Effect of dynamic features on diagnostic testing for dyspraxia

Abstract

In the analysis of shape-based drawing assessment of neurological dysfunction or motor-perceptual functioning, there is a growing awareness of the need to simultaneously measure static and dynamic parameters for diagnosis and therapy-directed assessment of patients suffering or being at risk from such impairments. This is especially the case in evaluating and determining the degree of functional impairment in children exhibiting developmental irregularities such as dyspraxia. The aims of this paper are first, to describe the extraction and investigation of various dynamic features from the standard Visual Motor Integration (VMI) drawing test and determine the most effective features in clustering between three groups of children utilising feature ranking techniques. The second aim is to explore the possibility of reducing the number of geometrical shapes of the VMI test used by clinicians and occupational therapists in conventional evaluation, utilising the most effective dynamic features in diagnosing dyspraxic patients. The third aim is to analyse the effectiveness of static scoring in determining the mental age equivalent when dynamic features are considered by comparing patients of age equivalent similar to the biological age of control subjects. © Springer-Verlag 2004.