Handwriting Intervention, SML vs. Conventional Occupational Therapy (OT), in a Junior High School — SML  

Developmental Dysgraphia Clinical Trial

Official title: Handwriting Intervention, With vs. Without a Rightward Bias, in a Junior High School-A Randomized Controlled Study

Status Completed

Clinical Trial Summary

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".

Clinical Trial Description

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. ;

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Agraphia
• Developmental Dysgraphia

• NCT number: NCT03514992
• Study type: Interventional
• Source: Teng, Mary H.
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: September 12, 2012
• Completion date: June 12, 2013