Handwriting Difficulties
Transcript of Handwriting Difficulties
MANAGING STUDENTS WITH HANDWRITING DIFFICULTIES
NUR THAQQIFAH MD SANIOCCUPATIONAL THERAPIST U29KLINIK KESIHATAN UJONG PASIR
Enhance client ability to engage in the occupations they want to, need to, or are expected to do, or by
modifying the occupation or the environment to better support their occupational engagement.
Let’s start with BILATERAL MOTOR
INTEGRATION ACTIVITIES
DRINKING WATERActivates the brain for :Efficient action between
the brain and the nervous system
Efficient storage and retrieval of information
BRAIN BUTTONS
Improves academic skills such as :Crossing the visual midline for
readingThe correction of letter and
number reversalsConsonant blendingKeeping one’s place while
reading
CROSS CRAWL
Improves academic skills such as :SpellingWritingListening reading and
comprehension
THINKING CAPS
Activates the brain for:Short term working memorySilent speech and thinking
skillsHearing with both ears
together
LAZY 8’s
Improves academic skills in:Mechanics of readingDecoding of written
languageReading comprehension
HOOK UPS
Improves academic skills in:Clear listening and
speakingTest talking and similar
challengesWork at keyboard
HOW DO YOU FEELS ?
THERAPIST
TEACHER is primarily for handwriting instruction…......
determine underlying postural, motor, sensory integrative or perceptual deficits that might interfere with the
development of legible handwriting
+When the teacher and the therapist work together, combining medical and educational knowledge, the result are often very POSITIVE in achieving legible
handwriting.
TEACHERTHERAPIST
Example of handwriting difficulties:
CASE 1.
CASE 2.
CASE 3.
CASE 4.
CASE 5.
Let’s experience it…
By using your in-dominant hand, write the sentence from the screen.
You have 5 minutes to complete the task.
Pen & Paper
“Most people do not realize that good handwriting is a direct result from good upper body strength.
Crawling is a natural milestone that children need to learn. Crawling develops power in the shoulders,
arms, wrists, and hands. Have you heard or personally ever stated “My child skipped crawling and went straight to walking!” While walking skills
may be advancing quickly, it is also a good indication that the child will have poor fine motor
skills”-Wiggins.
How do you feel?
What will you get when your student
success?video
STAGE 1
Student’s readiness for writing
CHECK YOUR STUDENT’S READINESS
1.Sitting BehaviorA good position at the table will help the child to be stable and be able to concentrate and use their
hand effectively.
Feet flat on the floor
Arm forward symmetrically
Hip 90 degreeKnee flex 90 degreeFeet flat on the floorAnkle 90 degree
Prevent foot hanging: Provide a stool to rest feet
Important for all desk work!
CHECK YOUR STUDENT’S READINESS
2. Pincer GripAbility to grasp small objects with thumb and forefinger. It is an important part of the child’s fine motor development and necessary for holding and manipulating the pencil.
Cloth peg open with tripod pinch (thumb, index and
middle finger)
Play with play dough/ putty
Pick up small object with tripod pinch
SUGGESTION ACTIVITIES
CHECK YOUR STUDENT’S READINESS
3. AttentionA crucial step in learning process.
Find beads in the putty
Jigsaw puzzles
Lacing beads
Sequencing alphabets/numbers foam
SUGGESTION ACTIVITIES
Question……
Question……
CHECK YOUR STUDENT’S READINESS
4. Eye Hand CoordinationUses the eyes to direct attention and the hands to
execute a task. SUGGESTION ACTIVITIES
Scissor activities Ball activities Dot to dot Mazes
Nuts and bolts
CHECK YOUR STUDENT’S READINESS
5. Visual Perception Ability to recognize forms, notice likeness and
differencesSUGGESTION ACTIVITIES
Figure Ground Visual Memory
Visual Discrimination
Visual Closure
Visual Form Constancy
Activities to improve stability of proximal joint Activities to improve children's fine motor control and
isolated finger movements Activities to improve ability to hold writing tools Activities to enhance right-left discrimination
Handwriting readiness can be developed by:
ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE STABILITY OF PROXIMAL JOINT
Games such as tug-of-war, wheelbarrow walking, animal walks
Scooter board
Tug of war
Heavy work: Pushing furniture, carrying
shopping bags, carrying chair, etc
Wall/floor push up
Commando crawl
Tummy-lying on the floor to color or do puzzles
Use the playground equipment, such as the
climbers and monkey bars
ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE CHILDREN'S FINE MOTOR
CONTROL AND ISOLATED FINGER
MOVEMENTS
Picking up small objects with tweezers/
adapted chopsticks
Rolling tiny balls of clay or therapy-putty between the tip of the thumb and tips of the
index and middle fingers
Find hidden beads in putty
Lace beads with strings
Tug of war with fingers using coffee stirrer and/or
tongue depressor
Stretching rubber band onto
cylindrical object
TRY IT WITH YOUR PARTNER
ACTIVITIES TO IMPROVE CHILDREN’S ABILITY
TO HOLD WRITING TOOLS
Linking chain
Pick up small objects (toys, sweets etc.) with thumb
and first finger rather than whole hand, or thumb and
middle finger
While doing pincer grip activities place a small object (e.g. a rubber) in the child’s palm to be held in place by
the middle, index and little finger. This will help with pincer isolation i.e. only using thumb and first finger
Clothes pegs opened with the thumb and index finger help to strengthen pincer grip
ACTIVITIES TO ENHANCE RIGHT-LEFT
DISCRIMINATION
Lacing activities
Screwing nuts and bolt
STAGE 2
Student will be able to color using dominant
hand with proper grasping pattern with
appropriate force.
Radial cross palmar
Palmar supinate Digital pronate, only finger extended
Brush Grasp with extended fingers
Cross thumb Static tripod Four fingers Lateral tripod Dynamic tripod
(Schneck & Henderson, 1990)
Pencil Grasp:
STAGE 1
Colouring : Scribble
Palmar grasp
Hand not leaning on the table
Light pressure
Strategies / activitiesFold paper
Manipulating small objects
Tear the paper Play tennis ball
Play dough/ putty Use crayon-down flat
Trace on the sand
Colour on the wall
Colouring : Part by parts
BALLOONS
BALLOONS
ProblemStudent colour the whole picture as they do not understand that
they have to colour part by parts yet.
Student has grasped the understanding to colour part by parts, but waiting for teacher’s
cue to proceed to the next.(orientate skill not establish yet).
Example of cues
BALLOONS
BALLOONS
1 2
3 4 5
BALLOONSArrow Number cue Bold the balloon with
different colour
Too much cues will lead
student to be dependent: cue
fading as soon as possible.
To emphasize student to
colour within line
COLOUR : Follow border line
STAGE 3
Student should be able to do the pre-writing
task.
Pre-writing
Children needs to be able to draw pre-writing shapes/lines before they are able to
form letters/numbers correctly.
Example of pre-writing activity
Horizontal line
Vertical line
slanting line
Curve line
Circle
Pre-writing : Tracing stepsStep 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4
Cue fading
Pre-writing : Tracing between 2 lines
Starting point
Pre-writing : Tracing between 2 lines
FREE DRAWING
ACTIVITIES TO PROMOTE
PREWRITING SKILLS
Drawing lines and copying shapes using shaving
cream, sand trays or finger paints
Drawing and colouring pictures of people,
houses, trees, cars or animals
Tracing on simple dot-to-dot pictures/lines
Completing mazes
Tracing on lines or shapes using stickers
Tracing on lines or shapes using buttons or any other tiny objects
Copy and construct blocks according to cue cards to encourage
constructional skills
STAGE 4
Student should be able to trace and write alphabets
and numbers
Letter formation:The ability to make a letter on a page/paper using eye-hand coordination, correct posture, directionality, and visual motor memory.
Free drawing + Tracing alphabets
(Capital letter) =Get faster result in writing alphabets
STRATEGIES
Letter formation :TracingTracing steps:
Step 1
Step 2
Step 3
Step 4
Step 5
STAGE 5Student should be able to
copy words and sentences from ;
• book ( up to down )• book ( copy from left or
right )• board ( into book )
Writing:Copy one word
Copy two words
Copy three words
Copy 4-6 wordsin 2 lines
3-4 letters
4-6 letters
Promote spacing between words
Copy from the book (up to down, left or
right side) and from the board
Pre Academic skill assessment / School readiness assessmentPre-School Visual Motor Integration Assessment (PVMIA)
Miller Assessment for Preschooler Minnesota Handwriting AssessmentTest of Handwriting Skills – RevisedMiller Assessment for PreschoolerShore Handwriting AssessmentBeery VMI
Assessment on Client Needs Canadian Occupational Performance Measure(COPM)(parents
questionnaire)
ASSESSMENT
QUESTION?
PRACTICAL SESSION
LAZY 8s
Pen & Paper