This study examined preschool children's performance on a pursuit tracking task in relation to specific performance on motor and cognitive measures of preacademic skill development. Fifty children, ages 4.3 to 5.8 years were tested using the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP)and number/counting items. High and low performance groups were designated based on performance on the MAP, individual MAP spatial items as well as number/counting items. Groups were compared based on their performance on a pursuit tracking task. Results indicated that the low performance number/counting concept group demonstrated a significantly slower average response time, overshoot movement time and reaction time. These findings offer support for an underlying perceptual-motor difficulty in children exhibiting low scores on preacademic tasks of mathematical concepts. The low MAP and spatial groups demonstrated a significantly higher rate of overshoots, suggesting difficulty in processing visual spatial information.
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Category 315.40. Developmental coordination disorder. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed. revised), 53–55. Washington, D.C: Author.
2.
AyresJ.A. (1975). Sensorimotor foundations of academic ability. In CruickshankW.M.HallahanD.P. (Eds.), Perceptual and learning disabilities in children: Vol. 2. Research and theory (pp. 301–358). Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press.
3.
BrennerM.W.GilmanS.ZangwillO.L.FarrellM. (1967). Visuo-motor disability in schoolchildren. British Medical Journal, 4, 259–262.
4.
BuckL.LeonardoR.HydeF. (1981). Measuring impaired performance with the NRC stressalyser. Applied Ergonomics, 12, 231–236.
5.
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. (1991a). Occupational therapy guidelines for client-centered practice.Toronto, ON: CAOT Publications ACE.
6.
Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists. (1991b). Position paper on the role of occupational therapy in paediatrics.Toronto, ON: CAOT Publications ACE.
7.
CantellM.H.SmythM.M.AhonenT.P. (1994). Clumsiness in adolescence: Educational, motor, and social outcomes of motor delay detected at 5 years. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 11, 115–129.
8.
CermakS. (1985). Developmental dyspraxia. In RoyE.A. (Ed.), Neurological studies of apraxia and related disorders.Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.
9.
DareM.T.GordonN. (1970). Clumsy children: A disorder of perception and motor organisation. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 12, 178–185.
10.
DussartG. (1994). Identifying the clumsy child in school: An exploratory study. British Journal of Special Education, 21(2), 81–86.
11.
DwyerC.McKenzieB.E. (1994). Impairment of visual memory in children who are clumsy. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 11, 179–189.
12.
GeuzeR.H.BorgerH. (1993). Children who are clumsy: Five years later. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 10, 10–21.
13.
GordonN. (1977). Learning disorders: Some medical aspects. Acta Paediatrica Scandinavica, 66, 247–253.
GreenesC.E. (1979). The learning disabled child in mathematics. Focus on Learning Problems in Mathematics, 1, 5–11.
16.
GubbayS. (1978). The management of developmental apraxia. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 20, 643–646.
17.
GubbayS.EllisE.WaltonJ.N.CourtS.D.M. (1965). Clumsy children: A study of apraxic and agnosic defects in 21 children. Brain, 88, 295–312.
18.
HaubenstrickerJ.L. (1982). Motor development in children with learning disabilities. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 53, 44–46.
19.
HendersonS.E.BarnettA.HendersonL. (1994). Visuospatial difficulties and clumsiness: On the interpretation of conjoined deficits. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry, 35, 961–969.
20.
HendersonS.E.HallD. (1982). Concomitants of clumsiness in young schoolchildren. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 24, 448–460.
21.
HermelinB.O'ConnorN. (1986). Spatial representations in mathematically and in artistically gifted children. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 56, 150–157.
22.
HulmeC.BiggerstaffA.MoranG.McKinlayI. (1982). Visual, kinaesthetic and cross-modal judgements of length by normal and clumsy children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 24, 461–471.
JaffeE. (1986). The role of occupational therapy in disease prevention and health promotion. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 40, 749–752.
25.
JohnstoneB.GarciaL. (1994). Neuropsychological evaluation and academic implications for developmental coordination disorder: A case study. Developmental Neuropsychology, 10, 369–375.
26.
KarnesM.B.StoneburnerR.L. (1983). In. McKinneyJ.D.FeagansL. (Eds.), Current topics in learning disabilities.Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Publishing.
27.
KerrR.BlaisC. (1988). Directional probability information and Down syndrome. American Journal of Mental Retardation, 92, 531–538.
KnuckeyN.W.GubbayS.S. (1983). Clumsy children: A prognostic study. Australian Paediatric Journal, 19, 9–13.
30.
LarkinD.HoareD. (1992). The movement approach: A window to understanding the clumsy child. In SummersJ.J. (Ed.), Approaches to the study of motor control and learning (pp. 413–437). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science Publishers.
31.
LaszloJ.I.SainsburyK.M. (1993). Perceptual-motor development and prevention of clumsiness. Psychological Research, 55, 167–174.
32.
LordR.HulmeC. (1987). Perceptual judgements of normal and clumsy children. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 29, 250–257.
33.
LosseA.HendersonS.E.EllimanD.HallD.KnightE.JongmansM. (1991). Clumsiness in children - Do they grow out of it ? A 10-year follow-up study. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 33, 55–68.
34.
LyytinenH.AhonenT. (1989). Motor precursors of learning disabilities. In BakkerD.J.Van der VlugtD.J. (Eds.), Learning disabilities: Vol. 1. Neuropsychological correlates (pp. 35–43). Amsterdam: Swets & Zeitlinger.
35.
McKinlayI. (1988). Clumsy children. British Medical Journal, 296, 717.
36.
MattisonR.E.McIntyreC.W.BrownA.S.MurrayM.E. (1986). An analysis of visual-motor problems in learning disabled children. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 24, 51–54.
37.
MillerL.J. (1982). The Miller assessment for preschoolers.Littleton, CO: KID Foundation.
38.
MillerL.J. (1988). Miller assessment for preschoolers - manual (rev. edition).San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
39.
MillerL.J. (1990). Miller assessment for preschoolers-screen. (North American Standardization. Administration Manual.)San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.
40.
MissiunaC. (1994). Motor skill acquisition in children with developmental coordination disorder. Adapted Physical Activity Quarterly, 11, 214–235.
MurphyJ.B.GlinerJ.A. (1987). Visual and motor sequencing in normal and clumsy children. The Occupational Therapy Journal of Research, 8(2), 89–103.
43.
MurrayE.A.CermakS.O'BrienV. (1990). The relationship between form and space perception, constructional abilities, and clumsiness in children. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 44, 623–628.
44.
O'BrienV.CermakS.MurrayE. (1988). The relationship between visual-perceptual motor abilities and clumsiness in children with and without learning disabilities. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 42, 359–363.
45.
OzolsE.J.RourkeB.P. (1988). Characteristics of young learning-disabled children classified according to patterns of academic achievement: Auditory-perceptual and visual-perceptual abilities. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 17, 44–52.
46.
PavlidisG. (1986). The role of eye movements in the diagnosis of dyslexia. In PavlidisG.FisherD.F. (Eds.), Dyslexia: Its Neuropsychology and Treatment (pp. 97–110). Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
47.
PolatajkoH.J.FoxA.M.MissiunaC. (1995). National perspective. An international consensus on children with developmental coordination disorder. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 62, 3–6.
48.
PolatajkoH.J.MacnabJ.J.AnstettB.Malloy-MillerT.MurphyK.NohS. (1995). A clinical trial of the process-oriented treatment approach for children with developmental co-ordination disorder. Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology, 37, 310–319.
49.
RourkeB.P. (1989). Nonverbal learning disabilities: The syndrome and the model.New York: Guilford Press.
50.
RourkeB.P.FinlaysonM.A.J. (1978). Neuropsychological significance of variations in patterns of academic performance: Verbal and visual spatial abilities. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 6, 121–133.
51.
RourkeB.P.StrangJ.D. (1978). Neuropsychological significance of variations in patterns of academic performance: Motor, psychomotor and tactile perception abilities. Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 3, 212–225.
52.
RoussounisS.H.GaussenT.H.StrattonP. (1987). A 2-year follow-up study of children with motor coordination problems identified at school entry age. Child: Care, Health and Development, 13, 377–391.
53.
SchoemakerM.M.HijlkemaM.G.J.KalverboerA.F. (1994). Physiotherapy for clumsy children: An evaluation study. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 36, 143–155.
54.
SovikN.MaelandA.F. (1986). Children with motor problems (clumsy children). Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 30, 39–53.
55.
StephensonE.McKayC.ChessonR. (1990). An investigative study of early developmental factors in children with motor/learning difficulties. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 53(1), 4–6.
56.
TartreL.A. (1990). Spatial orientation skill and mathematical problem solving. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 21, 216–229.
