The relation between fine motor skills and demographic characteristics in students with hearing-impairment

Human hands are efficient tools to do fine works, game, and routine activities, which are of greater consideration in students with special needs, including hearing-impaired students.
This descriptive-analytical study was performed by cross-sectional method on 32 hearing-impaired students with age average of 8.43 years old in Hamedan in the academic years 2015-2016. The collecting data tools in this study was the demographic questionnaire: Connors questionnaire and Purdue Pegboard test. The data were analyzed by SPSS20 through parametric and nonparametric tests, chi-square test, and ANOVA.
the average speed of the dominant hand movement is 6.67±1.20, the average speed of the non-dominant hand movement is 4.81±1.42, the coordination of hands 2.96±1.34, hand skill 14.48±3.64, and assembly is 8.26±5.31. The gender and handedness play no effective roles in scores of fine motor skills and there is no significant correlation between the cases of hearing impairment and fine motor skills of hands (p>0.05). However, the average in rural groups is higher than that in urban groups (p0.05). But, the average scores obtained by the students whose mothers have different academic backgrounds show significant statistical differences (p The mother's academic backgrounds and the living locations are more effective than the causes of hearing impairment, handedness, and gender on fine motor skills in students with hearing impairment. Therefore, it is recommended to perform rehabilitation interventions and training the fine motor skills in order to help students to improve their routine activities, learning, and environmental and recreational experiences.