Low-cost movement analysis in children with specific learning disorders: A two-case report

Abstract

In child rehabilitation, there is a need for assessment tools able to detect even small deficits and subtle changes in order to
plan and verify the rehabilitative programme. However, as current methods are mainly based on optoelectronic expensive
and non-portable devices, they tend to lack practicality and/or reliability and good validation. We present two cases of
children with a specific learning disorder involving writing skills; both received treatment to improve their motor and
visuomotor skills involved in the act of writing. In addition to neuropsychological testing, the assessment included a new noninvasive method, based on quantitative videoanalysis of arm movement during a maze task; moreover, parent and teacher
were interviewed. The low-cost method seems promising, but it seems to measure something different from the perception
of teachers and parents and from commonly used neuropsychological tests.
Keywords: Rehabilitation, child, visuomotor skills, neuropsychological tests.