Developmental Dysgraphia Clinical Trial
Official title:
Effectiveness of a Handwriting Intervention With At-Risk Kindergarteners
The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness of an occupational therapy led handwriting intervention for special education and at-risk kindergarten students.
In spite of the increased use of computers and tablets by children of younger and younger
ages, handwriting remains an important skill for school success and continues to be a
critical skill for elementary school students to acquire. Beginning writers still do most of
their composing by hand, and difficulties with handwriting can have far-reaching effects on
a child's self esteem and academic success.
This study examined the effectiveness of an occupational therapy led handwriting
intervention for special education and at-risk kindergarten students. There is a tremendous
need for studies examining the outcomes of handwriting instruction provided to the at-risk
population, in order to determine whether outcomes are similar to those seen in the
typically developing population. There is also a need for studies that examine outcomes in
"real world" settings, in addition to those settings manipulated for experimental research.
Such studies may not be as "clean" as those in classic experimental research, however it is
imperative to examine outcomes in the settings that are occurring in today's schools.
At-risk children are increasingly being provided intensive interventions under an RtI model,
and children receiving special education services are increasingly being integrated into
less restrictive settings, thus creating classroom environments with a wide variety of
students needs.
The purpose of this study was to examine the outcomes of a handwriting intervention, the
Size Matters Handwriting Program (SMHP), provided to kindergarten children currently
receiving IEP or RtI interventions. This study attempted to answer the following research
questions:
1. Will at-risk kindergarteners (those children receiving IEP or RtI support)
participating in a 16 week, occupational therapy led handwriting SMHP intervention
group demonstrate significantly greater improvements in handwriting legibility than
children who do not receive the intervention?
2. Will at-risk kindergarteners, participating in a SMHP handwriting intervention, make
significantly greater gains in the pre-reading skills of letter-name recognition and
letter-sound recall, than students who do not receive the intervention?
The study incorporated a two group pre and post-test design. Both groups consisted of
kindergarten students receiving IEP and/or RtI support. An occupational therapist provided
biweekly group handwriting instruction using the Size Matters Handwriting Program to
students in the intervention group (n = 23), while the control group (n=12) received the
standard handwriting instruction.
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Allocation: Non-Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Treatment
| Status | Clinical Trial | Phase | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Completed |
NCT03903614 -
Sensory Motor Lateralization as Handwriting Intervention in School-Based OT
|
N/A | |
| Completed |
NCT03514992 -
Handwriting Intervention, SML vs. Conventional Occupational Therapy (OT), in a Junior High School
|
N/A |