A Composite Methodology for Supporting Early-Detection of Handwriting Dysgraphia via Big Data Analysis Techniques

Handwriting difficulties represent a common cause of underachievement in children’s education and low self-esteem in daily life. Since proper handwriting teaching methods can reduce dysgraphia problems, the evaluation of these methods represents an important task. In this paper a methodology to compare visual and spatio-temporal teaching methods is proposed and applied in order to assess the influence of different teaching approaches on handwriting performance, via big data analysis techniques. Data was collected from children in their final years of primary school, when cursive writing skills have typically been mastered. Qualitative and kinematic parameters were considered: the former were calculated by means of quality checklists, whereas the latter were automatically extracted from digitizing tablet acquisitions. Results showed significant differences in pupils’ handwriting depending on the teaching method applied.

[1]  Alfredo Cuzzocrea,et al.  Privacy and Security of Big Data: Current Challenges and Future Research Perspectives , 2014, PSBD '14.

[2]  Gerard P. van Galen,et al.  On-line size control in handwriting demonstrates the continuous nature of motor programs , 1998 .

[3]  S. Rosenblum,et al.  Relationships between handwriting performance and organizational abilities among children with and without dysgraphia: a preliminary study. , 2010, Research in developmental disabilities.

[4]  B. Smits-Engelsman,et al.  Fine motor deficiencies in children diagnosed as DCD based on poor grapho-motor ability. , 2001, Human movement science.

[5]  A. W. Blöte,et al.  A Longitudinal Study on Dysgraphic Handwriting in Primary School , 1993, Journal of learning disabilities.

[6]  M. Coltheart.  Lexical access in simple reading tasks , 1978 .

[7]  U. Frith.  Beneath the Surface of Developmental Dyslexia , 2017 .

[8]  Heather Carnahan,et al.  Effect of pencil grasp on the speed and legibility of handwriting in children. , 2012, The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

[9]  Betty Shrieber,et al.  Word Processing as an Assistive Technology Tool for Enhancing Academic Outcomes of Students with Writing Disabilities in the General Classroom , 2004, Journal of learning disabilities.

[10]  Gerard P. van Galen,et al.  Handwriting: Issues for a psychomotor theory ☆ , 1991 .

[11]  N. Rubin,et al.  Two sides of the same coin: variations in teaching methods and failure to learn to write. , 2007, Special education: forward trends.

[12]  R. Karlsdottir,et al.  Problems in Developing Functional Handwriting , 2002, Perceptual and motor skills.

[13]  Mario Cannataro,et al.  A Probabilistic Approach to Model Adaptive Hypermedia Systems , 2001, WebDyn@ICDT.

[14]  C. Missiuna,et al.  Children's Perceptions of the Impact of Developmental Coordination Disorder on Activities of Daily Living , 2005 .

[15]  M. Coltheart.  Disorders of reading and their implications for models of normal reading. , 1981 .

[16]  Alfredo Cuzzocrea,et al.  Analytical Synopses for Approximate Query Answering in OLAP Environments , 2004, DEXA.

[17]  Mariangela Genna,et al.  Development, maturation and learning influence on handwriting kinematics. , 2013, Human movement science.

[18]  K. Feder,et al.  Handwriting development, competency, and intervention , 2007, Developmental medicine and child neurology.

[19]  Klaus W. Lange,et al.  Graphonomics, Automaticity and Handwriting Assessment. , 2008 .

[20]  T. Chau,et al.  Changes in kinetics and kinematics of handwriting during a prolonged writing task in children with and without dysgraphia. , 2011, Research in developmental disabilities.

[21]  U Hegerl,et al.  Kinematic analysis of handwriting movements in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder , 2001, Journal of neurology, neurosurgery, and psychiatry.

[22]  Réjean Plamondon,et al.  A New Algorithm and System for the Characterization of Handwriting Strokes with Delta-Lognormal Parameters , 2009, IEEE Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.

[23]  Pierluigi D'Antrassi,et al.  A New Approach for Objective Evaluation of Writing Quality , 2015 .

[24]  D. Margolin.  The neuropsychology of Writing and Spelling: Semantic, Phonological, Motor, and Perceptual Processes , 1984, The Quarterly journal of experimental psychology. A, Human experimental psychology.

[25]  Y. Guiard.  Asymmetric division of labor in human skilled bimanual action: the kinematic chain as a model. , 1987, Journal of motor behavior.

[26]  Heather Carnahan,et al.  Writing forces associated with four pencil grasp patterns in grade 4 children. , 2013, The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association.

[27]  Jane Taylor,et al.  Handwriting: Theory, Research and Practice , 1987 .

[28]  Agostino Accardo,et al.  A device for quantitative kinematic analysis of children’s handwriting movements , 2007 .

[29]  G P Van Galen,et al.  Dysgraphia in children: lasting psychomotor deficiency or transient developmental delay? , 1997, Journal of experimental child psychology.

[30]  E. Thelen.  Time-scale dynamics and the development of an embodied cognition , 1996 .

[31]  S. Graham,et al.  Is handwriting causally related to learning to write? Treatment of handwriting problems in beginning writers , 2000 .

[32]  E. Thelen,et al.  Hand, mouth and brain. The dynamic emergence of speech and gesture , 1999 .

[33]  Gerard P. van Galen,et al.  Chapter 4 Handwriting as A Motor Task: Experimentation, Modelling, and Simulation , 1992 .

[34]  A F Maeland,et al.  Handwriting and Perceptual-Motor Skills in Clumsy, Dysgraphic, and ‘Normal’ Children , 1992, Perceptual and motor skills.

[35]  Alfonso Caramazza,et al.  Cognitive analysis of a case of pure dysgraphia , 1985, Brain and Language.

[36]  T. Saaty,et al.  The Analytic Hierarchy Process , 1985 .

[37]  Giuseppe Favretto,et al.  Ergonomia della formazione , 1999 .

[38]  S. Chow,et al.  Perceptual-motor function of school-age children with slow handwriting speed. , 2000, The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association.