Hand dexterity assessment based on mouse pointer trajectory measurements in children with learning disabilities

We present an investigation of the systematic differences in upper limb motor skills between children with learning disabilities (LDs) and children without LDs. The study comprised point-and-click experiments, one-dimensional (1D), and two-dimensional (2D), conducted with mouse and joystick. Eighty (80) children with LDs and forty-six (46) children without LDs participated in the experiments. We utilized our input device evaluation application (IDEA) system to track the mouse pointer and calculate ten trajectory parameters: movement time, index of difficulty, throughput, movement variability, missed clicks, movement direction change, target re-entry, movement offset, task axis crossing, and movement error. The statistical analysis of the mouse pointer trajectory parameters using the hierarchical logistic regression model detected the children with LDs with a 70% success rate in the 2D experiment with the mouse.