Children are often referred to occupational therapy due to problems with handwriting. There are several aspects of development occupational therapists assess when a child is referred to therapy.

A child’s overall strength is assessed as postural control is important for a child to be able to have control with fine motor skills including handwriting.  A child who has difficulty sitting in the chair in an upright position may have difficulty using a pencil.   

Skills needed for handwriting:

• Trunk strength

• Postural control

• Bilateral coordination

• Ability to cross midline

• Fine motor control-the ability to hold pencil correctly

During the handwriting evaluation, several components of handwriting are assessed.  The child’s ability to form letters and numbers from memory, face letters and numbers correctly, and use age-appropriate size in writing.  Where the child starts each letter is reviewed as well as the neatness of writing and the amount of spacing between letters and between words is assessed.   

Depending on need the child may be referred for individual or group instruction to address the areas of concern.  The approach to handwriting remediation is multi-sensory meaning the therapist uses many hands on activities to address the body as a whole helping the child learn the concepts of writing.  The program includes music, songs, big muscle movements and various tactile activities allowing the child to feel how letters are formed. The child then puts the learned concepts to pencil and paper.