Abstract |
The graphomotor development of children with autism spectrum disorders is a process that faces many challenges and difficulties. The purpose of the following research is to study and evaluate the graphomotor skills of children with high functioning autism spectrum disorders (ASD), at preschool age and to compare their graphomotor skills with those of children without ASD. The research involved 42 preschool children, 21 children with high functioning ASD and 21 children with typical development, attending kindergartens in Karditsa, Chania and Rethymnon. For the collection of research data, the Criterion for the Evaluation of Graphomotor Skills for the Early Development of Writing (KAGD 4-6) (Trouli, Manolitsis & Linardakis, 2012) was used, as well as the Raven intelligence test (Raven’s Coloured Progressive Matrices – CPM, 2008). KAGD 4-6 was performed in all the children who took part in the research, while the Raven test was administered only to the children with ASD. KAGD4-6 evaluated the pencil and scissors manipulation, the understanding of spatial concepts, the writing space orientation and the handwriting control, the figure reproduction, the body posture and the pencil grip and the performances of the two teams in each category were compared. In addition, in order to collect the opinions and experiences of the teachers on the graphomotor development of children with high-functioning ASD, a questionnaire was constructed, which was given to 6 teachers of the kindergartens where the research was carried out and 4 special education teachers from ELEPAP of Chania. The results of the research showed that children with ASD showed lower performance and difficulties in the writing space orientation, in the pencil manipulation, in understanding spatial concepts, in the figure reproduction and in the handwriting control, compared to the group of children of typical development. In the scissor manipulation, the two groups showed differences that were not statistically significant, so they showed roughly the same performance. This specific research is a very useful tool for preschool teachers, as it identifies both the positive performances and the difficulties that children with high-functioning ASD may experience with their graphomotor skills, during their studies in kindergarten and they have the possibility to design programs and activities that will strengthen and improve the performance of these children in the specific field.
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