Investigating the Maintained Motor Skill Achievements in a Visual Praxis Based Occupational Therapy Program: Single Blind Randomized Follow up Study.

Researchers split 48 children with specific learning disabilities into two groups. One group got an eight-week visual-praxis OT program twice a week. The other group stayed on a wait list.

Therapists used drawing, cutting, and building tasks that train eye-hand coordination. Kids took a standard motor test before, after, and eight weeks later.

The OT group scored much higher on motor skill tests right after the program. Their gains stayed strong eight weeks later, while the wait-list group did not change.

The study shows that short, focused visual-praxis lessons can create lasting motor improvements for children with SLD.

Latham et al. (2014) extends this idea. They added hand-over-hand guidance and tactile prompts while kids with autism practiced tasks. Both studies show that extra sensorimotor input boosts skill learning, even with different diagnoses.

Tse (2019) seems to disagree. That study found children with autism learned a throwing skill better when they focused on their own arm, not the ball. The Barkın study uses external visual cues, yet both papers are positive. The gap is explained by diagnosis: internal focus helps autism, external cues help SLD.

Çorakcı Yazıcıoğlu et al. (2025) used a similar twice-weekly OT plan with autistic children and also saw maintained gains. The shared schedule and follow-up make the two 2025 trials methodologically close.

You can copy this package in school or clinic settings. Two 45-minute sessions per week for eight weeks fit most schedules. Use visual tasks like puzzles, mazes, and crafts that force kids to look, plan, and move. Track scores on a quick motor test at week 0, 8, and 16 to prove the gains stick.