Effect of Oculomotor Exercise on Writing Capabilities on Autism

Effect of Oculomotor and Gaze Stability Exercise on Writing Capabilities on Autism

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD)are neurodevelopmental disorders that are clinically characterized by a triad of features: impairments in social interaction, impairments in communication, and presence of restrictive repetitive and stereotypical behaviors, interests, or activities (DSM-IV). In addition to these core deficits, ASD is associated with a high prevalence of fine motor difficulties and executive function impairments that contribute to acquisition and performance of skilled motor tasks. It is therefore not surprising that handwriting difficulties are frequently reported in children with ASD.

Study Overview

• Status: Enrolling by invitation
• Conditions: Autism
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: visual motor integration group; Other: Handwriting intervention programs; Other: visual motor integration program and Handwriting intervention programs

Detailed Description

Handwriting is a functional skill that profoundly affects children's academic and psychosocial development. Difficulties in acquiring and applying these skills subsequently lead to problems such as slow writing and illegible written .Such difficulties may have implications on the child's successful participation in school and play activities, potentially leading to problems in academic performance and lowered self-esteem .Therefore, students with handwriting difficulties are especially prone to frustration, disappointment, and under achievement. The aim of our study is to improve handwriting quality of children with ASD.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 40
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Egypt
  • Cairo, Egypt, P.O. Box:77
    • Misr University for Science and Technology

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 5 years to 8 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Mild autism (score 55-71) on Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS-3).
• Intelligence quotient (IQ) score 70-100.
• Writing difficulties

Exclusion Criteria:

• Middle ear disorders
• Physical or mental conditions that may affect handwriting (e.g., seizures)
• Uncorrected visual or hearing impairments.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: visual motor integration group; participants in the experimental group will receive visual motor integration program	Other: visual motor integration group; Oculomotor exercises as follow:(1) Eye follow with a stationary head 2)Saccadic eye movements 3) Gaze stability 4)Eye/head co-ordination 5)Balancing exercises
Active Comparator: Handwriting intervention group; participants in the experimental group will receive handwriting intervention program.	Other: Handwriting intervention programs; (1)Eye motor coordination (2)position in space(3)coping-figure ground(4)spatial relationship(5)visual closure(6)constancy of shapes(7)far and near coping
Active Comparator: visual motor integration and Handwriting intervention group; participants in the group will receive visual motor integration program and handwriting intervention program.	Other: visual motor integration program and Handwriting intervention programs; Oculomotor exercises as follow:(1) Eye follow with a stationary head 2)Saccadic eye movements 3) Gaze stability 4)Eye/head co-ordination 5)Balancing exercises 6)Eye motor coordination (7)position in space(8)coping-figure ground(9)spatial relationship(10)visual closure(11)constancy of shapes(12)far and near coping Hand writing intervention as follow (1)Eye motor coordination (2)position in space(3)coping-figure ground(4)spatial relationship(5)visual closure(6)constancy of shapes(7)far and near coping

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
gaze stability	Rating scale of gaze stability 0= negative Gaze stable smooth well coordinated,percise and fast movement of the head,fluent change of head movement direction; modreate positive Gaze stable,slightely irregular head movement; strong positive Gaze repeatedly unstable ,head movement slow and irregular	6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
eye head coordination	Rating scale of sequential head and eye movements 0= negative Clear,regular ,smooth, dissociated movements,of head and eyes.; moderately positive slightely decelerated eye movements.occasional associated eye-head movements ,head unstable.; strongly positive clearly decelerated , irregular and often associated eye -head movements test not feasible.	6 weeks

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
saccadic eye movement	0= negative Smooth, percise, fast eye movements,fast change of gaze direction,head remain stable; moderately positive slightely irregular eye movements.Short stops before changing gaze direction.Head slightly unstable; strongly positive Eye movements clearly slower or irregular.Prolonged maintenance of gaze direction before changing direction.Obvious head movement.Test cannot be performed.	6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Misr University for Science and Technology
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Samah M Sheha, PhD, Misr University for Science and Technology

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Accardo AL, Finnegan EG, Kuder SJ, Bomgardner EM. Writing Interventions for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Research Synthesis. J Autism Dev Disord. 2020 Jun;50(6):1988-2006. doi: 10.1007/s10803-019-03955-9.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): March 1, 2022
• Study Completion (Anticipated): March 1, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 21, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 31, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): January 14, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 14, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 31, 2021
• Last Verified: December 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Autistic Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: P.T.REC/012/003283

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: No

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No