Tradução e adaptação transcultural do Minnesota Handwriting Assessment para aplicação no Brasil

Writing is a typical hand human skill, which is essential for individuals to integrate and adapt to the social environment. It is a fairly complex skill that involves a combination of perceptual, motor, kinesthetic and cognitive components. The assessment of writing is one of the several challenges encountered by teachers in the literacy process. The present study aimed to validate and adapt transculturally, for the Brazilian context, the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment (MHA), an instrument developed by Judith Reisman and used in the United States of America. Participated in the study 448 children enrolled in the 2nd and 3rd school years from the public school system and two school teachers who served as examiners. The validation method proposed was the Cross-Cultural Adaptation and was applied for the validation only of the discrete D’Nealian style of handwriting. First, the equivalence of concepts, semantics and resulting idiomatic translation and retranslation of the MHA was done. Then, trustworthiness of this instrument for assessing the quality of the writing was verified. Next, children were asked to copy a sentence with all letters of the Brazilian alphabet. Finally, two teachers applied the adapted instrument for validation. The Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) for the trustworthiness test-retest was 0.92 for readability, 0.90 for form, 0.99 for alignment and 0.89 for spacing, being significant in all categories. With respect to reliability among evaluators, the ICC was 0.89 for readability, 0.99 for alignment, 0.98 for size, and 0.90 for spacing, reaching level of significance in these categories. The ICC 0,53 of form category did not reach level of significance what can be related to variability of the handwriting pattern of the Brazilian children. The cross-cultural adaptation proposed and the satisfactory results obtained from the validation of the discrete D’Nealian style of handwriting allow for the statement...A escrita é uma habilidade manual típica do ser humano, indispensável para que o indivíduo se integre e se adapte ao meio social. É uma habilidade bastante complexa que envolve uma combinação de componentes perceptivos, motores, cinestésicos e cognitivos. A avaliação da escrita é o primeiro desafio encontrado pelas professoras que atuam no processo de alfabetização. O presente estudo teve como objetivo validar e adaptar transculturalmente, para o contexto brasileiro, o Minnesota Handwriting Assessment (MHA), instrumento elaborado por Judith Reisman e utilizado nos Estados Unidos da América do Norte para avaliação da qualidade da escrita manual. Participaram do estudo 448 crianças matriculadas nos 2º e 3º anos do sistema público de ensino e duas professoras de escola que foram examinadoras. O método de validação proposto foi o “Cross-Cultural Adaptation” e a validação foi feita com base no estilo de escrita de forma. Em um primeiro momento, foi realizada a equivalência de conceitos, semântica e idiomática resultantes da tradução e retradução do MHA. A seguir, a fidedignidade desse instrumento de avaliação da qualidade da escrita foi verificada pelo Coeficiente de Correlação Intraclasse (CCI). Posteriormente, as crianças foram solicitadas a copiar uma frase com todas as letras do alfabeto brasileiro. Finalmente, duas professoras aplicaram o instrumento traduzido e adaptado para validação do mesmo. O CCI do teste-reteste foi 0,92 para legibilidade, 0,90 para forma, 0,99 para alinhamento e 0,89 para espaçamento, sendo significativo em todas as categorias. Com relação a fidedignidade entre avaliadores, o CCI foi 0,89 para legibilidade, 0,99 para alinhamento, 0,98 para tamanho e 0,90 para espaçamento, alcançando nível de significância em todas estas categorias. O CCI da categoria forma foi 0,53, não atingindo nível de significância, resultado esse que pode estar relacionado à variabilidade do padrão..

Interação de um aluno com paralisia cerebral com colegas de classe durante atividades ludicas

The study aimed to examine the quality of interpersonal relationships developed between a child with cerebral palsy (CP) and his classmates during group play activities carried out in the classroom and during recess. The participants of the study were a boy with clinical diagnosis of quadriplegic CP, his teacher and classmates. Data collection was carried out by means of a structured interview with the teacher and of video recording the child with CP interacting with his classmates in play activities. The interview data analysis was carried out using qualitative procedures and the video recording was analyzed using a category system. The results showed that the teacher perceived the child with CP to be interested; he participated in play activities and interacted successfully both with familiar partners and with all classmates in general. On the other hand, the analysis of the video recorded activities showed that even though interaction did in fact occur positively, the child with CP remained mostly an observer of the activities rather than an active participant, possibly due to the gap between the child's possibilities and the requirements imposed by the activities underway in the school setting

Quality of handwriting: Intervention based on the variation of finger force production

Difficulties in the production of proficient handwriting can be detected early in childhood. From the control point of view, non-proficient handwriting can be explained by the difficulty in adequately activating motor synergies that give support to this motor skill. Therefore, imposing different demand on the control to the motor synergies of the fingers can generate improvement in the quality of handwriting. The goal of the present study was to verify the effects of an intervention program for children with handwriting difficulties, composed of manipulative and pre-calligraphic activities that stimulate finger motor synergies through different force production demands. Thirty-four children between 7 and 12 years of age participated in the present study. Handwriting quality was evaluated through the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment. Only the experimental group (n=18) was submitted to the intervention program developed throughout 27 sessions of 30 minutes each. The results indicate that the intervention program based on the variability of force production had a positive effect on the quality of handwriting,mainly in terms of the size of letters

Effect of wrist position on young adults pinch grip control

Pinch grip is used in a large number of handling activities that require precision and control of an object. The position of the upper arm joints affects the fingers force production in order to handle the object. This study aimed to verify the influence of the wrist position in the production of maximum strength and in the control fingers grip pinch submaximum strength control. Participants were 21 right handed adults (10 male, 18-26 years old). They made two attempts of maximum force production and eight attempts of submaximal force production (four at 20% and four at 40% of maximum strength) for pinch grip in three wrist positions: neutral, flexion and extension. The results showed that the production of maximum strength is higher in neutral position compared to wrist flexion and extension and higher for men compared to women. In addition, there was a positive correlation between the length of the hand and the production of maximum strength. The results also indicated that the wrist position did not interfere in the submaximum force control during this task. However, participants showed more difficulty controlling 20% than 40% of maximum strength. The present study showed evidence that the motor units used to produce grip pinch maximum strength cross the wrist joint but those used for the 20% and 40% of maximum strength are present only in the fingers and hand