Integration of soft signs in academically normal and academically at-risk children.

The development of motor and sensory proficiency and the integration of soft signs were analyzed for 38 children with average achievement and 29 children achieving below grade level. Motor coordination, speed, and inhibition, as well as the development of sensory function, were evaluated at the time of entrance to kindergarten and again during the first grade. The performance of both groups progressed on tasks measuring motor speed and coordination as well as tactile integration. Although the children achieving below grade level continued to perform the majority of tasks poorly in comparison with the children performing at grade level, on most of the measures they evidenced definite catch-up or greater gain than the children performing at grade level. Their progress on the motor speed and coordination tasks supports the hypothesis of a developmental lag in these areas. Results of tests of motor inhibition were notable for an absence of progression. That children achieving below grade level did not advance in this area would argue against the hypothesis of a developmental lag for all soft signs. Although results of this longitudinal study are preliminary, findings to date would allow for the possibility that both deficits and lags are responsible for the differences between the academically normal and academically at-risk children.