The relationship between visual—motor integration and handwriting skills in Arabic-speaking Egyptian children at the age of 4–6 years

Abstract

Abstract Background Handwriting is a complex perceptual-motor skill that is dependent on the maturation and integration of a number of cognitive, perceptual, and motor skills. Aim To examine the relationship between visual–motor skills and handwriting skills (HS) in Arabic-speaking Egyptian children at the age of 4–6 years. Patients and methods Overall, 200 typically developing kindergarten and primary school Arabic-speaking children, in the age range of 4–6 years, were tested using a constructed battery for assessment of both visual–motor integration (VMI) and HS. Results and conclusion Performance on both VMI and HS tasks improved with age. Moreover, the older the child was, the lesser the duration for completion of the tasks. Copying lines was found to be the best predictor of copying letters, copying words, and copying numbers. Reliability and validity of the designed VMI and HS assessment battery proved to be excellent. VMI is an important prerequisite for Arabic HS.

Keywords

• Arabic language
• handwriting skills
• learning disability
• visual–motor integration