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ADHD, Medication and Handwriting

ADHD, Medication and Handwriting - www.YourTherapySource.com/blog1Journal of Attention Disorders published research on 49 children newly diagnosed with ADHD to determine how motor and attention skills influence handwriting performance.  The children were evaluated for handwriting performance before and after 3 months of stimulant use.

The results indicated the following:

1.  handwriting legibility and speed improved significantly at follow-up evaluation after the 3 months of stimulant use

2.  most of the children with legibility difficulties at baseline continued to demonstrate difficulties when evaluated 3 months after initiation of medication.

3.  change in handwriting legibility was best determined by improvements in visual-motor integration skills

4.  the change in speed did not appear to be consistently related to a single factor.

The researchers concluded that medication alone is not sufficient to help with handwriting difficulties in children with ADHD.

Reference:  Marie Brossard-Racine, Michael Shevell, Laurie Snider, Stacey Ageranioti Bélanger, Marilyse Julien, and Annette Majnemer.  Persistent Handwriting Difficulties in Children With ADHD After Treatment With Stimulant Medication.  Journal of Attention Disorders July 2015 19: 620-629, first published on November 15, 2012 doi:10.1177/1087054712461936

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