Abstract

SILVA, Nadja Moreira da; BLASCOVI-ASSIS, Silvana Maria  and  CYMROT, Raquel. Down syndrome: manual dexterity and writing. Cad. Pós-Grad. Distúrb. Desenvolv. [online]. 2019, vol.19, n.1, pp. 144-162. ISSN 1519-0307.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5935/cadernosdisturbios.v19n1p144-162.

OBJECTIVE: To correlate performance in manual dexterity tests with writing tests performance in young children with typical development and Down syndrome development (DS). Methods: 30 children from both sexes ranging from 6 to 11 years old participated in this study, which 15 of them had typical development and 15 DS. They were evaluated in the following tests: Van Strien Handedness Questionnaire, Box and Block Test (BBT), Jebsen Taylor Hand Function Test (JTHFT) and School Achievement Test (SAT). RESULTS: Correlations were found to be positive between BTT and SAT and negative between JTHFT and SAT in typical development children, and better performance overall was associated with increase in age. DS children didn't show the same results however descriptive statistics indicates that children with better results in motor coordination tests generally had better performance at writing tests, these results didn't show correlation with age. Discussion: The current work's results converge with the literature, there is a positive relation between writing skills and manual dexterity however SAT and JTHFT tests were hard to apply in DS children due to their difficult in writing execution. CONCLUSION: The results in the present work shows the need in continuity of investigations concerning the correlation between writing skills and manual dexterity, as well as stimulation of manual function in therapeutic programs aimed at optimizing writing skills.

Keywords : Down syndrome; Motor skills; Handwriting; Child; Learning.

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