handwriting Flashcards
Extrinsic muscles
Intrinsic muscles
- Muscles that act on the hand
- Muscle belly is in the forearm
- Muscles that create hand movement
- Muscle bellies are in the hand, distal to the wrist joint
Hand Skills & Language Development
- Gesturing
- Hand skills develop before language
Hand Skills & Trunk Control &
Motor Development
Postural control necessary for optimal
hand use
* Upper limb coordination
* Shoulder movements develop before hand movements
Hand Skills & Visual Motor
Development
Visually motivated reaching occurs around 2 to 3 months
* At around 4 months, infant uses vision to explore instead of hands and mouth
Hand Skills & Sensory Functions
provides cues on
how to hold an object, how heavy it is, how delicate/breakable it is, etc
Reaching
- Birth to 3 months
-Batting at toys - 5 months
-Trapping a toy a midline - 6 months
-Reach for a toy - 7 months
- Begin to support self on all fours to reach
Reflex squeeze
4 months
* Hand extends beyond the object; upon contact,
pulls object toward the body
Crude palmar grasp
4-5 months
* Contacts object, simultaneous flexion of all fingers presses objects against palm—thumb not involved
Palmar grasp
5-6 months
* Pronated hand on object, fingers flex and press
object to mid-palm
Radial palmar grasp
6-7 months
* Index and middle fingers flex around object—thumb
assists
Raking grasp
7-8 months
* Radial Digital Grasp—8-9 months
Developmental Scissors Grasp
8-9 months
* Secure an object between thumb and radial side of
index finger
Inferior Pincer Grasp
8-9 months
* Emerging opposition with index finger; not the finger
tip
Three Jaw Chuck
10-11 months
* Thumb opposition to index and middle finger pads,
not tips
Pincer Grasp
10-12 months
* Thumb opposed to index finger pad
Neat Pincer Grasp
10-12 months
* Opposed thumb and finger tip of index or middle
finger
Bilateral Manipulation
5 months, child can transfer
objects between hands
* 7 months, one hand holds
8-9 months, bangs toys together, then claps
In-hand Manipulation
Adjustment of a toy in a hand
Tips for Playing in Therapy
- Play with the child, don’t just observe
- Give the child a sense of control
- Remember to ask the child for direction
and permission - Try to keep up with the terms of the time
- Choose your words carefully
- Be creative and imaginative
- Be flexible
Activities to increase prewriting
skills
Tearing, crumpling, and gluing
Work left to right, top to
bottom
* Drawing letters in sand, corn
meal, shaving cream,
* Fanny Books
Prerequisites to formal handwriting
instruction(Lamme)
- Small muscle development
- Eye-hand coordination
- Utensil or tool manipulation
- Basic stroke formation
- Alphabet letter and number
recognition - Orientation to written language
4 Prewriting competencies needed prior to formal handwriting instruction
(Benbow, Hanft, & Marsh)
- Dominant hand use
- Midline crossing with dominant hand
- Proper posture & pencil grasp
- Ability to copy the first nine shapes of the
VMI
what is an appropriate
pencil grasp
- Comfortable
- Provides speed
- Allows for legibility
- Will not cause harm to joints over the long term
if it fits these dont mess with it
Palmar Supinate Grasp
15 months
full wrap around
Digital Pronate Grasp
2-3 year
hands like speak postion & pointer down
Static Tripod
3 years
grip with all fingers
Dynamic Tripod Grasp
4-6 years
rests on middle finger
when rests on 4th finger = quadrupod grasp
-the best one
Mature, effective, atypical grasps:
- Mature tripod
- Dynamic quadrupod
- Alternate pencil hold
-difficult to change after 2nd grade
Atypical Pencil grasps
- Index grasp
- Finger tip grasp
- Interdigital brace
- Thumb tuck
- Thumb wrap
Multisensory Activities to
Address Handwriting
- Air writing
- Rainbow writing
- Tactile writing
- Wiki stix
Handwriting Components that
have to be present for legibility
- Spacing
- Size & proportion
- Placement
- Slant
All kinds of paper…
- Handwriting Without Tears
- Primary Ready Write
-Colored ruled lines - Smart Start
-Pictures at top and bottom - Raised line paper
Possible Modifications
- Slant boards
- Smaller pencils
- Don’t grade handwriting
- Allow child to type assignments
- Cut down on required written work
-proofread
Prewriting strokes
Precursors to forming shapes, letters, and numbers
* Must understand down and across before they can put them
together
Developmental Stages of Writing
● 1- to 2-year-olds: scribble and circular scribbles
● 2- to 3-year-olds: vertical and horizontal strokes and then lines
● 3- to 4-year-olds: circles and intersecting strokes and lines
● 4- to 6-year-olds: diagonal lines and the ability to form shapes
