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Literature Review
Carolyn E. Oliver
Delay in writing readiness skills has been addressed
by several aurhors. Ajuriaguerra and Auzjas (1975)
Key rVords: gross and fine motor skills o stated that the motor aspect of writing starts with
handwriting . visual perception scribbling. Over time, the scribbling becomes inten-
tional. Eventually, the child learns to combine ele_
mentary design patterns into precise shapes. Beery
(1982) suggested that the masrery of the first nine
Tbis article discusses a writing readiness program
used witb tbree groups of cbildren aged i to 7 years. figures in his Developmental Test of Visual-Motor In-
Tbe program combines occupational tberapy treat- tegration is essential for learning to print. This test
ment with a supplementary program implemented was designed to assess the perceptual-motor develop-
by scbool personnel or parents. Tbe Deublopmental ment of children aged 3 to 14 years. The first nine
Test of Visual-Motor Integration-Reuised (Beery, figures in the assessment are (a) avertical line, (b) a
1982) was used to measure tbe deueloDmental leuel horizontal line, (c) a circle, (d) a crossed t, (e) a
of tbe cbildren's writing readiness skiils before and right-to-left diagonal, (f) a left to right diagonal, (g)
after treatment. group of cbitdren witb a signif- an x, (h) a square, and (i) a triangle. In anorher study,
-Tbe
cant uerb.tl performance Ie discrepancy (> 15 Nihei (1983) looked ar rhe progressive steps in the
points) sbouted a 17-montb growtb in readiness
drawing and handwriting of Japanese preschoolers.
skills witbin 1 year. Tbe group of cbit,iren with men-
tal retardation (IQ < BO) sbou.ed a significant sex His study lends support to the developmental trend
gfeq' fne boys sbowed more gains tban-tbe girls. that underlies the elementary drawings in the Devel-
Implications of tbese fndings are discussed. opmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration. Alston and
Taylor (1987) used a developmental model to exam-
ine handwriting and emphasized the importance of
the mastery of writing readiness skills before letter
formation is attempted.
The perceptual-motor development necessary for
the mastery of writing is fairly complex. perceptual_
motor skills can be thought of as a composite of per_
ceptual, conceptual, and motor processes or any com-
bination of these three processes (Mattison, McIntyre,
Brown, & Murray, 1986).Ir is commonly believed that
children with learning or neurological disabilities
often have an irregular academic readiness profile
with a delay of one or more of the perceptual-motor
skill componenrs. Marrison et al. (f 9g6) analyzedthe
visuomotor problems of children with learning dis_
abilities and found that they had significantly more
Carolyn E. Oliver, MA, orR/l, at the time of this stucly, was
trouble than normal children with design-copy tasks
an Occupational Therapist at the Grant Vood Area Educa_ with simultaneous visuomotor components. They
tion Agency, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She is currently an Oc_ concluded that a "cross-modal" or intersensory inte-
cupational Therapy Consultant in private practice. (Mail_ gration function was defective. Other authors found
ing address: 3920 Bruce Road, Marion ,Iowa 52302) similar results, thus indicating that the weakest skill in
the total composite is the motor coordination compo-
Tbis article uas accepted for publication April 26, 1989.
nent. Lewis and Lewis (1965) analyzed the kincls of
" (Beery,1982) Judd, Siders, Siders, & Atkins (1986) examined sex-
related differences of first graders on a design copy
activity and a dotting circle activity. The girls did sig
of Visual-Motor Integration within 1, year. Four chil- niflcantly better on the design copy activity, but no
dren in Group 2 and 4 children in Group 3 mastered difference was found between the groups on the dot-
all nine designs. The remaining 2 children in Group 2 ting circle activity. Perhaps the girls in this study
mastered eight of the nine designs and could occa- showed less improvement because they had primary
sionally make a triangle. The remaining 2 children in or more severe perceptual-motor deficits, rather than
Group 3 were able to make vertical and horizontal just delayed development.
lines singly and in combination but were still unable Overall, the children in Groups 1 and 3 were
to draw diagonal lines. closer in age than were those in Group 2. Group 2's
The largest gain in developmental skill level was meanage was 5 months younger than Group 1's mean
made by Group 2-a gain of 17 months with a range age and 8 months younger than Group 3's mean age.
of 14 to 22 months (see Table I for a summary of The oldest child in Group 2 was almost I year
performance scores). younger than the oldest child in either of the other
The sensorimotor writing readiness program was two groups. However, the children in Group 2 made
more successful with the special education students the most progress. This suggests that there is an opti-
in Group 3 than with average-IQ students in Group 1, mal time for remediating delayed readiness skills.
but the gain was not significantly different from the The older children in Groups I and 3 may have be-
expected normal maturation. The average gain for come habituated to failure with pencil skills and, as
Group 3 was 12 months with a range of 2 to 22 Furner (1961) indicated, more resistive to change.
months. The average gain for Group 7was9.5 months Contrary to my expectations, the regular educa-
with a range of 3 to 18 months. tion students in Group 1 made the least progress (see
The sex effect was not significant for Group 1. Table 1). The reasons for this are unclear. The pretest
The sex effect was significant, however, for Groups 2 level of readiness skills was more advanced for this
and 3. Both of these groups had below-average IQ group as compared with the other two groups. Ini-
scores (<80). The combined group of boys from tially, this group on the average could make six of the
Groups 2 and 3 @: 6) had an average gain of 17 nine designs on the Developmental Test of Visual-
months, which was significantly greater than the gain Motor Integration, whereas the other two groups
expected from maturation alone. The girls from could make only four or five designs. Perhaps once
Groups 2 and 3 @ : 5) had an gain of 11.83 the readiness skills were mastered, the Developmen-
months. ^veruge
tal Test of Visual-Motor Integration was no longer a
sensitive measure of progress; the value of this test to
Discussion measure functional paper-and-pencil skills beyond
The results of this program indicate that special popu- the readiness level needs to be examined. This proj-
lations who have deficits in their writing readiness ect. however. demonstrates the usefulness of the De-
skills will benefit from individualized instruction that velopmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration to as-
emphasizes multisensory training. This particular sess paper-and-pencil and fine motor skills of pre
method of improving writing readiness skills is espe- school- and early-elementary-age children. The test is
cially helpful with those children who have a differ administered easily and quickly, and previous studies
ence of 15 points or more between their verbal and indicate a high test-retest reliability (Breen, Carlson,
performance IQ scores on the l(echsler Intelligence & Lehman, 1985; Klein,1978; Ryckman & Rentfrow,
Scale for Children-Revised. Children with this IQ 797I). Its ease in administration makes it a particu-
profile should therefore be given priority for therapy larly valuable tool for the measurement of writing
intervention. Often, this tlpe of child becomes frus- readiness skills.
trated with the "seatwork" commonly done in the One of the unique elements of the writing readi-
kindergarten or first-grade classroom and experiences ness program is its combination of direct therapy with
few successful readiness activities. The 12-month an ongoing classroom-oriented remedial program.
average gain made by the children with mental retar- \fith the involvement of teachers, aides, and parents,