OBJECTIVE. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether an occupational therapy intervention improved an academic outcome (D’Nealian printing) in a school setting. The study specifically examined improvement in printing skills in economically disadvantaged first graders who were at risk academically and socially. The intervention was based on an occupational framework including biomechanical, sensorimotor, and teaching–learning strategies. METHOD. The final sample consisted of 59 first-grade children from a low socioeconomic urban elementary school-based health center who were randomly assigned to an occupational therapy intervention or a control condition. In addition to regular academic instruction, the intervention group received 10 weeks of training twice a week for 30-minute sessions. The control group received only regular academic instruction. Subjects were pretested and posttested on the Minnesota Handwriting Test, which assesses legibility, space, line, size, and form (the main variables in this study) as well as speed. RESULTS. Multivariate analysis of variance confirmed that the gain scores in the occupational therapy intervention group were significantly greater than those in the control group. The Hotelling-Lawley Trace value was 0.606, with F (5, 53) = 6.43, p < .0001). The estimated effect size (η²) was .378, with an observed power of .994. Largest gains for the intervention group were in the areas of space, line, and size. CONCLUSION. The intervention group demonstrated a significant increase in scores on the posttest of the Minnesota Handwriting Test when compared to the scores of the control group. Occupational intervention was effective in improving the academic outcome of printing in children who are economically disadvantaged.

Objective. The use of physical agent modalities is not considered an entry-level skill and requires postprofessional education, according to the American Occupational Therapy Association. The purpose of this survey was to determine how occupational therapy practitioners who use physical agent modalities are trained. Method. Two hundred fifty occupational therapists were randomly selected from the American Occupational Therapy Association’s Physical Disabilities Special Interest Section. The practitioners were surveyed about their use of, education in, competency testing for, and opinions on eight physical agent modalities. Result. Results were based on 100 responses (40% response rate). Of the eight modalities, the most commonly used were hot and cold packs, and the least were transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulators. The most common means of education was on-the-job training, and the least common was higher level accredited education. A majority (71) of respondents reported that no competency testing was being performed at their facilities. In the remaining facilities (29), the majority performed competency tests with no routine frequency, using no particular guidelines for testing and no formal methods for maintaining standards for physical agent modality use. Eighty-five respondents indicated they would be interested in attending continuing education programs on the use of physical agent modalities, and 88 believed that functional activities should follow the use of physical agent modalities within the same treatment session. Conclusion. The occupational therapy profession may need specific educational and competency guidelines to assure the qualifications of therapists using physical agent modalities.

Objectives. Adding purpose to daily occupations to promote performance is a basic premise of occupational therapy. This study investigated the hypothesis that in persons with hemiplegia, two added-purpose occupations would elicit more exercise repetitions than a rote exercise. Method. In a counterbalanced order, 21 subjects with hemiplegia, aged 51 to 78 years, experienced all three conditions of a dynamic standing balance exercise that involved bending down, reaching, standing up, and extending the arm. One condition of added purpose involved the use of materials (small balls and target); a second added-purpose condition involved the subjects’ imagination of the small balls. The third condition was the rote exercise without added purpose. Results. A one-way analysis of variance for related measures indicated that the subjects performed significantly differently in each of the three conditions (p < .001). A Tukey multiple comparison test revealed that the subjects did significantly more exercise repetitions in the added-materials condition and in the imagery-based condition than in the rote exercise condition (p < .05). Conclusion. This study demonstrates how added purpose can enhance motor performance in persons with hemiplegia. Purpose may be effectively added to an exercise through the use of materials or imagery.

Objective. The Touch Inventory for Elementary-School-Aged Children (TIE) is a self-report screening assessment for tactile defensiveness. The purpose of this study was to examine test–retest reliability of the TIE and to evaluate agreement between children’s TIE scores and scores that mothers gave their children on a modified version of the TIE. Method. Twenty-nine children, 6 to 12 years of age, were available for the test–retest portion of the study and were assessed with the TIE with a 1-week interval between sessions. Their mothers completed a modified version of the TIE. Results. Results indicated significant test–retest reliability ( r = .91, p < .001), although a more conservative Kappa indicated only moderate agreement. The correlation between mothers’ ratings and children’s ratings was less significant ( r = .56, p = .001), and Kappas were slight or fair, indicating considerable disagreement between mothers and children. Conclusion. These results suggest that using information from both mothers and children might provide a more complete picture of tactile defensiveness, but further research is needed before using a mother’s assessment when the TIE is implemented as a standard procedure.

Objectives. Occupational therapy authors frequently emphasize the importance of the use of objects in the development of motor skill. This study investigated the use of object-produced visual input in learning control of flexion and extension of an above-elbow training prosthesis. Method. Fifty-two male college students were randomly assigned to two training procedures: (a) two 1.5-min periods in which they used a flashlight attached to the hook of the prosthesis to connect dots on paper with light, or (b) the same time periods in which they had the opportunity to practice moving an equally weighted prosthesis, but without the light or dots. To assess motoric adaptation after training under one of the two conditions, each subject traced a continuous line through a maze with a pen attached to the hook. Deviations from the line were measured reliably. Results. Data analysis with a Mann-Whitney test revealed that subjects in the group that trained with added materials traced with significantly more skill than subjects in the other group (one-tailed U =225.5, p = .02). Conclusion. As predicted by occupational therapy theory, the object-produced visual input enhanced the learning of a motor skill relevant to rehabilitation. Although there is a need for more study across different occupations and populations, clinicians are urged to consider the possible benefits of the use of objects in the development of motor skills, as opposed to objectless exercise. Prosthetic training provides a useful context for future research addressing theoretical issues in motor learning.