Handwriting is a necessary functional task for school aged children and the primary way to express thoughts, ideas and knowledge. Handwriting is a very complex skill that encompasses visual motor coordination, higher- level cognitive processes, perceptual abilities, tactile and kinesthetic sensitivity, motor planning, spatial organization, temporal control and the integration of written language. Children who can write well have improved confidence and self esteem, increased concentration, improved academic performance and an increased ability to express them creatively.
Students with dysgraphia often have sequencing problems. Studies indicate that what usually appears to be a perceptual problem (reversing letters/numbers, writing words backwards, writing letters out of order, and very sloppy handwriting) usually seems to be directly related to sequential/rational information processing. These students often have difficulty with the sequence of letters and words as they write.
Students with an attention deficit disorder (especially with hyperactivity) often experience rather significant difficulty with writing and formulas in general and handwriting in particular. This is because ADHD students also have difficulty organizing and sequencing detailed information. In addition, ADHD students are often processing information at a very rapid rate and simply don’t have the fine-motor coordination needed to “keep up” with their thoughts.
Occupational therapist helps these children to improve graphomotor skills, perceptual skills, fine motor skills, visual motor co-ordination, handwriting or drawing. Occupational therapist asses the workstation, posture, writing tool use, behavior, writing speed, legibility and content.
For Hand Writing improvement classes please contact:
Dr Arpan Kumar, Sr Occupational therapist