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A Sensorimotor he delayed development of fine moror skills in

young children is a frequent cause of referral to


Program for Improving school-based occupational therapists. Develop
mental delay in kindergarten and first-grade children
\flriting Readiness Skills often manifests itself as incomplete mastery of the
readiness skills needed to print. Upon meeting a child
in Elementary-Age referred for treatment, the therapist determines if
there is a sensorimotor cause for the developmental
Children delay and, if so, provides direct intervention or con-
sultation services to remediate the problem.

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

Tbe American Journal of Occupational Tberapy


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errors first-grade children made while forming manu- Pilot Project for \friting Readiness Skills
script letters. The three most common s11s1s-i1661-
Participants
rect size, incorrect relationship of parts, and incorrect
placement relative to size-were related to lack of The pilot project involved three groups of children.
motor control. Examining the printing errors made by Group 1 consisted of tZ children (9 boys and 3 girls)
kindergarten students copying letters, Simner (1982) of normal intelligence (mean lQ: 94), as defined by
found more form errors. that is, more motor coordina- a full scale IQ greater than 80 and a performance IQ
tion errors, than reversals. greater than 80 on the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for
Training directed at aty one of the perceptual- Children-Revised (Wechsler, 1974). All of these chil-
motor skill components tends to enhance the overall dren were in regular education classes. One child in
performance. Strayer and Ames (7972) found that the this group was black and the other 11 children were
ability to copy designs improved after a brief period of white, as were all of the other children included in the
visual-perceptual training that emphasized the orien- project. The mean age of this group was 72 months.
tation of figures. Jennings (1974) showed a positive Group 2 consisted of 6 children (4 boys and 2
and significant relationship between the ability to ma- girls), all of whom had a significant disparity between
nipulate objects and the ability to copy designs. Laszlo verbal IQ and performance IQ (>15 points) on the
and Bairsrow (t983, 1984) found long-term benefits 'Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised.
after using a kinesthetic and sensitivity training pro- The group mean IQ was 77, but their average verbal
gram with 7- and S-year-old children. They recom- IQ was 86 and their average performance IQ was 71.
mended activities to generate kinesthetic awareness, At the time of the study, 2 of these children were in
such as large arm movements at the blackboard or regular education classes with no special education
easel. Stott, Henderson, and Moyes (7981), in their support besides occupational therapy, 3 children
remedial handwriting program, recommended the were in a regular class with additional time in a class
development of a motor schema. They emphasized for children with learning disabilities, and 1 child was
large movement patterns along with a smooth, fluid in a class for children with educable mental retarda-
motion. Furner (1957) developed a classroom tion. The mean age of this group was 67 months.
handwriting program that stressed verbalization and Group 3 consisted of 6 children (2 boys and 4
perceptual processes. She found that if faulty habits girls). Five of these children were in special educa-
were allowed to develop, good patterns would then tion classes. The only child in regular education had a
be harder to establish. She emphasized the need supportive home environment and was labeled an
for handwriting programs with perceptual-process overachiever. Most of the students in this group had
training. conditions that were diagnosed as mental retardation
Occupational therapists can treat perceptual of unknown etiology. One student had a hearing im-
problems in various ways, ranging from consultation pairment and another student was autistic. This
to direct intervention (Gilfoyle & Hays, 1979).Direct group's mean IQ was 65, and the mean age was 75
therapy's benelits are enhanced markedly if school months.
personnel and parents participate in the remediation Lll 24 children included in this project had de-
process (Friedman, 1982; Gilfoyle & Hays, 1979; layed writing readiness skills and were unable to
Goldstein, O'Brien, &Kat2,1981). The importance of learn these skills in a typical classroom environment.
family involvement has been emphasized with the None of the children had mastered all nine of the
passage of the Education of the Handicapped Act elementary designs on the Developmental Test of Vi-
Amendments of 1986 (public Law 99-457), which sual-Motor Integration. All of the children showed
emphasizes team participation and the development comparable delays on the fine motor subtests of the
of an individualized family service plan in early inter- Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency
vention. The bill encourages the parents' participa- (Bruininks, 7978), the Peabody Developmental Motor
tion in the development and implementation of an Scales-Fine Motor Scale (Folio & Fewell, 1983), the
intervention program. Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (Miller, 1988),
The writing readiness program described in this and the Motor-Free Visual Perception Test (Colarusso
paper was developed as a result of numerous referrals & Hammill, 7972), which measure fine motor control
from elementary school teachers requesting help for and visual-perception skills. All of the 5- to 6-year-old
children who could not write. I developed a pilot children who had been referred to me over a 6-year
program to teach writing readiness skills and used it period were included in the program if they met the
with children of varying abilities. The program com- following criteria: (a) the severity of the problems
bined direct therapy with an ongoing supplemen- exhibited by each child warranted both direct therapy
tary program implemented by school personnel or and a supplementary program and (b) the child's de-
parents. velopmental delay in writing readiness skills was at

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Ieast 1 year ot more when compared to chronological rect therapy. A classroom teacher, classroom aide, or
age. Six of the 12 children in Group 1 were delayed parent, using the program ourlined by the occupa-
more than 7/zyears; the remainder were delayed 1 to tional therapist, worked with the child a minimum of
lYz years. Group 2 had I child delayed I year and 5 three times a week for 10 minutes at a time. The adult
children delayed more than IVz years. Group 3 had 7 was given a structured format to follow, and each ses-
child delayed 7/z years and 5 children delayed more sion consisted of the following activities:
than IVz years.
Children who were inirially referred but who I. IVarm-up actiuities. These consisted of ele-
later moved, who were delayed less than 1 year, or mentary designs, well below the child's readi-
who did not experience both direct therapy and the ness level, drawn on the blackboard and on
supplementary program were not included in this paper (e.g., making railroad tracks by filling in
study. vertical lines between two horizontal lines).
2. Structured work sbeets from tbe Dubnof
TreAtnxent Scbool's program of sequential perceptual-
As part of the diagnostic process, the Developmental motor exercises (Dubnoff, Cbambers, &
Test of Visual-Motor Integration was used to deter- Scbaefer, 1968) Each work sheet conrained a
mine the developmental level of each child's writing series of simple mazes on which the child
readiness skills. I administered and scored the tesr drew a line that matched the original as
according to the test directions. The test was read- closely as possible. The difficulty level was
ministered after L year. The change in each child's increased very gradually: The mazes started
writing readiness developmental level was used to with single vertical and horizontal lines,
evaluate his or her progress. which eventually were combined into letter
The therapy program used with these students forms. To reduce the cost of materials, a plas-
had two parts, which were administered concurrently. tic template was used over each sheet, and the
One part of the intervention involved direcr rherapy, child used a grease pencil on rhe template.
in which I, the occupational therapist, saw each child 3. Manuscript letter practice. ln the last part of
individually once a week for 30 minutes. In a few each session, the child, working at his or her
situations, because of time constraints or better per- developmental level, made capital manuscript
formances, I saw the children in pairs. Activities dur- letters on the blackboard. The straight-line
ing therapy focused on writing readiness skills and letters were mastered first, followed by the
included multisensory stimulation and large move- letrers with diagonal elemenrs, and finally the
ment patterns. Therapy activities were directed at in- curved letters. \Whatever the child did on the
creasing the child's attention to lines and elementary blackboard, he or she then repeated on paper
designs. The child was asked ro copy simple design using a grease pencil.
elements using a variety of media including paper
The emphasis of the supplemenrary daily pro-
strips, masking tape on the floor, chalk of various
gram was a sufficiently slow pace so that the child
colors and sizes, clay, or a finger trail on the black-
would succeed every day. The parent or aide usually
board or in sand. Children who were slow to respond
reported that the child was delighted and proud of the
were given a 1-lb wrist weight to wear intermittently
ability to do the work. As the child's confidence grew,
on the dominant forearm to facilitate sensory pro-
the pace quickened. At least once a month, the thera-
prioceptors. As the child progressed, the elementary
pist met with the adult to ensure the appropriateness
designs used during therapy became more complex
of the program and the pace.
and the therapy activities eventually approximated
Typically, the supplementary program conrinued
manuscript letters. To vary the sensory stimulation
for 5 to 8 months. Thereafter, the child usually had
and to heighten interest and responsiveness, the ther-
either progressed sufficiently or was less motivated,
apist used other readiness activities during the ther-
in which case the program was used less frequently
apy sessions, including bead stringing, block design,
(i.e., once or twice a week). \7hen school resumed in
parquetry, and paper folding. All of the therapy acrivi-
the fall, direct therapy was discontinued if the student
ties were designed to increase attention to detail and
was able to do the written assignments without ex-
lines and to improve control of the fingers and of the
cessive frustration. Otherwise, therapy was continued.
writing instrument. The therapist's role was to After 1 year, follow-up testing was done.
strengthen the child's readiness skills. Letter forma-
tion was taught by both the classroom teacher and the
adult using the supplementary program. Results
The second part ot the intervention involved a All 12 of the children in Group 1 mastered the nine
supplementary program that complemented the di writing readiness designs on the Developmental Test

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Table 1 dation in Group 3 is also significant. \fhen the de-
Mean Performance Scores of Elementary-Age Children mand for services exceeds the availability of thera-
on the Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integrationa
pists. such services should be made available to those
Initial Score Retest Score children most likely to benefit.
Group (in months) (in months) Gain
The difference in net gain made by the girls and
64.7 9.) 4.61
1
boys in Groups 2 and 3 is surprising. Typically, girls
2 46.o 63.0 77.0 3.44
'JZ
48.O 60.0 12.O 7.r3 do better than boys on paper-and pencil activities.
J

" (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,

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the new skills that the child learns in therapy can be ment: A multi disciplinary approacb (Vol.2, pp.31.1._328).
reinforced through practice. Additionally, morivation New York: Academic Press.
and enthusiasm seem to be heightened when a Alston, J., & Taylor, 1. (t987). Handwriting theory,
researcb, and practice. New york: Nichols.
teacher, a parent, or both share in the responsibility
Beery, K. E. (1,982). Reuised administration, scoring,
for a child's progress. Certainly, recognition of the and teacbing ntanualfor tbe Deuelopmental Test of Visuit
benefits of a team effort is emphasized in public Law Motor Integration. Chicago: Follett.
99-457. Breen, M. J., Carlson, M., & Lehman, J. (1985). The
Another feature of this program is the structured Revised Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration: Its
relation to the VMI, \7ISC-R, and Bender Gestalt for a group
format of the supplementary program. The parents
of elementary aged learning disabled students. lournal of
and school personnel favorably noted the ease with Learning Disabilities, 15, 136-138.
which they could follow the directions and use rhe Bruininks, R. H. (1978). Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of
materials. Additionally, because the work sheet Motor Profciency. Circle Pines, MN: American Cuidance
packets were prearranged, the therapist did not need Services.
Burke, D., & Burke, K. (1980). Sensory-Motor'Vriting
to devote time to finding new materials for each child.
Program. Tulsa, OK: Modern Education.
This project poses many quesrions. \7hich Colarusso, R. P., & Hammill, D. D . (t972) . Motor-Free
method of intervention is the most effective-direct Visual Perception Test. San Rafael, CA: Academic Therapy.
therapy or a supplementary program? Or were the Dubnoff,8., Chambers, I., & Schaefer,F. (.t968).6ub-
gains evident in this program attributable to the com- nof program 1, leuel 2: Experiential perceptuat motor ex-
ercises. Boston: Teaching Resources Corp.
bination of the two methods? A research model could Education of the Handicapped Act Amendments of
be used to examine the treatment effect through a 1986 (Public Law 99-457),20 U.S.C. S 1400.
comparison of a control group and three expenmen- Folio, M. R., & Fewell, R. R. (1983). peabody Deuelop-
tal groups, each receiving a different treatment. mental Motor Scales and ActiuitJ) Cards. AIIen, TX: DLM
Other components of this training program are Teaching Resources.
Friedman, B. (1982). A program for parents of children
untested and need to be challenged. I believe that the
with sensory integrative dysfunction. American Journal of
use of a resistive writing instrument (e.g , a lJrease Occupational Tberapy, 36, 586-589.
pencil) provides increased sensory feedback to the Furner, B. (1967). The developmenr of a program of
student and is therefore conducive to optimal learn- instruction lor beginning handwriting emphasizing verbal-
ing. Further testing is needed ro confirm this hypoth- iTation ofprocedures to increase perception and an analysis
of the effectiveness of this program through comparilon
esis. The use of wrist weights to promote increased with a commercial method. Dissertation Abstracts Inter-
control of a writing instrument also needs further ex- nationaL 28(02 A), 389. (Universitv Microfilms No.
amination. In addition, although the Dubnoff School 6--09056)
materials are no longer available commercially, other Gilfoyle, E. M., & Hays, C. 0979). Occupational ther-
similar materials are available, such as Burke and apy roles and functions in the education of the school-based
handicapped student. American Journal of Occupational
Burke's (1980) Sensory-Motor \Vriting program and r berap)L 55, >o>-> /o.
Zaner-Bloser's (1982) handwriting method. Many of Goldstein, P. K., O'Brien, J D., & Katz, G. M. (1981). A
these programs are reviewed in an article by Loikith learning disability screening program in a public school.
and Ritter (1989). Further clinical studies are needed American Journal of Occupational Tberapy, 35, 1jI_455.
to ascertain their benefits. Jennings, P. A. (1974). Hapric perceprion and form
reproduction by kindergarten children. Anterican Journal
Finally, occupational therapy intervention tech- of Occupational Tberapy, 28, 27 4-280.
niques that deal with the other motor components of Judd, D. M., Siders,J. A., Siders, J.2., & Arkins, K. R.
writing readiness, such as sitting posture, trunk and (1986). Sex related differences on fine moror tasks at grade
shoulder stability, pencil grip, and handedness, need one. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 62,307 312.
to be examined. Evaluation tools, test instruments, Klein, A. E. (1978). The validity of the Beery Test of
Visual Motor Integration in predicting achievemenr in kin-
and treatment methods are all important areas for dergarten, first and second grades. Educational and psy-
research. a c bological MeasuremenL 38, 457 -45L
Laszlo, J I , & Bairsrow, p. J. (1933). Kinaesthesis: Its
measurement, training and relationship to motor control.
Acknowledgment
Quarterly Journal of Experimental psycbology, 35A,
411-127.
I wish to thank Carolyn Friederich and Carol paul for their Laszlo,J I., & Bairsrow, P.J. (1984). Handwriting: Dif-
assistance. ficulties and possible solurions. Scbool psycbologl,t Inlerna-
tional, 5,207 213.
Lewis, E. R., & Lewis, H. P. (1965). An analysis of errors
References in the formation of manuscript letters by first-grade chil-
dren. American Educational Researcb Journal, 2, 25 35.
Ajuriaguerra, J., & Auzias, M. (1975). preconditions for Loikith, C., & Ritter, L. K. (1989, March 2). Review: A
the development of writing in the chiid. In E. H. Lenneberg guide to handwriting . . there's more to it than just ABCs.
& E. Lenneberg (Eds.), Foundations of language deuelop- OTlVeek,pp 4-5,30-3r.

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Mattison, R. 8., Mclntyre, C. \(., Brown, A. S., & Murray, Simner, M. L. (1982). Printing errors in kindergarten
M. E. (1986). An analysis of visual-motor problems in learn- and the prediction of academic performance. Journal of
ing disabled children. Bulletin of tbe Psychonomic Society, Learning Disabilities, 15, 155,159.
)t ) t->+. Stott, D. H., Henderson, S. E., & Moyes, F. A. (1987).
Miller, t. J. (1988). Miller Assessment for Prescboolers. Diagnosis and remediation of handwriting problems.
San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corp. Adapted Pbysical Actiuity Quarterly, 4, 137 147.
Nihei, Y. (1983). Developmental change in covert Strayer, J., & Ames, E,'W. (1972). Srimulus orientarion
principles for the organization of strokes in drawing and and the apparent developmental lag between perception
handwriting. Acta Psycbologica, 54, 221-232. and performance. Cbild Deuelopment, 43, 1345-1354.
Ryckman, D. 8., & Renrfrow, R. K. (1971). The Beery 'Wechsler, D. (1974). Wecbsler Intelligence Scale
for
Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration: An inves- Cbildren-Reuised New York: Psychological Corp.
tigation of reliability. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 4, Zaner-Bloser, Inc. (1982) . Handuriting. Columbus,
48-49. OH: Author.

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