Occupational Therapy

All I See is U: Visual Perception and How it Affects Handwriting

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

When it comes to handwriting, we have found that vision is one of the most overlooked and underestimated systems in children. We’ve been taught that if a child has 20/20 vision, they do not have a visual issue that will affect their academic performance. But in truth, children who have difficulties processing and perceiving what they see still quietly struggle in school. 

Visual perception is the total process responsible for receiving and interpreting what we see. This allows us to make accurate judgments within our environment such as size, configuration, and spatial relationships of objects.

To do this, our visual-receptive components and visual-cognitive components must work efficiently. If one of these areas is compromised, it will affect how a child understands and responds to visual information.

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Get a Grip: Pencil Grasp Progression

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

As a child scribbles and draws, they transition how they hold their writing tool from age to age. The development of the writing grip in young children follows a predictable course: 

Primitive Grip

At around 1-2 years, children commonly begin by holding a writing tool with a primitive grip (also known as a fisted or cylindrical grasp). 

This is when they hold a marker in a closed fist with movement coming from the shoulder. This makes it easy for a child to scribble in circular, vertical, and horizontal motions. 

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X’s and O’s: All About Handwriting Readiness

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L
All About Handwriting Readiness

Children scribble. Children draw. Children explore, get messy, and climb on things. All of these build the skills necessary for handwriting. 

The moment a child has a writing tool in their hand, their first inclination is to make marks with it. As they mature, they create intentionally meaningful drawings and scribbles which later turn into letters and words.

As children begin to learn how to write letters, they start developing pathways in the brain necessary for reading. In fact, research shows that 2- and 3-year-olds can distinguish writings from drawings, and that children at the age of 4 can recognize that printed words have meaning that can be decoded.

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The Quick Long List of Handwriting Activities

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L
The Quick, Long List of Handwriting Activities

Warmups

These prep activities help activate the sensory systems (touch and proprioception), and enhance visual motor and fine motor skills. Pick a few or pick all. 

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Love Letters #1: Handwriting in the 21st Century

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

This is the first post in our Love Letters Series about the importance of handwriting.

Love Letters: Handwriting in the 21st Century

Everything is digital nowadays. Smart phones, tablets, touch screen monitors…all you need to do is swipe, tap, or “sign” with a finger and you’re good to go. Typing and voice-to-text software have substituted one’s need to put pen to paper. 

With all this technology, it’s hard to determine handwriting’s place in the world and in child development. So, it begs the question: why do children need to learn handwriting? 

Handwriting is considered a fading practice as computers and tablets enter the academic arena. Teachers today spend less time on handwriting instruction. However, handwriting still consumes much of a student’s school day, spending 25-50% of their class time engaged in paper-and-pencil tasks. 

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