Relationship between Kinesthesia and Handwriting in Students with Mentally Retardation

This article investigates the relationship between handwriting and kinesthesia in mentally retarded students. 126 students with mental retardation (53 girls and 73 boys) aging 9 to 19 years old from two special schools in Shahr-e Rey participated in this survey. A handwriting checklist researcher-made along with the kinesthesia test of Benbow were administered. Correlation coefficient showed that there is a significant relationship between handwriting scores with kinesthesia scores (r = 0.305, p<0.001). Also, there is a negative relationship between kinesthesia and handwriting speed (r = - 0.202, p<0.024). There was no significant relationship between kinesthesia with pencil grip, pressure on pencil and pressure on paper. This study provides evidence that use of kinesthetic exercises can be useful in developing handwriting legibility and speed in students with mental retardation.