by Kaci Rendahl

Created on: July 07, 2009   Last Updated: July 09, 2009

There is so much more to handwriting than penmanship, or legibility. There is too much emphasis placed on what the writing looks like than what is functional, especially when we are thinking about students with special needs. I find it difficult to distinguish students with "learning difficulties" from students with "special needs". With this said, there are several things to consider in a student's handwriting skills (every child). It all begins when the child is an infant.

The recent attention drawn to "tummy time" has its benefits, especially in terms of handwriting. There are several intrinsic (internal) muscles within your hand. These muscles require stimulation to develop ideally. When an infant is placed in the prone position (belly); weight is shifted into the hands to prop up. This weight-bearing into the hands aids in the development of the intrinsic hand muscles; in fact, strengthens them. The child's ability to grasp onto objects begins at this early stage as well and later translates and develops into a pencil grip. "Tummy time" is also critical for developing trunk and neck muscles, which will later aid in the child's ability to sit unsupported. Posture can be an under-looked component to legible handwriting. Poor posture or underdeveloped trunk muscles can be demonstrated as fatigue and "sliding" down in a chair. These are some of the important physical, gross motor components that are important in the development handwriting. Some activities to increase hand strength include: wheel-barrow walking, push-ups or chair push ups, tearing paper, Theraputty, and opening/closing clothespins. One strategy for students who have decreased trunk support is to use a therapy ball instead of a chair.

Another important aspect of handwriting ability includes visual-motor ability. In short summary, visual-motor is the body's ability to use its eyes and hands together to produce something. This is very important when looking at how letters are formed and if the child is able to write from left to right on the paper, stay within boundaries, or spacing between letters/words is an issue. Oftentimes, note-taking can be difficult for these children. Physical cues can be provided to assist with difficulties in visual-motor ability, such as: highlighted lined paper, placing your pinking finger in between words, using arrows to cue the direction of the letter formations, and green dot on the left-side of the paper and red on the right.

Letter formations are important

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