graphomotor screening, writing process, developmental psychology, motor skills, children, school 

The GRAFOS screening can be carried out in groups of 10 to 15 pupils. The GRAFOS differential diagnosis for children who have stood out in the screening is carried out individually. The procedure is suitable for children aged 4 to 8 years, ideally a first application in the first year of kindergarten. GRAFOS can be performed by kindergarten teachers or elementary school teachers (screening), psychomotor therapists, special education teachers and speech therapists (screening and differential diagnosis). 

GRAFOS contains three components: 1) a graphomotor screening, which helps to identify children with corresponding difficulties and to assess their abilities on the basis of norm values, 2) an observation sheet for the qualitative assessment of the writing process, and 3) an individual differential diagnosis of different developmental areas that are centrally involved in graphomotor skills. In the screening, the writing product is assessed, with the focus here on form reproduction and stroke control. The observation sheet highlights selected aspects directly related to drawing or writing, such as posture, movement ability, motivation and endurance. The differential diagnosis enables the derivation of targeted, theory-based support measures for everyday school life and/or psychomotor therapy. It includes a differentiated, developmental and process-oriented assessment of individual graphomotor skills. Features such as gross motor skills, movement quality, fine motor skills, head movements, eye movements, visual perception, visual memory and tactile-kinesthetic perception are assessed.