Students with learning disabilities struggle to understand spoken and written language affecting reading, spelling, composing, handwriting and organizing their work. Many of these students become frustrated with traditional classroom assignments. (R. Gersten, S. Baker, 2001) Written expression for some struggling writers is a monumental barrier caused by the mechanics of writing by hand, a limited written vocabulary, and a lack of writing structure. Even highly motivated students with learning disabilities who have good verbal expression become frustrated by their inability to write their thoughts clearly and concisely where their peers can seamlessly and concisely express their thoughts.

The use of common technology has simplified some of the frustration of writing for individuals with learning disabilities. Powerful word processors with spell checkers and grammar checkers have improved the written expression of struggling writers. The shift from using a pencil versus using a keyboard has greatly improved the legibility and quality of the student’s written expression. (T. L. Bright, 1990; B. Pisha, 1999) For some, this shift from the use of a pencil to a keyboard allows the student to think more what they’re writing as opposed to how they’re going to physically write it. (J. Newman, 1984) Even with this improvement, many students need consistent support to compose their work. The introduction to assistive technology increases struggling writers’ ability to improve the quality and quantity of their work, increasing their independence. (C. MacArthur, 1996)

• Visual Memory – the ability to remember what one sees.

In need of a gift idea—here are a few that will also work on your child’s fine motor skills.

 1.) Desk Accessories

A favorite one is a tin can pencil holder. 

 Here’s what to do: Clean a tin can (those with the pop-top lids are good choices – some Campbell’s soup cans are like that now – or use a can opener that leaves a smooth edge to avoid injury) and allow to dry. Then, cover the outside of the can. You can either make a cover for it out of paper and draw a design on it, or you can take thick twine, cording, yarn or string and wind it tightly around the can. Top off the gift with a few new pens and pencils and a note on the bottom of the can with the name of the creator and the year.

2.) Ornaments

Another  favorite is the CD ornament.

Here’s how: Use a free CD that came in the mail and cut a circle out of a piece of paper smaller than the CD. Draw a holiday scene on it and glue it to the CD. To make a hanger,  hot-glued a bent paperclip to the back. Another idea is to glue family  pictures to the front of the CD. The mirrored surface of the CD looks wonderful on a tree, reflecting the lights.

Another easy ornament is a popsicle stick snowflake.

 Take three popsicle sticks and glue their centers together, fanning them into a snowflake. Paint them white and sprinkle them with glitter. The glitter also makes a good reflection of the lights on a tree.

3.)  Plant markers. If someone in the family is an avid gardener, make them to mark their garden in the new year. Take seed packets that you planned on giving as part of their gift and scan them into the computer and print them out on heavy card stock. Take them to a local office supply store and have them laminated. Then, use rubber cement (under  supervision) and glue them to large craft sticks. Line them in a flower pot with the actual seed packets, a hand shovel and some work gloves, all picked up at our local dollar store. The entire gift cost us under $6.

 4.) Jewelry

If you have a child who loves beads, this is a great way to teach him or her how to turn something they enjoy into a gift for someone else. They can make something simple such as a bracelet or necklace, or they can create a beaded bookmark. Place knots about 8 inches apart on a piece of nylon string to keep the beads at either end so that the mark will sit easily in between the pages of a book.  Give the bookmark along with a book for a unique and thoughtful gift.

5.) Photo frames. What parent or grandparent doesn’t love a picture? Find a favorite snapshot. The options for creating a frame for the photo are endless. Make a frame out of either of construction paper or heavy posterboard. Then, the possibilities open up from there. Cover the frame in fabric pieces, shells, twigs, stickers, torn construction paper for a mosaic look. colored sand, even glitter. Complement the photo with the colors and medium chosen.

6.)Decorative trivets. Go to your local hardware or home improvement store and purchase some simple, white tiles. Paint handprints on the tiles, and use a paint pen to place the name and date of the child. We even added “Grandma’s Little Helper” and “Aunt Lynn’s Best Buddy” to ours. While they are not washable, they make a great keepsake and decoration for the kitchen.

Bilateral Coordination and Crossing the Midline

What is bilateral coordination and crossing the midline?

          Bilateral coordination is the ability to use both sides of the body at the same time.  This can mean using the two sides for the same action (like using a rolling pin) or using alternating movements (like climbing stairs).  Bilateral coordination can also refer to using each side of your body for a different action, such as stabilizing a paper with one hand while writing with the other.

          Crossing the midline, which relies on good bilateral coordination, means using part of one side of the body in the space of the other part.  Some examples of crossing the midline include sitting cross-legged on the floor or drawing a horizontal line from one side of the paper to the other without switching the pencil to the other hand.

Why is bilateral coordination and crossing midline important?

          Having efficient bilateral coordination enables both feet or both hands to work together.  This allows you to play and work with fluid body movements.  Bilateral coordination and crossing the body’s midline also support a child’s development of fine motor skills, ability to use tools, and ability to visually track a moving object.

How can I promote the development of these skills in my child?

          Here are some suggested activities that you can try:

o       Play Simon Says (“touch your left elbow”)

o       Kick a soccer ball (balance on one foot and kick with the other)

o       Blow bubbles and reach with both hands to pop them

o       Pull cotton balls apart (can glue onto a picture, make a project, etc.)

o       String beads to make a necklace

o       Spread peanut butter on toast or frosting on cookies (and open jar first)

What is the web space?

The web space refers to the circle that forms with the tip of the index finger and the thumb touching. 

Why is the web space important?

          It is important to maintain this space for holding a pencil or crayon correctly.  This allows for greater precision and stability on the writing utensil, and therefore more accurate handwriting.  When you write with the correct grasp and keep an open web space, your hand will not tire as easily.  Also, you need an open web space for grasping and pinching objects.

How can I promote development of the web space?

          For working on this fine motor skill and encouraging good handwriting, the following activities are suggested:

o       Roll pieces of tissue paper into balls and glue onto paper to make pictures

o       Pop plastic packing bubbles

o       Play with wind-up toys that have a knob

o       Write with a broken pencil or crayon

o       Open/close zip lock bags

o       Spin tops

o       Use tweezers to pick up small objects

o       String beads onto a pipe cleaner or string

o       Make pictures by mixing food coloring with water.  Pinch an eye dropper with thumb, index and middle fingers and drip the colored water onto paper towels

What are the hand arches?

In your hand there are three main arches, two transverse and one longitudinal arch.  One arch is rigid, but the other two are flexible and are maintained by the use of those tiny muscles in your hand.  You can see the shape of your arches by touching thumb to index finger or thumb to pinkie, for example.

Why are the arches important?

            The three arches work to balance stability and mobility in the hand.  The arches and bones in the hand work together to provide the stability needed for writing, gripping or lifting objects, and other fine motor tasks.  Mobility of the hand is necessary for using your fingers or for adjusting the tightness of your grip depending on the size of the object you’re holding.

How can I promote development of the hand arches?

          There are several activities that we use in occupational therapy to work on developing the arches, and you can try these at home as well!  These activities include:

o       Using small tongs or clothespins to pick up small objects, such as beads, spider rings, beans, cotton balls, or leaves

o       Pouring water, sand, rice, or marbles into the palm and seeing how much the child can hold

o       Sealing zip lock bags to store items after play

o       Cupping hands to shake and roll dice in a game

o       Using your palms to roll play dough or putty into snakes or hotdogs

o       Using the side of a crayon, color onto a piece of paper with a leaf underneath

o       Playing with sock puppets and making them “talk”

Handwriting is a very complex skill with many components including: visual motor skills, visual perception skills, fine motor skills, trunk control, shoulder stability and behavioral-emotional components. If one of these skills is compromised then handwriting often suffers. 

Visual Motor Skills:
Visual Motor Skills refers to ability to use vision to direct motor output. Visual Motor Skills are required to catch, kick or hit a ball, use the computer and copy letters. This term describes a child’s ability to copy shapes, letters or numbers. Basic visual motor skills for the preschooler entails drawing a line to join objects. More advanced examples of this skill involves copying cursive letters accurately.  

Visual Perception Skills:
Visual Perception refers to the ability to recognize, recall and discriminate shapes, including the 26 letters of the alphabet, how to form letters and discriminate between similar letters (i.e. d and b and q and g) This term describes a child’s ability to use visual information to make meaning of what he sees.  

Fine Motor Skills:
Fine Motor Skills refers to the ability to manipulate small objects with the fingers and the thumb. Children who have difficulty with fine motor skills often have difficulty manipulating fasteners, stringing beads and maintaining a functional grasp on a writing tool.  

Trunk Control and Shoulder Stability:
A child who has a weak trunk and poor shoulder stability may have difficulty with handwriting tasks. A strong base of support is needed in order to manipulate a pencil. To understand the importance of a strong and stable trunk, just think about a fishing rod. Imagine a rod made of rubber. Try casting a line – it simply wouldn’t work. With a floppy rod your control of the line and hook would be non-existent. Look out! A child’s trunk is like the fishing rod. A strong and steady trunk provides the base of support needed for delicate fine motor tasks like writing.

How do I know if a child has poor trunk control?
Observe the child during a ten-minute coloring or writing task. Does he lean his arms or body on the table? Does he rest his head on his hands?  These are signs of weakness with trunk control.
Try the following activities:

1 Animal walks such as crab (sit on the floor, put your hands on the floor behind you and then lift your bottom up) or bear (put hands and feet on the floor) walks.

2 Encourage child to perform activities on his tummy on the floor. Try coloring, drawing, playing with lego or blocks. Do not allow him to rest head on hands. This is a great way to strengthen back muscles! Many muscles around the shoulder work together to hold this joint stable. When writing, we use very slow, well-controlled shoulder movements. If a child has poor shoulder stability, then he cannot hold this joint stable. If this joint is loose, then fine motor control needed for writing is impossible to achieve. Clearly, writing skills suffer. A child has problems with shoulder stability if he cannot hold himself in a hands and knees position or locks the elbow joint in this position. He may brace his arm against his side when engaged in a fine motor activity.

Try these activities to improve shoulder stability:

1 Stand at a vertical surface such as a chalkboard to write, draw or color on paper positioned on a vertical surface (such as standing at the chalkboard).

2 Encourage child to play with games in the quadruped (hands and knees) position. Try setting up dominoes or play Jenga.

 Social-Emotional Components:
A child who has difficulty sitting still during school or who has difficulty following directions may have difficulty with handwriting.  

Seven Ways to Help with Handwriting

Kids aren’t able to write well until they have developed good fine-motor skills. Fortunately, these skills improve easily with lots of practice.

Use the following activities to help your young child develop the precision, balance, and hand-eye coordination that are needed to perform the fine-motor skills used in handwriting:

1. Give your child clay or play-dough to play with to strengthen the major muscles used in handwriting.

2. Encourage her to play with Legos, miniature cars, small blocks, action figures, and other small toys.

3. Do puzzles with your child.

4. Provide creative art projects that involve using crayons, marking pens, scissors, and finger paints, as well as tearing paper.

5. Play games with your child that involve the handling of cards and small game pieces.

6. Ask your child to sort collections of loose coins into stacks of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters.

7. Help your child learn to manage such everyday skills as tying and lacing his shoes and buttoning his clothes.

Remember, every child has a different timetable in acquiring the fine-motor skills needed for handwriting. The more your child uses her fingers in activities, the sooner she will acquire these skills.

Two Will Do! Sometimes, LESS IS MORE!
Help children improve their handwriting using only two lines!
Some children have more trouble with lines than they do with letters. So many types of paper exist in our world, the children don’t know what’s coming next! We have workbooks, worksheets, single lines, dotted lines, triple lines, quadruple lines, and no lines at all. It is like asking someone to learn to drive on the freeway! Which lane is the correct lane? Which line is the correct line?

Line confusion!
Jan Olsen’s Handwriting Without Tears® double line paper corrects the problem of “line confusion.” By using two lines and the simple phrase “bump the lines,” directions are plain and clear. The bottom line keeps the writing straight and the top line controls the size of the letters. An old idea has become revolutionary! The double lines are widely used in other countries, and now Handwriting Without Tears® brings this successful technique to you!

If a teacher is using a different style of paper in the classroom, will it confuse the child to use the HWT double line paper?
First of all ask yourself, “Is the other style of paper working out for the child?” If the answer is “yes,” don’t fix what’s not broken. If the answer is “no,” the child needs a change. Basic handwriting habits may need to be corrected. The double lines will guide the child to place letters correctly on lines. The child can follow the cue “bump the lines,” learning that the lowercase letters bump the top line and the bottom line. Letter placement will be uniform and neat! The child doesn’t have to worry about a third or fourth line, eliminating confusion of starting and stopping points. Allow the child to use this paper until mastery of letter placement on the lines.

The child can transition to another style of paper if:
The child understands the relationship of the size of capital versus lowercase letters. Hold up one hand, flat; hold up the other hand beside it, fisted. Explain to the child that capital letters are this tall (flat hand) and lowercase letters are this tall (fisted hand). When the child makes this connection, is comfortable “bumping the lines,” and forms letters correctly, the paper style will not matter. The child can place letters neatly on any paper. The double lines guide the child in attaining this understanding of the difference in size of capital and lowercase letters.

How can a child transition from printing capital letters in the gray blocks, to using the HWT paper? What about a top line?
The gray blocks are a wonderful thing! They assist the child in mastering formation of capital letters. All capital letters are the same height and occupy the same vertical space. Lowercase letters do not have this luxury! Some go above the line, some go below and they start at different places. The double lines are introduced when the child begins writing lowercase letters. The focus changes to placement of letters on lines. The double lines assist children in starting and stopping lowercase letters correctly, as well as mastering the size of the letters. Again, using the demonstration of the flat hand and the fisted hand, the child is aware of the difference in the size of capital and lowercase letters; i.e., capital letters are basically twice the height. No top line is needed. If a child has a problem understanding this concept, a gray block can be used as a visual guideline until the skill is mastered.

Is it possible for a child to transition to regular notebook paper after using the HWT double line paper?
Yes! Assess the child’s handwriting using a single line on a blank piece of paper. If the child displays consistency in the size of capital and lowercase letters, he most likely can transition to notebook paper without difficulty. If there is no differentiation in letter size, continue with the double lines.

If a child who is entering first grade has not used the HWT program in Kindergarten, is transitioning to the double line paper difficult?
This first grade child would benefit from a review of capital letters. The first grade workbook, My Printing Book, provides an excellent review of capital letters using the gray blocks. As the child becomes comfortable with the size and starting points of the capitals, moving to the double line paper for lowercase will be easy! Again, understanding the relationship of the size of capital and lowercase letters will lead to success when writing lowercase letters. A gray block can be used as a visual reminder until the child is comfortable.