1Faculty of Health and Sport Sciences, University of Tsukuba.
JAPAN. [email protected]; 2Graduate School of
Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba. JAPAN
Aim: It is known that when catching a ball in one hand, the level of
motor skill required as school-aged children, some children with motor difficulties place the non-catching arm at the side of the body. This study hypothesized that such catching movements are due to limited motor experiences caused by repeated their failure events and the children’s attempts to avoid failure. As a first step toward testing this hypothesis, a single case study was carried out in which an individualized intervention sought to modify catching movement.
Methods: The participant of this study was a male child with motor difficul-
ties (red zone of M-ABC 2nd)1 who began an instruction program within the
MDCG (Movement Development Clinic Group) of the authors’ university. At the beginning of the program, he was 11 years old and a general elemen- tary school student in Japan. Throughout the study, the participant received individualized instruction in ball skills (for one year) based on a 12-session task-oriented approach which, for example, participant was requested to throw balls against the target board and tilt it back third round of throw- ing, and during each session, his one-hand catching movement was video recorded and subjected to kinematic analysis of the knee joint, elbow joint, and waist angles.
Results: The participant’s post-catching movement showed characteristic
variation as follows: 1) The non-catching arm, which braced the upper limb at the side of the body to limit motion during the early part of the interven- tion, played a more functional role in his catching movement during the latter stages of the study. 2) The range of waist motion during his post-catching movement increased in comparison with his pre-catching movement (i.e., the pre-catching angle of his waist was M = 169.3, SD = 10.8; the post-catching angle was M = 145.5, SD = 20.9).
Discussion: In the early stages, the participant was unable to perform the
catching movement without limitations in his waist and joint motion (Newell & Vaillancort, 2001). After the intervention, however, he could perform the movement without these limitations. The findings suggest that it might be possible to develop better catching movement among children with motor difficulties through an intervention based on proactive repetitive motion.
Reference:
1. Henderson S.E., Sugden, D. A., & Barnett, A. (2007). Movement Assessment
Battery for Children. London: Pearson.
Keywords: Kinematic assessment; Catching movement; Motor difficul-
ties; Case study.
Psychometric item analysis of the Assessment of Motor Coordination and Dexterity (ACOORDEM) for 4 years old Brazilian children
C.G. Silva1, A.M.V.N. Van Petten2,E. Harsányi2, A.A. Cardoso2, M.B. Rezende2 & L.C. Magalhães2
1Departamento de Terapia Ocupacional, Universidade Federal de
Pelotas, Av. Duque de Caxias, 250, Pelotas, RS, 96030-001, Brazil. [email protected]; 2Departmento de Terapia Ocupacional,
Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos 6627, Belo Horizonte, MG, 31270-901, Brazil.
Aim: There are several assessment tools to identify children with Develop-
mental Coordination Disorder (DCD). However, they were created abroad, are costly and do have normative data for the Brazilian children. The Assess- ment of Motor Coordination and Dexterity (ACOORDEM) was create to assess aspects of motor development and functional performance relevant for school performance and social participation in 4-8 years old Brazilian children. Continuing ACOORDEM´s validation process, the aim of this study was to investigate the validity and reliability of the test for 4 years old children.
Method: Eighty children 4 years old, divided into equal groups by gen-
der and type of school (public or private) were evaluated. Children were assessed at school with ACOORDEM and the MABC-2. Children´s parents responded to ACOORDEM parents´ questionnaire and the DCDQ-Little. Retest was completed with 10 participants.
Results: In the MABC-2 and DCDQ-Little there were no significant
differences by gender or type of school. Concerning ACOORDEM, only three (5.8%) of the 51 items presented statistically significant gender dif- ference, with girls performing better in all of them. Considering the type of school, statistically significant difference was observed in seven items (13.7%) with private school children performing better than public school. Regarding test-retest reliability, 10 (30.3%) out of 33 quantitative items presented statistically significant differences on test and retest; the remain- ing items presented similar means. For the qualitative items, ICC identified 17 (94.4%) out of 18 items with moderate to excellent reliability.
Discussion: Few quantitative and qualitative items presented statisti-
cally significant differences associated with gender and type of school. Concerning gender, differences in performance were not expected since younger children are acquiring skills and may not show differentiation in motor behavior. Regarding type of school, better performance of private school children in some items seems to be influenced by environmental and socio cultural issues. Test-retest reliability showed good indices for quantitative and qualitative items. In general the results are consistent with previous studies with children 6-8 years old, showing that the test was well accepted by the children, has acceptable psychometric qualities, however, some items need adjustment or to be eliminated for 4 years old children, to reduce the length of the test.
References:
Henderson, S. E., Sugden, D. A., & Barnet, A. (2007) Movement assessment bat-
tery for children 2nd ed (MABC-2). San Antonio, TX: The Psychological
Corporation.
Magalhães, L. C., Rezende, M. B., Cardoso, A. A. (2014). Avaliação da
Coordenação e Destreza Motora – ACOORDEM - Versão 5. Belo Hori-
zonte: Departamento de Terapia Ocupacional, UFMG. Manuscrito não publicado.
Rihtman, T., Wilson, B. N., & Parush, S. (2011). Development of the Little Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire for Preschoolers.
Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32(4), 1378-1387.
Keywords: Assessment; Reliability; Validity; ACOORDEM; Develop-
mental Coordination Disorder.
Systematic Detection of Writing Problems (SOS-2): a valid and easy to use instrument
B. Smits-Engelsman1, I. van Bommel-Rutgers2 & H. van Waelvelde3 1Department Kinesiology, Movement Control & Neuroplasticity
Research Group, University of Leuven, Belgium. Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Cape Town, South Africa; 2De Kinderpraktijk Meppel/Ruinerswold and Docent
Avans+ University Breda, The Netherlands. vanbommelingrid@gmail.
com; 3Department Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Ghent
University, Belgium.
Aim: The SOS-2 has been developed in 2014 to detect handwriting
problems and to measure writing speed in children. The purpose was to make an easy and fast instrument (scoring takes max 10 minutes) that can reliably detect poor handwriting. The SOS-2 contains criteria that are described in the literature as critical for poor writing (e.g. increased varia- tion in size, dysfluencies, poor letterform). Results of earlier studies of the SOS already indicated that the psychometric properties were adequate to identify children with handwriting problems. Purpose of this study was the develop norm scores for children between 6 and 10 years of age and to determine face validity of the SOS-2.
Method: Data for the Dutch version were gathered from children in
elementary schools between 2009 and 2013. Norms were developed for children (grade 1 to 4) who could not yet write with connecting strokes (printed letters) and for cursive writing (n=938). The writing speed norms (n=3586) have been collected for grade 1 to 4. For face validity, the SOS scores were compared to teachers’ and therapists’ classification of anonymous handwriting samples. These data were also used to determine the cut off values for good, doubtful and poor handwriting.
Results: Norms are presented in a Dutch and English manual “Sys-
tematic Detection of Writing Problems” (SOS-2-NL). SOS scores were significantly different for the classifications of the teachers (good, doubtful, poor). The SOS score for handwriting samples judged as “poor handwriting” was 5.1; for samples judged as “doubtful” the average SOS score is 4.2 and for “good handwriting” the average SOS score was 3.4 (F (2,537) =16.39, p< 0.001). High agreement between the handwrit- ing judgment of the therapists and the SOS indicated good face validity (rs=0.89). Therapists reported the SOS easy to administer and the total time needed for scoring was <10 minutes.
Discussion: The SOS-2 seems a valid instrument to detect handwrit-
ing problems in an easy way. Once a writing problem has been detected further assessment is necessary into the possible underlying causes of the handwriting problems. In accordance with the Belgian study (Van Waelvelde et al. 2012) we showed that the SOS-2 test has good psycho- metric properties. Norm values have been developed for Dutch, German and Flemish children who write cursive. The Dutch version has also norms for children who do not (yet) use connecting strokes between let- ters. The test has recently translated into English and there is also a special version of the SOS for patients with Parkinson’s disease (SOS-PD), which has been developed for research purposes. No standardized scores for English-speaking countries have been collected yet.
Reference:
Van Waelvelde, H., Hellinckx, T., Peersman, W., & Smits-Engelsman, B. C. M. (2012). SOS: A screening instrument to identify children with hand- writing impairments. Physical & Occupational Therapy in Pediatrics, 32(3), 306-319.
Keywords: Handwriting; Assessment; Measurement.
Evaluation of handwriting speed for Quebec francophone students in elementary school (grades 3 to 6)
L. St-Denis1, S. Corriveau1, D. Giguère1, J. Santagata1, A.A. Trudeau1, M. Coallier2, M.-F. Morin2, M. Couture1,3 & E. Jasmin1,3
1Faculté de Médecine et des Sciences de la Santé, École de Réadaptation,
Université de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, J1H 5N4, Québec, Canada. [email protected]; 2Chaire de recherche sur
l’apprentissage de la lecture et de l’écriture chez le jeune enfant, Département d’études sur l’adaptation scolaire et sociale, Faculté d’éducation, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada; 3Centre de recherche
clinique Étienne-Lebel, Centre hospitalier universitaire de Sherbrooke, Canada.
Aim: Handwriting difficulties are common in children with DCD,
regardless of their language or culture. However, there is no complete handwriting assessment tool adapted for Quebec francophone students. The Handwriting Assessment Protocol (HAP) is a tool that evaluates the handwriting of children. The five tasks that it contains are writing from memory, near point copying, far point copying, dictation and composition. The aims of this study were (1) to adapt and validate the tasks from this tool for Quebec francophone students in grades 3 to 6 and (2) to develop reference values of handwriting speed for this population.
Method: Many sentences for creating this French version were submit-
ted to one speech-language pathologist, three occupational therapists and eight primary school teachers. They chose the sentences that were most appropriate for each grade. Then, four primary schools in Quebec were visited in order to administer the five tasks (writing from memory, near point copying, far point copying, dictation and composition) of the French version of the Handwriting Assessment Protocol. This representa- tive sample involved 201 students in 12 classrooms (grade 3: 47 students; grade 4: 50 students; grade 5: 46 students; grade 6: 58 students). The students were aged between 8 and 12 years old. The schools were chosen using a convenience sampling. Data were analyzed to determine a mean and standard deviation for each school grade. Effects of age and gender were also examined.
Results: Reference values (mean value with their standard deviation,
percentile) were obtained for handwriting speed of the near point copy- ing and far point copying tasks for each grade (3 to 6). Handwriting speed increases with school grade, both for near point copying and far point copying. Students were faster in far point copying than near point copying.
Discussion: These results will facilitate the assessment of the handwrit-
ing of Quebec francophone students in grade 3 to 6 by comparing their handwriting speed with the reference values. This way, the needs of stu- dents with handwriting difficulties will be better targeted and treated.
Reference:
Pollock, N., Lockhart, J., Blowes, B., Semple, K., Webster, M., Farhat, L. et al. (2009). The McMaster handwriting assessment protocol, from http:// www.canchild.ca/en/measures/resources/HandwritingProtocolAugust-
2009FINAL.pdf (Retrieved January 28th 2013).
Keywords: Handwriting Assessment Protocol; French adaptation; Hand-
writing speed; Quebec francophone students; School-aged children.
Partnering for Change: An innovative and evidence- based model for managing children with Developmental Coordination Disorder in school settings
D. Stewart1,2, C. Hecimovich3, N. Pollock1,2, W. Campbell1,2, C. Camden4,2, S. Bennett5,2, R. Gaines6,2, D. McCauley2, J. Cairney7,2, D. O’Reilly8, K. Floyd3,D. Haughton9, K. Wlodarczyk2, L. Dix1,2, C. DeCola2 & C. Missiuna1,2
1School of Rehabilitation Science, McMaster University, Hamilton,
ON, L8S 1C7, Canada. [email protected]; 2CanChild Centre
for Childhood Disability Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 3Central West Community Care Access Centre,
Brampton, ON, Canada; 4Centre de recherche du CHUS & School
of Rehabilitation, Université de Sherbrooke, Canada; 5Department of
Teacher Education, Brock University, St. Catharines, ON, Canada;
6Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute, Ottawa,
ON, Canada; 7Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University,
Hamilton, ON, Canada; 8Department of Clinical Epidemiology &
Biostatics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada; 9Hamilton,
Niagara, Haldimand Brant Community Care Access Centre, Hamilton, ON, Canada.
Aim: Evidence indicates children with DCD are at high risk for second-
ary physical and mental health issues. Early identification is required to enhance children’s participation in school; however, in Ontario, Canada, 85% of children with DCD are placed on lengthy waitlists for occupa- tional therapy (OT) services. Clearly another approach is needed. This poster presents evidence about an innovative model of school-based OT services for children with DCD.
Method: A participatory action research approach has been used over
6 years with key stakeholders from government, health care, service provider organizations, schools and families to develop, demonstrate and evaluate a new OT service delivery model, Partnering for Change (P4C). The development phase focused on identifying the key goals of the model: early identification of DCD; chronic disease management by families; prevention of secondary consequences; and a school-based ser- vice accessible to all children, whether or not they have been identified or diagnosed with DCD. Instead of 1:1 remediation, the school is the target of intervention. Capacity-building is emphasized and occurs through col- laboration and coaching of educators and families. The current research utilizes mixed methods for evaluation, including standardized measures and qualitative interviews of key stakeholders.
Results: In one year, 15 OTs offering service 1 day/week in 40 schools
(1207 workdays) provided: 3329 individual strategies for 592 chil- dren with significant motor challenges; 2980 sessions to screen small groups of children or trial different types of instruction; 704 activi- ties with whole classes of children; 385 educator in-services. Education about how to manage the children’s issues at home was also provided to families. Waitlists were eliminated in all schools in which P4C service delivery was implemented. Interviews indicated educators had a better understanding of DCD and could identify strategies to use to support children with coordination difficulties in their classroom. Individual outcome data for 392 research participants identified with DCD are still being collected.
Discussion: P4C is a model of OT service delivery that may be appli-
cable in many countries as a way to manage the needs of children with DCD. Emerging evidence about this model indicates capacity-building with children, families and educators leads to better understanding and
management of the needs of children with DCD within the school context.
Keywords: Management; Intervention; Service delivery model; Second-
ary consequences; Early identification.
Oculomotor function in children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder