Handwriting in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: Is Legibility the Only Indicator of a Poor Performance?

Research on the use of speed, as an indicator of motor handwriting problems, is controversial and the legibility of the text is the measure mostly examined in children. This case-control study compared handwriting legibility and speed in 25 children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and 75 typically developing peers matched by school grade (third and fourth grade). Children with DCD achieved significantly lower scores than their peers in both legibility and speed measures, overall and in the third and in the fourth grade independently. These measures represent a good insight into children's writing abilities and could be both used to screen and monitor.

Automated summary

This study compared handwriting legibility and speed between children with DCD and typically developing peers, finding that children with DCD scored significantly lower in both measures compared to their peers. These measures are valuable for screening and monitoring children's writing abilities.