April 2008

Text This: Handwriting Matters

By Debra Paton, OTR/L

In today’s computer age, handwriting skills may seem almost obsolete. However, despite the popularity of e-mail and text messaging, skilled writing is still necessary for success throughout life. As a child matures, quality written work is required to demonstrate an understanding of what is learned through written tests, essays and written work for a portfolio. Writing is used as a tool to accomplish daily activities. A job application is the first item an employer may see whether you are age 16 or 60. Colleges require a written essay for admittance, and writing skills are now an integral part of SATs. Writing skills are also essential to obtain licenses.

Handwriting allows us to communicate ideas, thoughts and experiences. But more importantly, handwriting is a key part of learning itself. According to a recent article in Newsweek (November 12, 2007), “Handwriting is important because research shows that when children are taught how to do it, they are also being taught how to learn and express themselves.”

Learning to print or write in cursive gives a child a sense of confidence and mastery in her ability to express ideas and to demonstrate what she has learned. Yet today, the average estimate of cursive instruction in schools is just 10 minutes daily, according to the organization Handwriting Without Tears. Manuscript is introduced in kindergarten, and cursive is generally introduced in the latter half of second grade or the beginning of third grade. In the classroom setting, children copy words or written problems from the blackboard or from books and take notes to reinforce what they have learned. Children enjoy passing notes back and forth to each other or sharing their phone numbers to enhance friendships during social time. Writing is used as a tool to accomplish daily school activities, as well as to develop social skills and friendships.

Learning to write requires developed motor performance, cognitive and visual perceptual skills. Kinesthetic, or proprioceptive and tactile awareness, provides the ability to write in a fluid manner. The brain provides feedback concerning hand and finger movements. Kinesthetic awareness develops between the ages of 4 and 6. When this area is delayed, a child may have difficulty with the mechanics of grip and fluid writing.
In my work as an occupational therapist, I have seen firsthand many cases of developmental delays interfering with the process of writing as children are pushed to learn at younger ages. A child who attempts to write before mastering sufficient developmental skills may become a dysfunctional writer who finds it hard to keep up with classmates when completing written activities in school. She may have difficulty with the mechanics of writing to the point of not being able to express ideas, leading to decreased self-esteem and confidence as she struggles to write.

So how does one know when a child is ready to begin learning to write? Signs of writing readiness include the use of a dominant hand, the abilities to cross the midline of the work space with the dominant hand, complete directional strokes and shapes and assume proper position and grip of a pencil. Hand dominance is an important milestone that, like kinesthetic awareness, emerges between ages 4 & 6.

Another sign of writing readiness is when a child develops the ability to use both sides of her body in a coordinated manner during functional activities. Eye-hand coordination is developed during this period as eye movements guide hand movements for gripping the pencil and imitating lines. Posture is also very important to provide a stable base while writing.

An inability to maintain an organized level of alertness may interfere with the process of writing. Proprioceptive or kinesthetic awareness provides the perception of hand and body movements while seated. Proprioceptive ability provides the child feedback concerning the positioning of the body and hand in space, and helps her calm and organize her body for learning. Indications of problems in this area may include slumping over the desk, propping up the head with the hands, frequently falling out of the chair, falling or bumping into others, constantly fidgeting or moving in the seat, excessively or loosely gripping a pencil, suffering hand fatigue, and writing slowly and fragmentally.

Shoulder stability provides an anchor for distal finger movements as the eyes guide our hands during the writing process. In the first grade, printing becomes more refined with the emergence of aligning letters between lines and forming words and sentences. With weak ocular motor control and shoulder instability, movements are not developed within the hands and fingers. Indications of problems here may include coloring and writing outside the lines and poorly executing shapes and letters that are too big and sloppy.

There are many techniques occupational therapists use to help preschool and school-age children with developmental delays get ready to write. These include doing weight-bearing activities through hands, rocking on all fours to music and completing animal walks, which increase proprioceptive awareness and strengthen intrinsic muscles of the hand and wrist extensors. Painting and drawing on an easel or vertical surface help the child maintain and develop a functional grasp and also teach directionality when forming letters. To increase grip strength, the child may benefit from squeezable toys, pinch and squeeze games and toys that snap and interlock. Different types of seats, such as partially inflated beach balls, beanbag chairs or air cushions, or body positions (i.e., changing positions from sitting to standing) can help the child with focusing or attending to tasks. The movement enhances the learning process.

To develop proprioceptive and kinesthetic movements, preschool and kindergarten children can benefit from wide, random movements with their arms, such as drawing or painting on large sheets of paper mounted to the wall, wiping tables with sponges, using transparent paper to trace over the pictures with a crayon flat against the paper, and brush painting. After second grade, changing a pencil grip is very difficult and dependent on the abilities of the child.

Early intervention is the key if you suspect a problem or think your child would benefit from extra help in developing the skills needed before learning to write. A licensed occupational therapist can be helpful in determining the root of the problem and suggesting a solution that can include an evaluation, therapy or other form of treatment. Summer handwriting programs are also an alternative. Good handwriting skills are fundamental to a lifetime of learning and set the stage for children to able to effectively communicate and express themselves throughout their lives.

Debra Paton is director of outpatient occupational therapy services at TLC—The Treatment and Learning Centers, a nonprofit agency in Rockville that has served children and adults with disabilities in the community since 1950.