Effectiveness of Handwriting Training Program on Handwriting Performance in Cerebral Palsy

Summary

Visual perception impairment and upper limb disability will affect the handwriting performance. Children with cerebral palsy (CP) who have good function on upper extremity may associated with visual perception impairment, which will impact the handwriting performance. However, there were few studies to investigate the handwriting problems in children with CP who have good upper limb functions. To date, there are no studies to investigate the effectiveness of computerized handwriting training programs on handwriting performance in children with CP. The aims of this study were to establish the relationships of visual perception, visual motor integration, and motor coordination of handwriting performance in children with typical development (TD) in Taiwan, to establish the norms of handwriting performance in children with TD in Taiwan, to compare handwriting performance in children with CP and children with TD, to clarify the relationship of visual perception function and handwriting performance in children with CP, and to examine the effectiveness of interactive computerized handwriting training program (ICHTP) on handwriting performance in children with CP.

The investigators will collect 90 children with TD and 48 children with CP in the 1st phase. All children will receive clinical and Chinese handwriting assessment tool (CHAT) assessments. The CHAT and ICHTP will be modified as Taiwan-version handwriting assessment tool and training programs for children in Taiwan, respectively. Clinical assessments include the visual perception, visual motor integration, fine motor skill, and handwriting performance. The CHAT assessed the handwriting legibility, accuracy, pen pressure and writing speed. In the 2nd phase, the investigators will collect 48 children with CP, who were randomly classified into ICHTP group and Traditional Handwriting Training Program (THTP). All children with CP will receive clinical and CHAT assessments before and after interventions.

The expected results of this study are the visual perception function is related to handwriting performance in children with CP, and the improvements in the handwriting legibility, accuracy, pen pressure and writing speed of ICHTP training group are greater than THTP training group.

Conditions

• Cerebral Palsy

Interventions

OTHER

interactive computerized handwriting training program

In ICHTP group, they received the training of visual-perception .visual-motor integration skill of children and modulate muscle strength of grasp through ICHTP software. The training program costs 45 min/once, three times/one week, and sustains four weeks.In traditional group, they received the training of paper-pencil activities with visual-perception and visual-motor integration skills. The training duration is as long as ICHTP group.

OTHER

traditional handwriting training program

The THTP group ,they received the training of paper-pencil activities with visual-perception and visual-motor integration skills

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Chang Gung Memorial Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Chia-Ling Chen, MD,PhD · Chang Gung Memorial Hospital

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

6 Years

Max Age

12 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2010-03-31

Primary Completion

2012-03-31

Completion

2015-02-28

Countries

• Taiwan

Study Locations