dyslexia.
authors.affiliation: School of Philosophy and Sciences, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Marília, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Natália
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fusco
authors.affiliation: School of Philosophy and Sciences, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Marília, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Giseli Donadon
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Germano
authors.affiliation: School of Philosophy and Sciences, Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Marília, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Simone Aparecida
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Capellini
mesh_terms: D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D004410:Dyslexia / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests; D009048:Motor Skills; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance; D013334:Students; D014796:Visual Perception