Handwriting Help: DIY Adapted Pencil

Many children have difficulty holding a pencil correctly. This may be because they were never instructed how to hold a pencil properly or because they were exposed to writing too early, and their little hands weren’t ready to grasp and manipulate a writing utensil. No matter what the cause, if a child has a poor pencil grip, it can lead to problems down the road, especially if the poor grasp is causing stress on certain joints or if there is fatigue or pain during writing tasks.

Here is a DIY adapted pencil that can be used to promote a better grasp. All that you need are a pencil and a short piece of clear vinyl tubing. The piece of tubing should be approximately 1 to 1 ½ inches long, depending on the size of the child’s hand. Cut a hole in one end of the tubing that is just large enough for a pencil to fit through and slide the pencil in. (I use wire cutters to cut the tubing.) 

When holding the pencil, the tubing should be just long enough to wrap the ring and pinkie fingers around it.

This promotes the use of the thumb, index, and middle fingers when writing, and allows for better control of the pencil. It may feel unusual at first, but it gets more comfortable with use!

Thanks to Thaddeus Meyer for coming up with this wonderful idea and allowing me to share it!

Therapy on a Shoestring Budget: Easy to Make Slant Board

Writing on a slant board is a good thing, because the angle puts the wrist in a nice extended position, and it puts the writing surface in the line of vision which is good for posture. Slant boards can also be useful for reading.

Yes, I'm a big fan of slant boards, but they can be expensive, especially if you purchase one from a therapy supply store.  If you are on a shoestring budget, here's how to make a slant board for around $8.00 to $10.00.

Supplies Needed: 
Large Foam Board (I used a trifold)
Exacto Knife
Duct Tape
2 Large Clip Binders            
Self-Adhesive Flat Bumper Pad

 

 Cut the foam board into a 30" x 15" long rectangle. Make two "partial" cuts...one at the 11" mark and the next at the 19" so that you can fold the board at each cut. (See photo below)

 Attach duct tape along the lines on the side where the board is still connected.

Add another piece of duct tape along one of the ends of the board so that 1/2 of the sticky surface of the tape is still exposed (See photo).

Fold the board into a triangle and connect the final side of the slant board using the exposed duct tape.

 

Attach bumper pads to the small side and one of the large sides of the board. Your slant board is ready! You can position it in two different directions for different angles!

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Squeezing and Placing Clothespins for Strengthening and Color Matching

Squeezing and placing clothespins is a great way to strengthen the small muscles in the thumb, index, and middle finger and improve eye hand coordination, which are both important for handwriting and scissor skills. I like to have the child place the clothespins on a  paint stirrer to address bilateral skills. A great way to add a cognitive demand to the task is to use colored clothespins and wrap corresponding colored tape strips around the paint stirrer, so that the child can match color to color. Have fun!

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Functional Pencil Grasps

One of the most common problems occupational therapists in the school are consulted about is improper pencil grasp. The most efficient way to hold a pencil is the dynamic tripod grasp; however, many other patterns are commonly seen in children, and these grasps do not necessarily require intervention or modification. Here are some examples of functional grasps:

 

 

Several studies have found no statistically significant differences in legibility and speed among these types of pencil grasps. However, if a child has an awkward grasp, and complains that her hand tires or hurts, you may want to consider an adaptive pencil, or pencil grip. I really like the "Twist-n-Write" pencils and the Grotto pencil grip. They can be purchased at Amazon. These pencils and pencil grips promote a nice grasp and do a nice job keeping the fingers and thumb in place, thus encouraging a more functional grasp. You also want to encourage wrist extension during writing, and you can do this by having the child write on a slanted surface such as a 3-ring binder or slant board.

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References (Including Photos of Pencil Grasps):

       Koziatek, S. M., & Powell, N. J. (2003). Pencil grips, legibility, and speed of fourth-graders’ writing in cursive. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 57, 284–288.