The Relationship between Visual-Motor Integration and Articulation Disorders in Preschool Children

Prediction of Functional Academic Outcomes by Fine Motor Skills in Individuals With Sickle Cell Disease

IMPORTANCE

Individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at heightened risk of poor neurocognitive and academic outcomes. The relationship between fine motor skills and academic outcomes is not well understood.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the fine motor skills of individuals with SCD with normative expectations, test whether demographic and medical factors are associated with fine motor performance, and determine the impact of fine motor performance on academic performance.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional.

SETTING

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

Individuals with SCD (N = 376; ages 8-24 yr).

OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Fine motor outcomes included visual-motor integration, manual dexterity, and graphomotor speed. Academic outcomes included math fluency and word reading. Demographic and medical variables were obtained via medical records and interviews.

RESULTS

Compared with normative expectations, the performance of individuals with SCD on all fine motor measures was lower than expected. Male sex, lower socioeconomic status, and lower oxygen saturation was associated with slower graphomotor speed. Lower socioeconomic status and older age were associated with lower visual-motor integration scores. Performance on all fine motor measures was positively associated with math fluency and word reading.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Individuals with SCD exhibited poorer than expected fine motor skills across multiple motor domains, and these deficits were associated with poorer academic outcomes. Early referral to intervention services for fine motor skills may facilitate improved academic outcomes for individuals with SCD. Plain-Language Summary: This study had three objectives: (1) Compare the fine motor skills of people with sickle cell disease (SCD) with normative expectations, (2) test whether demographic and medical factors are associated with fine motor performance, and (3) determine the impact of fine motor performance on academic performance. We found that SCD is a risk factor for lower than expected fine motor performance across multiple fine motor domains and that these deficits also affect functional academic skills.

Systematic Review of Visual Motor Integration in Children with Developmental Disabilities

Original research articles regarding visual motor integration skills in children with developmental disabilities and the impact of occupational therapy were identified, appraised, and synthesized. Twenty-four articles were chosen for this review. Themes were noted during the critique of articles. Three themes emerged: "age," "gender," and "diagnosis." Regarding the impact on visual motor integration, there was strong evidence for age, moderate evidence for gender, and strong evidence for diagnosis. Future research investigating visual motor integration in children should control for age and diagnosis.

Fine motor skills and attention level of individuals with mild intellectual disability getting education in inclusive classrooms and special education schools

In this study, the difference between fine motor skills and attention levels of children with mild intellectual disabilities (MID) who get education in inclusive classrooms and special education schools and the relationship between fine motor skills and attention levels were analysed. A total of 176 children with MID between the ages of 9-14, who get education in inclusive classrooms (n = 96) and special education schools (N = 80), participated in the study. Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency-Second Version (BOT-2) and Bourdon Attention Tests were applied as data tools. Fine Motor Precision (FMP), Fine Motor Integration (FMI) and Attention levels of the children in inclusive classrooms were higher than those who get education at special education schools (p < .05). In all parameters of the children of inclusive classrooms and special education schools (except the parameters of FMP-6: Folding Paper and FMI-8: Copying Overlapping Pencils), there was a positive correlation between attention and fine motor skill values (p < .05). The fact that children with MID get inclusive education with typically developing peers contributes more to these individuals in terms of fine motor skills and attention parameters. However, more extensive work is needed in this field.

Visual-Motor Integration in Children With Mild Intellectual Disability: A Meta-Analysis

Visual-motor integration (VMI) skills, defined as the coordination of fine motor and visual perceptual abilities, are a very good indicator of a child's overall level of functioning. Research has clearly established that children with intellectual disability (ID) have deficits in VMI skills. This article presents a meta-analytic review of 10 research studies involving 652 children with mild ID for which a VMI skills assessment was also available. We measured the standardized mean difference (Hedges' g) between scores on VMI tests of these children with mild ID and either typically developing children's VMI test scores in these studies or normative mean values on VMI tests used by the studies. While mild ID is defined in part by intelligence scores that are two to three standard deviations below those of typically developing children, the standardized mean difference of VMI differences between typically developing children and children with mild ID in this meta-analysis was 1.75 (95% CI [1.11, 2.38]). Thus, the intellectual and adaptive skill deficits of children with mild ID may be greater (perhaps especially due to their abstract and conceptual reasoning deficits) than their relative VMI deficits. We discuss the possible meaning of this relative VMI strength among children with mild ID and suggest that their stronger VMI skills may be a target for intensive academic interventions as a means of attenuating problems in adaptive functioning.

Investigation of Visual Motor Integration Skills in Children With Speech Sound Problems

The aim of this study was to investigate visual motor integration skills in children with speech sound disorders compared with age-matched controls. Sixty-five children aged from 5 to 6½ years old (68% males, 32% females; M age = 5.4, SD = 0.5) participated in the study. Thirty-one of them had speech sound problems, and 34 were children without any problem in their speech. The Ankara Articulation Test for evaluating speech sound skills and the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration with its supplemental tests of Visual Perception and Motor Coordination were used in the study. Visual Motor Integration, Visual Perception, and Motor Coordination scores of children with speech sound disorders were significantly lower than those of controls.