Children who attend School-Based Occupational Therapy (SBOT) show mixed dominance and a liable decreased in the structural and functional differentiation between the two hemispheres. The lack of right-left disparity has been found to link to mirror invariance, poor spatial organization, fragmentary reversals, and handwriting difficulty. This study intends to find out, whether, Sensory Motor Lateralization (SML), "With" a rightward bias, profits handwriting more than the conventional (CON) "Without".
10 to 30% of school children suffer handwriting difficulty. Many of them are eventually referred to SBOT for remedial intervention. Among these children, 70% show mixed dominance in their hand and/or leg use, and a likely functional and structural interhemispherical asymmetry reduction. This would make them right-left symmetrical. Learning, thus, may be challenged, because people who are right-left balanced would not have a consistent reference point to process the learning materials regularly in any pre-determined directions. They are, thus, prone to suffer mirror invariance, fragmentary reversal errors, and handwriting difficulty, especially with the fast and accurate construction of asymmetrical letters from memory. To enhance right-left disparity, dispel mirror invariance, and facilitate the automatized handwriting, SML preferentially belabors one's right eye, ear, hand and leg in therapy, that would greater engage the left hemisphere for its acclaimed vantages over learning. This study investigates, whether SML, wielding such a rightward bias, profits handwriting greater than CON.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
16
SML consists of supervised handwriting practice, fitness exercises, and fine motor speed drills that preferentially belabor a participant's right eye, ear, hand and leg during therapy.
CON consists of supervised handwriting practice, fitness exercises, and fine motor speed drills on the participant's dominant hand.
SML excels CON in manuscript letter legibility
Assess by the percent accuracy score of manuscript letter legibility derived from the Wold Sentence Copying Test (WSCT). TThe letter legibility score was calculated by counting the total number of letters the participant wrote minus the writing errors per THS-R criteria, divided by the total number of characters written, and multiplied by 100. The minimum is 0, and the maximum is 100. The higher values represent better treatment outcome.
Time frame: Change from Baseline percent accuracy score at 3 months
SML excels CON in script letter legibility
Assess by the percent accuracy score of script letter legibility derived from the Wold Sentence Copying Test (WSCT). The letter legibility score was calculated by counting the total number of letters the participant wrote minus the writing errors per THS-R criteria, divided by the total number of characters written, and multiplied by 100. The minimum is 0, and the maximum is 100. The higher values represent better treatment outcome.
Time frame: Change from Baseline percent accuracy score at 3 months
SML excels CON in manuscript transcription speed
Assess by WSCT.Speed was derived from the total number of letters written timed 60, divided by the total number of seconds used, and recorded as number of letters per minute. The minimum is 0, and there is no maximum. The higher values represent better treatment outcome.
Time frame: Change from Baseline letters per minute at 3 months
SML excels CON in script transcription speed
Assess by WSCT. Speed was derived from the total number of letters written timed 60, divided by the total number of seconds used, and recorded as number of letters per minute. The minimum is 0, and there is no maximum. The higher values represent better treatment outcome.
Time frame: Change from Baseline letters per minute at 3 months
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