Thesis (Doctoral)--Thüringischen Landesuniversität Jena, 1933.

Thesis (Doctoral)--Thüringischen Landesuniversität Jena, 1933.

Purpose: The primary aim of this research study was to establish whether a relationship exists between the visual-motor integration subtest when measured with the Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration, 4th edition, and the copying and eye-hand coordination subtests, when measured with the Developmental Test of Visual Perception, 2nd edition. The secondary aim of this research study was to establish whether handedness and gender have an effect on the relationship between these three perceptual-motor skills. Method: This retrospective cross-sectional study used retrospective data collected over a four-year-period, between 2009 and 2012, at a private occupational therapy practice in Tshwane East. The total sample size consisted of 106 participants that were referred for occupational therapy evaluations during the time period. The sample was divided into subgroups for grade, handedness and gender. Multivariable regression analysis was used to establish whether a relationship exists between visual-motor integration, copying and eye-hand coordination. Random-effects generalised least squares regression analysis was used to establish the effect of handedness and gender on the relationship between visual-motor integration, eye-hand coordination and copying. Results: Results indicated reasonable agreement between the subtests of visual-motor integration and copying. Poor agreement was established between the subtests of visual-motor integration and eye-hand coordination, and the subtests of copying and eye-hand coordination. Statistically significant relationships were established between visual-motor integration, eye-hand coordination and copying for the total sample and subgroups of Grade R and Grade 1. Shared variance of 52.1% was established between the visual-motor integration and the copying subtest. The relationship between visual-motor integration and eye-hand coordination weakened for Grade 1 participants. This was also observed in the relationship between copying and eye-hand coordination. No statistically significant results were obtained for handedness and gender with regard to the relationships between visual-motor integration, eye-hand coordination and copying. Conclusions: The results of the study indicated the importance of using all three subtests during occupational therapy evaluations. In view of the statistically significant relationships that were found to exist, the tests proved mutually supportive during occupational therapy evaluations. The negative relationship between visual-motor integration and eye-hand coordination for Grade 1 participants may be related to handwriting competency. Handedness and gender differences could not be related to the three perceptual-motor subtests. Limitations: Firstly, the study population and study setting posed limitations toward generalisability. Secondly, the retrospective study design proved some limitations pertaining to the measurement instruments, data collection tools and re-scoring of the measurement instruments. Recommendations: For more meaningful interpretations the study population should include children without developmental or school-related difficulties. This would aid toward better generalisability. A retrospective study design should be selected with caution. KEYWORDS: Perceptual-motor skills, visual-motor integration, eye-hand coordination, copying, handwriting, handedness, gender, Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration 4th edition, Developmental Test of Visual Perception 2nd edition. / Dissertation (MOccTher)-- University of Pretoria, 2016. / Occupational Therapy / Unrestricted

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / This study was conducted for the purpose of determining the effectiveness of a home-based motor activity program on children with Down syndrome 6 to 10 years of age. Twenty-six children with Down syndrome and their respective families participated in this twelve-week study. The Circles Of Learning instructional program was created, and fieldtested. The Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD) provided base-line data for measures of progress in fundamental motor skills. Parents were instructed in how to teach locomotor skills and object control skills as measured by the TGMD. The methods required seven distinct activities: the creation of an instructional manual; recruitment and instruction of project assistants; identification and recruitment of the subjects and their families; pretest and posttest assessment of subjects; instructional training of parents; and the twelve week intervention. The comparison (C) group received the Handwriting Without Tears program during the 12 week intervention period. When compared with the (C) group, all subjects in the experimental (E) group showed statistically significant improvement in the acquisition of fundamental motor skills as measured by the TGMD. Four (E) group subjects improved to the "average" range for typically developing children. Ten of the 11 (E) group subjects continued to improved their demonstrated fundamental motor skill performance two weeks after the intervention, while one subject maintained his gains. Weekly parent comments during the intervention gave testimony to the effectiveness of the intervention supporting primary and secondary gains for the subjects. Parents reported that interactions between family members and the subjects increased and fundamental motor skills improved during spontaneous unstructured play and during organized activities at home and at school. This study challenges the previous research suggesting children with Down syndrome need specialized motor development programs. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that the acquisition of fundamental motor skills for children with Down syndrome can be accelerated.

No description available.

Abstract The purpose of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of the teacher's approach to writing instruction and their view of fine motor development and fine motor difficulties for students in grades 1-3. By comparing a selection of teachers’ approaches to writing tuition and fine motor skills, with previous research it expects to gain a deeper understanding of the objective. In the study, qualitative semi-structured interviews and participant observation was used as a method. These interviews and observations were made with seven active Swedish teachers in grades 1-3. This gives an insight into teachers' views on fine motor skills and education, as well as how they see the adjustment of the writing instruction to students with fine motor difficulties. The results show that most of the teachers who participated in the study linked fine motor difficulties to the way students holding a pencil, as well as how they shape the letters. Most of the teachers say that they don´t practice fine motor exercises in the classroom, although the results shows that often it is done unconsciously. The first letter of the learning takes place mostly from a formal perspective. In most cases, when the first letter of the learning process is complete, the writing instruction, to some extent, starts from a functional perspective. / Sammanfattning Syftet med denna studie är att få en fördjupad förståelse för lärares förhållningssätt till skrivundervisning och deras syn på finmotorisk utveckling och finmotoriska svårigheter hos elever i årskurs 1-3. Genom att jämföra ett urval lärares förhållningssätt till skrivundervisning och finmotorik samt att jämföra detta med tidigare forskning förväntas en fördjupad förståelse för syftet att införskaffas. I studien har kvalitativa semistrukturerade intervjuer och deltagande observationer använts som metod. Dessa intervjuer samt observationer har skett med sju verksamma svensklärare i årskurs 1-3. Detta ger en inblick i lärarnas syn på finmotorik och skrivundervisning samt hur de ser på anpassning av skrivundervisning till elever med finmotoriska svårigheter. Resultatet visar att de flesta lärare som medverkat i studien kopplar finmotoriska svårigheter till hur eleverna håller i en penna och hur de formar bokstäver. Några uttalade finmotoriska övningar sker inte i klassrummet, ändå sker dessa övningar många gånger, men då omedvetet. Den första bokstavsinlärningen visar sig till största del ske utifrån ett formellt perspektiv. När den första bokstavsinlärningen är färdig så övergår skrivundervisningen, i de flesta fall, även med utgångspunkt ur ett funktionellt perspektiv.

Title: Motor performance of pupils with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Objectives: The aim of the work was to determine the level of fine and gross motor skills of upper extremities of the pupils with diagnosis ADHD at schools specialized on these pupils and compare it with the fine and gross motor skills of upper extremities of children without this diagnosis at common elementary school. Further work objective was to determine the level of gross motor skills of lower limbs and laterality of paired organs (hand - foot) within above mentioned groups of pupils. Methods: To determine the level of fine and gross motor skills of upper extremities, gross motor skills of lower limbs, laterality of the upper and lower extremities of the pupils with and without ADHD aged 9-11 years we used these types of tests: "Spiral", "Dotting test", "Beads" (the level of fine motor skills of the upper extremities); "Pack", "Small plate tapping", "Big plate tapping" (the level of gross motor skills of upper extremities); "Tapping the leg" (the level of gross motor skills of the lower limbs); "Typing out the Rhythm" (the laterality of the lower limbs); "Bell" and "Matches" (the laterality of the upper extremities). Results: The fine motor level of dominant hand was in the case of ADHD diagnosed pupils...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Tai Chi exercise on motor skills in older adults residing in independent living. Twenty-eight self-ambulatory older adults (age: 77 8.92; male: N = 1, female: N = 27) with no serious or restrictive health conditions, MMSE score 21, or recent surgery, completed this study. Participants engaged in one-hour biweekly Tai Chi exercise or BINGO sessions for eight weeks. Fine and gross motor skills were tested at four time-points throughout the study. Repeated measures 2x4 [2(Tai Chi exercise x BINGO) x 4(Baseline x Intraintervention x Post x Retention)] RM ANOVA was used with alpha of 0.05. Significant differences noted in fine motor function tasks (nondominant > dominant hand), and for the 6MWT, suggesting that Tai Chi exercise or BINGO may help older adults to perform activities of daily living, maintain independency, and gain a better quality of life.

Studien undersöker hur sju förskollärare tolkar och arbetar med barns motoriska träning i den pedagogiska verksamheten samt om hur de anser att barns motorik påverkar utveckling och lärande. Den empiriska undersökningen utgår från en kvalitativ ansats med semistruktuerade intervjuer utifrån två frågeställningar: Hur resonerar förskollärare om motorisk träning kopplat till barns utveckling och lärande? Samt På vilka sätt utmanas barnen till motorisk träning på förskolan, enligt förskollärarna?. Resultatet visar att majoriteten av förskollärarna uttrycker att motorisk träning vanligtvis sker via oplanerade aktiviteter och att fokus för planeringen ligger på andra mål i förskolans läroplan. Vidare visar resultatet på vikten av att vara närvarande för att upptäcka barns eventuella motoriska svårigheter i tidiga år i syfte att kunna stötta barnens vidareutveckling, enligt förskollärarnas utsagor. Det uttrycks även att förhållningsätt och kunskaper om motorik utgör gränser i arbetet med motoriska aktiviteter och att förskollärarna är medvetna om att motorik innehåller både fin- och grovmotorik, men att det praktiska arbetet skiljer sig åt genom att de nästan enbart beskriver ett grovmotoriskt arbete. / The study examines how seven preschool teachers interpret and work with children's motor training in the educational activities and how they believe that children's motor skills affect development and learning. The empirical study is based on a qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews based on two questions: How do preschool teachers reason about motor training linked to children's development and learning? And In what ways are children challenged to motor training in preschool, according to preschool teachers?. The results show that the majority of preschool teachers express that motor training usually takes place via unplanned activities and that the focus for planning is on other goals in the preschool curriculum. Furthermore, the results show the importance of being present to detect children's possible motor difficulties in the early years in order to be able to support the children's further development, according to the preschool teachers' statements. It is also stated that attitudes and knowledge about motor skills constitute limits in the work with motor activities and that preschool teachers are aware that motor skills contain both fine and gross motor skills, but that the practical work differs in that they almost only describe gross motor work.

Syftet med vår studie var att ge ett kunskapsbidrag till problemområdet motorik, utveckling och lärande med utgångspunkt från några pedagogers arbete med och förhållningssätt till fysiska aktiviteter och lärande i förskolan. Vi valde att genomföra en kvalitativ studie, där vi intervjuade sex verksamma förskollärare. Tidigare forskning har delade meningar om fysisk aktivitet och dess betydelse för barns lärande. Flera forskare konstaterar dock att det finns ett samband mellan motorik och lärande. Resultatet av studien visade att också verksamma pedagoger ser ett samband mellan motorik och lärande. Samtidigt visade studien andra faktorer som påverkar barns fysiska aktivitet och lärande, exempelvis miljön och sinnesorganen. Många av pedagogerna framhäver utomhusmiljön som en tillgång i arbetet med fysiska aktiviteter. Vid tillfällen som dessa, menar pedagogerna, tränas och stimuleras barns motoriska utveckling på ett naturligt sätt. Sammanfattningsvis upplever pedagogerna att motorik påverkar barn positivt; barnen blir rörligare, friskare och gladare.