Handwriting and spelling deficits are common struggles experienced by children with specific learning disabilities (SLD), but there is little evidence on interventions that target these areas for children with SLD. To systematically review the research investigating the effectiveness of handwriting and spelling interventions for children with SLD.…

This article was adapted from the E. L. Thorndike Address that I delivered at the August, 2019 meeting of the American Psychological Association in Chicago. I trace my career as an educational psychologist in the context of the enormous changes, both theoretical and societal, that occurred during my years as an active researcher. Reading, the…

Two important components of skill learning are the learning process itself (motor acquisition) and the ability to transfer what has been learned to new task variants (motor transfer). Many studies have documented age-related declines in the ability to learn new manual motor skills. In this study, I tested whether the degree of savings at transfer…

The study concerned the effects of induced interference, employing a backward masking paradigm, on the processing of sensory information and on the formation of perceptual-motor responses in 20 dyslexic and 20 normal children (mean age 8.2 years). (Author/PHR)

Thirty-five preschoolers, assigned to otitis media (OM) or no OM groups, were administered the Southern California Postrotary Nystagmus Test and the Miller Assessment for Preschoolers (MAP). Children with a history of OM had significantly decreased scores on the Stepping and Vertical Writing MAP tests, indicating vestibulospinal dysfunction. (SK)

A review of research since Ayers' (1972) report on sensory integration (SI) concludes that SI is not supported as an effective treatment for academic problems of children with learning disabilities. It is not clear whether SI is more effective than perceptual-motor approaches or maturation alone. (SK)

This study investigated the static balance performance of 20 nonhandicapped and 20 learning disabled male children in Texas by comparing mean distances of center of pressure displacement as measured by a forceplate. Specifically, mean displacements in the medial-lateral plane during five static balance tests were measured from a neutral starting…

Resistance applied to activities of rocking, creeping, and walking as a means to increase visual attention of students who are easily distracted is described. The resistance activities are said to result in improvement of gross motor coordination, oculomotor control, memory processes, and untimately, greater efficiency in academic learning. (CL)

Five children diagnosed as having a perceptual problem as revealed by the Bender Visual Motor Gestalt Test received special tutoring to help develop their visual discrimination abilities. The six-week program for teaching the concept of shapes employed kinesthetic, visual, tactile, and verbal processes. (CS)

Reprints an article originally published in this journal in March, 1971. Surveys research on motor and perceptual programs for children with severe reading disability, finding no demonstrated special effectiveness for any such programs that claim to prevent or correct reading disabilities. Recommends motor-perceptual programs as general additions…

The scores of 15 children (ages 5-10) with learning disabilities on the Test of Visual Perceptual Skills and the Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration revealed that visual perception and visual motor skills are separate, though related, functions and that visual motor scores were significantly lower than visual perception scores. (JDD)

A sample of 247 Educationally Handicapped (EH) children at ages 6-10 was investigated to determine the role of static balance impairment in learning disabilities and the possibility of improving reading through balance training. Significant correlations between balance ability and reading level were found in only about 40% of the sample,…

Research on the effectiveness of the Doman-Delacato method (which involves motor-sensory stimulation) for brain injured children was reviewed. (Author/SBH)

The position statement of the Council for Learning Disabilities' Board of Trustees opposes the measurement and training of perceptual and perceptual-motor functions as a part of learning disability services and recommends instead that assessment and remediation focus on the primary disorders of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, and…

Adapted from a paper presented at the 7th International ACLD Conference, Philadelphia, Pa. (February, 1970). A discussion of the importance of rhythm in perceptual processing. (Author/KW)