As a Pediatric Occupational Therapist, I am often bombarded by teachers and parents in regards to handwriting difficulties. Although we work on many other areas and “occupations”, ( “Occupations” are things you do every day - Ex. Brushing your teeth, zippering a jacket, checking the mail, cleaning your room…etc.), we often become the go to for handwriting questions and often labeled as “handwriting therapists”!
Our training has prepared us though, for activity analysis, which allows us to break down any occupation/activity and see where the difficulties are lying in order to better help our clients. Handwriting, in particular, is so much more involved than we realize…. You have to be able to sit up right in your chair, be able to use two hands at once to stabilize the paper and one to hold your pencil, You have to be able to cross midline in order to effectively show Left to Right Progression while writing, Planning and Organizing for the page, have effective visual spatial skills to properly space between words and assist with line orientation and sizing….just to name a few!
There are many factors that are causing the difficulty with your child’s handwriting :
Grasp patterns
Poor Fine Motor Control
Posture in the Chair
Table and Chair Height
Visual Motor Deficits
Visual Perceptual Deficits
Motor Coordination Deficits
Difficulty with Bilateral Coordination
Difficulty with Planning and Organizing
Difficulty Crossing Midline
Retained Reflexes
Talk to an Occupational Therapist today about your concerns and see how we can evaluate and help your child to become a more successful and confident writer!
By: Crystal Nasuti, MS OTR/L