Effect of Hemsball Shooting on Fine Motor Proficiency in Hearing Impaired Children

Abstract

In this study, which was designed in pre-test – post-test and experimental-control model, it was aimed to determine the effect of hemsball shooting techniques on fine motor proficiency and manual dexterity in hearing-impaired children between the age range of 7-11. The study group was composed of 26 children (13 for the experimental group + 13 for the control group) aged between 7-11 years old with hearing loss above 56 dB and having no second impairment and sports background. The children in the experimental group were subjected to a training program to improve their fine motor skills and manual dexterity for three days a week, one hour each day throughout 10 weeks, which involved hemsball shooting techniques. Fine motor proficiency and manual dexterity of hearing-impaired children were measured by the three sub-tests (fine motor precision, fine motor integration, manual dexterity) of Bruiniks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOT-2). In the research, the group experiment-control and measurements (pre-test – post-test) were compared with independent samples t-test and paired samples t-test. As a result of the study, it was revealed that hemsball shooting techniques had a significant effect on the fine motor proficiency levels of hearing-impaired children, including fine motor precision, fine motor integration, and manual dexterity. Furthermore, it was determined that the effect of hemsball shooting techniques on motor proficiency did not differ significantly according to gender and that the application performed had positive effects on both girls and boys.