Use of computerized tests to evaluate psychomotor performance in children with specific learning disabilities in comparison to normal children

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Children with specific learning disabilities (SpLD) have an unexplained difficulty in acquiring basic academic skills resulting in a significant discrepancy between their academic potential and achievements. This study was undertaken to compare the performance on a battery of six psychomotor tests of children with SpLD and those without any learning disabilities (controls) using computerized tests. METHODS: In this study, 25 children with SpLD and 25 controls (matched for age, socio-economic status and medium of instruction) were given three training sessions over one week. Then children were asked to perform on the six computerized psychomotor tests. Results were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: Children with SpLD fared significantly worse on finger tapping test, choice reaction test, digit picture substitution test and card sorting test compared to the controls (P<0.05). INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSIONS: Children with SpLD have impairment of psychomotor skills like attention, sensory-motor coordination and executive functioning. Further research is needed to evaluate if the remedial education plan results in improvement in psychomotor performance of children with SpLD on these selected tests.