A Comparison of Two Settings for Group Treatment in Promoting Perceptual-Motor Function of Learning Disabled Children

A comparison of a gross motor, large space treatment setting and a fine motor, restricted space treatment setting in occupational therapy was designed and implemented with 53 pre-school children with perceptual-motor dysfunction. The subjects were matched into two groups according to sociodemographic variables. Eight measures of perceptual-motor functioning were used for the pre-test. The subjects were then further matched into two treatment groups based on most of the pre-test results. Both groups received seven months of intervention for one-and-a-half hours once a week. Upon completion of the treatment period, pre-test measures were repeated for all subjects. Intervention in both treatment groups yielded equally significant improvement in perceptual-motor functioning for all subjects. It is concluded that each of the approaches is appropriate for treating this population in occupational therapy.