Exploratory Investigation of Handwriting Disorders in School-Aged Children from First to Fifth Grade
Handwriting disorders (HDs) are prevalent in school-aged children, with significant interference with academic performances. The current study offers a transdisciplinary approach with the use of normed and standardized clinical assessments of neuropsychomotor, neuropsychological and oculomotor funct...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Children |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/9/1512 |
| _version_ | 1797580738319613952 |
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| author | Clémence Lopez Laurence Vaivre-Douret |
| author_facet | Clémence Lopez Laurence Vaivre-Douret |
| author_sort | Clémence Lopez |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Handwriting disorders (HDs) are prevalent in school-aged children, with significant interference with academic performances. The current study offers a transdisciplinary approach with the use of normed and standardized clinical assessments of neuropsychomotor, neuropsychological and oculomotor functions. The aim is to provide objective data for a better understanding of the nature and the etiology of HDs. Data from these clinical assessments were analyzed for 27 school-aged children with HD (first to fifth grade). The results underline a high heterogeneity of the children presenting HDs, with many co-occurrences often unknown. However, it was possible to highlight three levels of HDs based on BHK scores: mild HD not detected by the BHK test (26% of children), moderate HD (33%) and dysgraphia (41% of children). The mild nature of the HDs not detected by the BHK test appears to occur at a relatively low frequency of the associated disorders identified during clinical evaluations. On the contrary, dysgraphia appears to be associated with a high frequency of co-occurring disorders identified in the clinical assessment, with a predominance of oculomotor disorders (55% of children), leading to visual-perceptual difficulties and a high level of handwriting deterioration. Finally, children with moderate HD have fewer co-occurrences than children with dysgraphia, but have more difficulties than children with mild HD. This highlights the importance of differentiating between different degrees of HDs that do not respond to the same semiologies. Our findings support the interest in performing a transdisciplinary and standardized clinical examination with developmental standards (neuropsychomotor, neuropsychological and oculomotor) in children with HD. Indeed, HDs can therefore be associated with a multitude of disorders of different natures ranging from poor coordination of the graphomotor gesture to a more general and more complex impairment affecting perceptual-motor, cognitive and/or psycho-affective functions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:55:10Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4fa8d820c6d441969ba5bca2d12ba0fb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-9067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:55:10Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Children |
| spelling | doaj.art-4fa8d820c6d441969ba5bca2d12ba0fb2023-11-19T10:03:33ZengMDPI AGChildren2227-90672023-09-01109151210.3390/children10091512Exploratory Investigation of Handwriting Disorders in School-Aged Children from First to Fifth GradeClémence Lopez0Laurence Vaivre-Douret1Unit 1018-CESP, PsyDev/NDTA Team, National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), Faculty of Medicine, University of Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, 91190 Villejuif, FranceUnit 1018-CESP, PsyDev/NDTA Team, National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), Faculty of Medicine, University of Paris-Saclay, UVSQ, 91190 Villejuif, FranceHandwriting disorders (HDs) are prevalent in school-aged children, with significant interference with academic performances. The current study offers a transdisciplinary approach with the use of normed and standardized clinical assessments of neuropsychomotor, neuropsychological and oculomotor functions. The aim is to provide objective data for a better understanding of the nature and the etiology of HDs. Data from these clinical assessments were analyzed for 27 school-aged children with HD (first to fifth grade). The results underline a high heterogeneity of the children presenting HDs, with many co-occurrences often unknown. However, it was possible to highlight three levels of HDs based on BHK scores: mild HD not detected by the BHK test (26% of children), moderate HD (33%) and dysgraphia (41% of children). The mild nature of the HDs not detected by the BHK test appears to occur at a relatively low frequency of the associated disorders identified during clinical evaluations. On the contrary, dysgraphia appears to be associated with a high frequency of co-occurring disorders identified in the clinical assessment, with a predominance of oculomotor disorders (55% of children), leading to visual-perceptual difficulties and a high level of handwriting deterioration. Finally, children with moderate HD have fewer co-occurrences than children with dysgraphia, but have more difficulties than children with mild HD. This highlights the importance of differentiating between different degrees of HDs that do not respond to the same semiologies. Our findings support the interest in performing a transdisciplinary and standardized clinical examination with developmental standards (neuropsychomotor, neuropsychological and oculomotor) in children with HD. Indeed, HDs can therefore be associated with a multitude of disorders of different natures ranging from poor coordination of the graphomotor gesture to a more general and more complex impairment affecting perceptual-motor, cognitive and/or psycho-affective functions.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/9/1512handwriting disordersdysgraphiachildrensemiologyneuropsychomotor assessmentneuropsychological assessment |
| spellingShingle | Clémence Lopez Laurence Vaivre-Douret Exploratory Investigation of Handwriting Disorders in School-Aged Children from First to Fifth Grade Children handwriting disorders dysgraphia children semiology neuropsychomotor assessment neuropsychological assessment |
| title | Exploratory Investigation of Handwriting Disorders in School-Aged Children from First to Fifth Grade |
| title_full | Exploratory Investigation of Handwriting Disorders in School-Aged Children from First to Fifth Grade |
| title_fullStr | Exploratory Investigation of Handwriting Disorders in School-Aged Children from First to Fifth Grade |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploratory Investigation of Handwriting Disorders in School-Aged Children from First to Fifth Grade |
| title_short | Exploratory Investigation of Handwriting Disorders in School-Aged Children from First to Fifth Grade |
| title_sort | exploratory investigation of handwriting disorders in school aged children from first to fifth grade |
| topic | handwriting disorders dysgraphia children semiology neuropsychomotor assessment neuropsychological assessment |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9067/10/9/1512 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT clemencelopez exploratoryinvestigationofhandwritingdisordersinschoolagedchildrenfromfirsttofifthgrade AT laurencevaivredouret exploratoryinvestigationofhandwritingdisordersinschoolagedchildrenfromfirsttofifthgrade |