Digital Tools for Handwriting Proficiency Evaluation in Children

Dysgraphia negatively impacts school-aged children, but its diagnosis is still unsatisfactory. Among its criticalities, it relies on a subjective evaluation of the final product, and it can be delayed as professional consultation might be difficult to be reached. To address these problems, we proposed to leverage two digital tools, a smart ink pen, and a consumer tablet with pen and a custom app, both capable of collecting data about gesture production. The aims of this work are (1) to test usability and acceptance of such tools, (2) to assess their concurrent validity, and (3) to leverage gesture-production features to assess handwriting proficiency. The tools were tested on 52 second and third graders performing a handwriting speed test. It revealed optimal usability (SUS>95) and acceptance. The scores of the speed test were compared to normative data, revealing that they were almost superimposable, even if collection of ad hoc normative data for tablets would allow a safer comparison. Two gesture-production features, the In-air time and the Coefficient of variation of the tilt, showed good discriminatory capabilities between different levels of handwriting maturation. These findings suggest the feasibility of adopting the digital tools for an evaluation of handwriting evolution, both enriched with quantitative information, and potentially administered in a pre-clinical environment (teleconsultation or remote monitoring). This is a first step to discover potential alteration, and achieve a more targeted diagnosis for dysgraphia.