Effect of Clinical Reasoning in Occupational Therapy Based on Model of Human Occupation on Handwriting in Students with Specific Learning Disorder: A Pilot Study

The purpose of the present study was to design occupational therapy interventions with therapeutic reasoning based on the model of human occupation (MOHO) to strengthen handwriting characteristics including readability and speed in Students with a specific learning disorder (SLD) and to compare its effect with common handwriting interventions.

This research was conducted as a semi-experimental interventional study. In this study, 16 children aged 8-10 years with SLD were selected by convenience sampling and assigned non-randomly in two experimental (n=8) and control (n=8) groups. Sampling criteria included studying in the second or third grade of elementary school, being a Persian speaker, having bad handwriting as a family and teacher complaint, and the absence of comorbid disorders. The experimental group received handwriting intervention based on the MOHO, and the control group received common handwriting interventions (sensory-motor and multisensory). The experimental group received 20 treatment sessions of 45 minutes, 7 weeks, and three sessions per week. The outcome measure was the Persian handwriting assessment tool.

The mean difference between the two experimental and control groups in terms of writing speed and variables related to readability, including word shape, word spacing, word alignment, and slope was significant (P≤0.05). Word size as the other readability variable showed no significant difference between the two groups (P<0.05).

The handwriting enhancement program with clinical reasoning based on the MOHO in students with SLD was an effective framework for handwriting intervention.