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Abstract
Poor handwriting is a diagnostic criterion for developmental coordination disorder.
Typical of poor handwriting is its low overall quality and the high variability of
the spatial characteristics of the letters, usually assessed with a subjective handwriting
scale. Recently, Dynamic Time Warping (DTW), a technique originally developed for
speech recognition, was introduced for pattern recognition in handwriting. The present
study evaluates its application to analyze poor handwriting. Forty children attending
Dutch mainstream primary schools were recruited and based on their scores on the Concise
Evaluation Scale for Children's Handwriting (Dutch abbreviation: BHK), 20 good and
20 poor writers (of whom 13 were scheduled for handwriting intervention) were identified.
The groups were matched for age (7-9 years), school grade (grades 2 and 3) and handedness.
The children subsequently wrote sequences of the letter "a" on a graphics tablet in
three conditions (normal, fast, and accurate). Classical kinematics were obtained
and for each individual letter DTW was used to calculate the distance from the mean
shape. The DTW data revealed much higher variability in the letter forms of the poor
writers that was independent of the kinematic results of larger trajectories, faster
movements, and higher pen pressure. The current results suggest that DTW is a valid
and objective technique for letter-form analysis in handwriting and may hence be useful
to evaluate the rehabilitation treatments of children suffering from poor handwriting.
In education research it may be exploited to explore how children (should) learn to
write.