ABSTRACT VIEW
Abstract NUM 1870

INTERVENTION IN GRAPHOMOTOR SKILLS: A CASE STUDY IN THE CONTEXT OF INCLUSIVE EDUCATION
D. Almeida1, P. Vaz2
1 Instituto Politécnico de Bragança (PORTUGAL)
2 Centro de Investigação Trandisciplinar em Educação e Desenvolvimento (CITeD), Instituto Politécnico de Bragança (PORTUGAL)
Child neurodevelopment is a complex process that includes a series of psychomotor and behavioral changes from conception to adulthood. The integration of neuroscience knowledge into teaching practices has shown potential for improving the teaching-learning process, especially for children with learning difficulties. Graphomotor difficulties are closely related to fine motor skills. This is identified as one of the main areas of difficulty, manifesting itself in the grasping of small objects, in fitting tasks, and in visuomotor coordination, influencing part of their autonomy. This skill involves precise movements of the hands and fingers, which involve speed, accuracy, and reprogramming and actions. Based on inclusive education, this article presents a case study developed in a school in Portugal with a student attending the 1st grade of primary school who benefits from selective measures to support learning and inclusion under Decree-Law 54/2018 of July 6, which regulates Inclusive Education. This is a student with cognitive potential slightly below what is expected for his age group and who, at the same time, has difficulties with graphomotor skills that have a negative impact on his learning. The case study took place in three phases: observation, characterization of the case, and intervention, throughout the third school term (March-May). The following objectives were outlined: to plan learning support activities to intervene in graphomotor skills, taking into account the student's profile; to develop the respective material resources; to implement the planned activities in the context of the inclusive classroom; to contribute to the improvement of graphomotor skills and, thus, of his learning. The intervention plan implemented was organized around different strategies: Strategies to expand graphomotor skills; Strategies aimed at cognitive development, with particular emphasis on fine motor skills; Strategies aimed at strengthening academic skills. The results indicate that the interventions promoted the development of graphomotor skills and thus contributed to greater success in school learning. Throughout the process, the student was receptive, participatory, and established a positive relationship that facilitated the work developed. The experience confirms the importance of personalizing educational responses, valuing school-family coordination, and providing individualized support for the child's overall development. However, it should be noted that this is a case study, very limited to a specific context, which impedes the generalization of results. In other words, these activities were implemented with a specific child in a specific context, so we cannot generalize the results obtained to all children with the same difficulties or to all contexts. Nevertheless, this study can serve as a reference for other interventions in other school contexts and for other types of research.

Keywords: Graphomotor difficulties, inclusive education, special educational needs.

Event: ICERI2025
Track: Multiculturality & Inclusion
Session: Inclusive Education
Session type: VIRTUAL