Fine motor function of school-aged children with dyslexia, learning disability and learning difficulties.

Abstract

Background: fine motor function of school-aged children with dyslexia, learning disabilities and learning difficulties.

Aim: this study aimed to characterize the fine motor, sensory and perceptive function of school-aged children with dyslexia, learning disabilities and learning difficulties and to correlate these results with the analysis of the children's handwriting.

Method: participants were 80 2nd to 4th graders, ranging in age from 7 to 12 years, of both genders, divided as follows: GI: composed of 20 students with dyslexia, GII: composed of 20 students with learning disabilities, GIII: composed of 20 students with learning difficulties and GIV: composed of 20 good readers. All of the children were submitted to an assessment of the fine motor, sensorial and perceptive functions using the Dysgraphia Scale.

Results: the results indicated that most groups presented a poor performance in tests of FMF7 (fingers opposition), S8 (graphestesia) and P1 (body imitation). GI and GII were the groups that presented the worst performance in most of the tests when compared to GIII and GIV. Regarding handwriting, it was observed that all of the children in GII are dysgraphics.

Conclusion: the presence of motor, sensorial and perceptive alterations is a characteristic of children with learning disabilities and dyslexia. However this characteristic may or may not be found in children with learning difficulties, therefore motor, sensorial and perceptive alterations are responsible for the dysgraphic behavior observed in the children with learning disabilities of the present study.