Surface Electromyographic Signals of Special Needs Children during Fine Motor Task

Surface electromyography (EMG) is a noninvasive technique to capture muscle electrical activity. For children with special needs such as autism and down syndrome children, their hand muscles have lower muscle tone and weaker coordination. Hence, to improve their weak fine motor skills during their early childhood, an early intervention training system is needed. Previously, a training device with added features of light and sound tools is developed to prolong the attention span of these children when training. This paper aims to analysis EMG signals of these children during the fine motor training using the device. In addition, the attention span of these children during training with the device is compared to the conventional one, i.e. training fine motor with placing wooden block in a wooden peg. Four children with special needs, i.e. two in each autism and down syndrome categories, aged four to eight years old participated in the study. Results were compared with a normal child one. The EMG signal from flexor digitorum superficialis muscle was extracted using DataLOG Biometrics Ltd and stored in computer for further analysis. The normalised amplitude of EMG signal showed that normal child had the least fluctuation in muscle activity during training. All children showed decreased in normalised EMG amplitude at the end of training session compared to earlier one. It is also found that the attention span of children with special needs during fine motor training had increased almost double when using the developed device compared to conventional one.