Thesis (Ph.D.), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, 2009 / The purpose of this study was to assess the improvement of scissor skills after a graded scissor skills program in preschool children in South Africa (SA). A bilateral fine motor skills assessment tool was developed for use in this research. This task-based assessment included every day activities required at school as well as personal management items. This research phase included the development of the test items and test instructions, scoring as well as validity and reliability testing of the assessment. A suitable scissor skills program was then developed for Grade 0 children in South Africa. The program was validated by a pilot study and also by a focus group of occupational therapists. Some changes were made to the picture selection, the grading of the program, as well as to teacher instructions on how to present the program before it was finalised and ready for use in the implementation phase of the research study. The implementation phase of the study included the individual assessment of 149 learners (mean age of 5 years 6 months), from three different schools in South Africa. The main aim was to establish the effectiveness of the scissor skills program by measuring skill improvement, transferability of skills and skill retention. A further aim was to compare the difference of skill levels of learners from various socio-economic backgrounds in South Africa. The results showed statistically significant improvement in scissor skills in all groups from the three different schools, as well as an ability to retain the learnt skills. Participants from lower socio-economic backgrounds demonstrated the least skill initially but made the greatest gains during the program, at times decreasing the gap between themselves and other participants. It was concluded that children benefited from a graded scissor skills program, which allowed them to improve and retain their scissor skills but improvement did not transfer to other fine motor tasks.

This thesis is occupied with the issues of development of the fine motor skills and graphomotorics of an individual suffering from the central mobility disorder. The main aim of the thesis is to discover and describe what development possibilities of these abilities and skills are. The theoretical part deals with basic terms related to diagnosis of Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) and its rehabilitation options. There are also described the fine motor skills, graphomotorics, grasping process, classification of grasps and their development. There is a separate chapter that is engaged only with development of the fine motor skills and graphomotorics. The thesis also contains evaluation surveys that are applied in practice and that are important for comparison before and after a therapeutic intervention. The practical part is based on qualitative oriented methodology and it operates with data gained from five case studies. Based on comparison of values gained from the entry and control examinations, particular data have been elaborated. It was discovered from the performed research that it had come up to improvement of the fine motor skills as well as graphomotorics by use of various therapeutic methods. Each method had been chosen in accordance with the client's current condition and their individual...

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...

Thesis (M.A. (Psychology)) --University of Limpopo, 2004. / The purpose of this study was to investigate whether poor motor skills are associated with ADHD. Afrikaans speaking primary school children were screened for ADHD with the Disruptive Behaviour Disorder scale (DBD). They were matched for gender and age with a normal group without ADHD symptoms. The children (31 ADHD and 31 Controls) were assessed for fine motor skills on three instruments: the Grooved pegboard, Maze co­ ordination and Finger tapping tests. To some degree all three tests of fine motor skills revealed poorer performances in the ADHD group than in the normal group. The finger­ tapping test showed the least discrimination between the groups. The girls performed significantly poorer on all tests. There were statistically significant effects of hand dominance. Results show that tests for fine motor skills discriminate between children with ADHD and normal comparisons. These results appear to support the hypothesis that poor motor skills are associated with ADHD.

Insultas – ūminis fokalinis galvos smegenų ar tinklainės kraujotakos nepakankamumas, pasireiškiantis židininiais neurologiniais simptomais, trunkančiais ilgiau kaip 24 valandas [9]. Insultas yra ne tik didelė socialinė, bet ir ekonominė problema. Išsivysčiusių šalių duomenimis, 50% persirgusių insultu žmonių lieka laikinai arba nuolat neįgalūs, apie 10% reikia slaugos ir tik 20% ligonių vėl būna darbingi [4]. Ergoterapijos taikymas, atsižvelgiant į vyraujančius veiklos sutrikimus, yra neatskiriama kompleksinės reabilitacijos dalis. Ergoterapeutas yra reabilitacijos komandos narys, todėl nuolat konsultuodamasis su kitais jos nariais gali parinkti tinkamas ligoniui ergoterapijos priemones bei metodiką [7]. Apibendrinant literatūros duomenis galima pasakyti, kad ankstyvas ir kartojamas rankos aktyvinimas lėmė kliniškai svarbų, ilgai išliekantį poveikį. Ligoniai po GSI turėtų būti drąsinami, skatinami intensyviai lavinti pažeistą ranką [22]. Tyrimas buvo atliktas Apskrities ligoninės ir Kauno antros klinikinės ligoninės fizinės medicinos ir reabilitacijos poskyriuose. Tyrime dalyvavo 30 ligonių, patyrusių galvos smegenų infarktą, iš jų 11 (37%) vyrų ir 19 (63%) moterų. Ligonių amžiaus vidurkis – 70,5 ± 1,7 metų. Vyrų amžiaus vidurkis buvo 63,6 ± 2,9 metų, moterų amžiaus vidurkis buvo 74,5 ± 1,5 metų. Visiems tyrime dalyvavusiems ligoniams buvo nustatytas smulkiosios motorikos sutrikimas. Ligoniai buvo atrinkti naudojant ergoterapeuto apklausos anketą, kurią sudarė 10 užduočių... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Stroke is sudden deficiency of blood circulation in brain that shows itself in focal neurological symptoms lasting more than 24 hours [9]. Stroke is not only social but and economic problem. Due to economicaly developed countrys data approximately 50% patients after stroke statys disabled temporary or for a life time, 10% needs nursing and only 20% patients can work again [4]. Occupational therapy is a inseperable part of rehabilitation. Occupational therapist is a member of a rehabilitation team therefore by consulting with other team member he can choose the best devices and methodics for the patient [7]. In concluding the literature it should be said that early and repetitive activation of the hand can cause clinicaly important and long lasting effect. Patients after stroke should be encouraged to train the affected arm [22]. This research was accomplished at District hospital and 2-nd Kaunas clinical hospital corporal medical department. There were tested 30 patients: 11 (37%) men and 19 (63%) women. The patients age average was – 70,5 ± 1,7 years. Mens age average was 63,6 ± 2,9 years and womens age average was – 74,5 ± 1,5 years. All patients who took part in this research were right-habded and had disorder of fine motor skills. For this research patients were screened by using a questionnaire. This questionnaire consisted of 10 tasks which helped occupational therapist to assess fine motor skills. The assessment of fine motor skills was done when the patients... [to full text]

Background/Aims: In an investigation of the functional impact of amblyopia on children, the fine motor skills, perceived self-esteem and eye movements of amblyopic children were compared with that of age-matched controls. The influence of amblyogenic condition or treatment factors that might predict any decrement in outcome measures was investigated. The relationship between indirect measures of eye movements that are used clinically and eye movement characteristics recorded during reading was examined and the relevance of proficiency in fine motor skills to performance on standardised educational tests was explored in a sub-group of the control children. Methods: Children with amblyopia (n=82; age 8.2 ± 1.3 years) from differing causes (infantile esotropia n=17, acquired strabismus n=28, anisometropia n=15, mixed n=13 and deprivation n=9), and a control group of children (n=106; age 9.5 ± 1.2 years) participated in this study. Measures of visual function included monocular logMAR visual acuity (VA) and stereopsis assessed with the Randot Preschool Stereoacuity test, while fine motor skills were measured using the Visual-Motor Control (VMC) and Upper Limb Speed and Dexterity (ULSD) subtests of the Brunicks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency. Perceived self esteem was assessed for those children from grade 3 school level with the Harter Self Perception Profile for Children and for those in younger grades (preschool to grade 2) with the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Acceptance for Young Children. A clinical measure of eye movements was made with the Developmental Eye Movement (DEM) test for those children aged eight years and above. For appropriate case-control comparison of data, the results from amblyopic children were compared with age-matched sub-samples drawn from the group of children with normal vision who completed the tests. Eye movements during reading for comprehension were recorded by the Visagraph infra-red recording system and results of standardised tests of educational performance were also obtained for a sub-set of the control group. Results Amblyopic children (n=82; age 8.2 ± 1.7 years) performed significantly poorer than age-matched control children (n=37; age 8.3 ± 1.3 years) on 9 of 16 fine motor skills sub-items and for the overall age-standardised scores for both VMC and ULSD items (p<0.05); differences were most evident on timed manual dexterity tasks. The underlying aetiology of amblyopia and level of stereoacuity significantly affected fine motor skill performance on both items. However, when examined in a multiple regression model that took into account the inter-correlation between visual characteristics, poorer fine motor skills performance was only associated with strabismus (F1,75 = 5.428; p =0. 022), and not with the level of stereoacuity, refractive error or visual acuity in either eye. Amblyopic children from grade 3 school level and above (n=47; age 9.2 ± 1.3 years), particularly those with acquired strabismus, had significantly lower social acceptance scores than age-matched control children (n=52; age 9.4 ± 0.5 years) (F(5,93) = 3.14; p = 0.012). However, the scores of the amblyopic children were not significantly different to controls for other areas related to self-esteem, including scholastic competence, physical appearance, athletic competence, behavioural conduct and global self worth. A lower social acceptance score was independently associated with a history of treatment with patching but not with a history of strabismus or wearing glasses. Amblyopic children from pre-school to grade 2 school level (n=29; age = 6.6 ± 0.6 years) had similar self-perception scores to their age-matched peers (n=20; age = 6.4 ± 0.5 years). There were no significant differences between the amblyopic (n=39; age 9.1 ± 0.9 years) and age-matched control (n = 42; age = 9.3 ± 0.38 years) groups for any of the DEM outcome measures (Vertical Time, Horizontal Time, Number of Errors and Ratio (Horizontal time/Vertical time)). Performance on the DEM did not significantly relate to measures of VA in either eye, level of binocular function, history of strabismus or refractive error. Developmental Eye Movement test outcome measures Horizontal Time and Vertical Time were significantly correlated with reading rates measured by the Visagraph for both reading for comprehension and naming numbers (r>0.5). Some moderate correlations were also seen between the DEM Ratio and word reading rates as recorded by Visagraph (r=0.37). In children with normal vision, academic scores in mathematics, spelling and reading were associated with measures of fine motor skills. Strongest effect sizes were seen with the timed manual dexterity domain, Upper Limb Speed and Dexterity. Conclusions Amblyopia may have a negative impact on a child’s fine motor skills and an older child’s sense of acceptance by their peers may be influenced by treatment that includes eye patching. Clinical measures of eye movements were not affected in amblyopic children. A number of the outcome measures of the DEM are associated with objective recordings of reading rates, supporting its clinical use for identification of children with slower reading rates. In children with normal vision, proficiency on clinical measures of fine motor skill are associated with outcomes on standardised measures of educational performance. Scores on timed manual dexterity tasks had the strongest association with educational performance. Collectively, the results of this study indicate that, in addition to the reduction in visual acuity and binocular function that define the condition, amblyopes have functional impairment in childhood development skills that underlie proficiency in everyday activities. The study provides support for strategies aimed at early identification and remediation of amblyopia and the co-morbidities that arise from abnormal visual neurodevelopment.

This diploma thesis is focused on children with grafomotorics problems at preschool age, especially on inappropriate grip of handwriting tools. The target was to put together and implement in practice the intervention programme focused on fine motor skills development. Based on the results of testing tasks evaluating the degree of children grafomotorics skills the three significant groups were made. The first group (control group) was comprised of children without noticeable grafomotorics skills problems. The other two groups were comprised of children with grafomotorics skills problems (experimental groups). One of the experimental group was target of mentioned tranining programme for fine motor skills development. At the programme end all three significant groups were again examined by criterion-referenced test. The impact of intervention programme and its implementation in practice under everyday conditions of nursery school was discussed.

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.

I Lgr 22 under kunskapskravet i svenska för åk 3 uttrycks det att eleverna ska kunna skriva med en läslig handstil men det framkommer inte vad en läslig handstil innebär samt på vilket sätt en sådan undervisning ska bedrivas. Studiens syfte är därför att studera hur speciallärare arbetar för att stödja elever med finmotoriska skrivsvårigheter när det gäller handstil och om de upplever något samband mellan finmotoriska svårigheter och dyslexi. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och utgår från det sociokulturella perspektivet. Åtta speciallärare deltog i semistrukturerade intervjuer som sedan analyserades tematiskt. Studiens resultat visar att enligt de intervjuade speciallärarna ökar en varierad undervisning med olika material elevernas motivation till att skriva. Vidare lyfter speciallärarna fram hur rätt ergonomi påverkar eleven positivt, både gällande handstil och uthållighet i skrivandet. I resultatet framför speciallärarna att de saknar tid till särskilt stöd i att stödja elevernas handstilsutveckling. Det saknas därför även dokumentation i åtgärdsprogram av elevers finmotoriska handstilssvårigheter.