Visual-motor perception in students with attention deficit with hyperactivity disorder.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to characterize and to compare the visual-motor perception of students with Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) with students with good academic performance. METHODS Forty students from 2nd to 5th grades of an elementary public school, male gender (100%), aged between 7 and 10 years and 8 months old participated, divided into: GI (20 students with ADHD) and GII (20 students with good academic performance), paired according to age, schooling and gender with GI. The students were submitted to Developmental Test of Visual Perception (DTVP-2). RESULTS The students of GI presented low performance in spatial position and visual closure (reduced motor) and inferior age equivalent in reduced motor perception, when compared to GII. CONCLUSION The difficulties in visual-motor perception presented by students of GI cannot be attributed to a primary deficit, but to a secondary phenomenon of inattention that interferes directly in their visual-motor performance.