Starfish Therapies

A pediatric therapy company operating in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. We provide physical, occupational, speech and aquatic therapy services in the most beneficial and convenient setting for you and your child, including our clinic, currently located in Burlingame, your home, school or daycare.

  • About Us
    • Our Team
  • Our Services
    • Motor Smart Kids
    • Continuing Education
    • Resources
  • Shop
  • Blog
  • Contact Us
  • Corona Virus (Covid-19) Response / Move to Telehealth

Taking the visual out of handwriting practice

September 26, 2012 by Stacy Menz

I love having students in our practice.  Not only do they challenge us as therapists to be deliberate and think about why we do what we do, but they also bring an influx of ideas in and add to our overall toolbox.  Our most recent OT student shared this idea with us that she did a paper on in grad school.

Her paper focused on a child with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) and handwriting. The resources (Benbow, 2006; Ziviani & Wallenberg, 2006) suggest that a child’s slow performance in writing is a result of compensation strategies of decreased visual motor control with greater reliance on visual monitoring.  Some of the sources suggest that helping a child to develop kinesthetic memory and kinesthetic feedback can be beneficial. Activities that develop kinesthetic memory will increase internal sensitivity to when a letter movement is correct. Kinesthetic feedback can be developed while minimizing visual motor control (i.e. taking vision out of the equation).

An example of an activity includes having the child place an object on the desk surface within their reach. Then have the child place their hands on their lap and reach for the object with their eyes shut.  They tried this strategy with one of their kiddos who was able to reach for the object, but miscalculated and placed their hand directly to the side of the object on the first try.

The resources suggest this can be applied to handwriting by blindfolding the child while they write a couple of letters of the alphabet. Or, for those kiddos that would not do well with blindfolding, stick a pen through a paper plate and have them write a  few letters. If this is continuously practiced, the movement patterns will be part of the child’s kinesthetic memory. Eventually, handwriting will progress in speed and ease with less visual monitoring.

References:

Benbow, M. (2006). Principles and practices of teaching handwriting. In A. Henderson & C. Pehoski (Eds.) Hand function in the child: Foundations for remediation (pp. 319-342). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.

Ziviani, J. & Wallenberg, M. (2006). The development of graphomotor skills. In A. Henderson & C. Pehoski (Eds.) Hand function in the child: Foundations for remediation (pp. 217-236). St. Louis, MO: Mosby Elsevier.

Related

Filed Under: Developmental Milestones Tagged With: body awareness, coordination, fine motor development, handwriting, occupational therapy, visual motor

Search

Subscribe To Our Emails

Primary Programs

  • Motor Smart Kids
    • Free Play
    • Kids Action Hour
    • Yoga for Kids of All Abilities
    • Functional Movement Screen
    • Video Running Analysis
    • Youth Sports Injury Prevention
    • Concussion Screening and Management
  • Continuing Education
    • PNF 1: Introduction to PNF
    • PNF 2: Accessing the Trunk
    • Strength Training in Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder
  • Resources
    • Telehealth
    • Informational Handouts
    • Useful Websites
    • Recommended Readings
    • Helpful Products
    • Blogs to Follow
    • Favorite Therapy Products at amazon.com

What Clients Are Saying

I could see the progress being made in my son’s communication and overall disposition. Not only were the classes fun, but he also became a lot less frustrated when trying to communicate with others.”

Recent Blog Posts

  • Jumping Activities
  • Interactive Yoga Nature Walk
  • Creating Movement Opportunities
  • Walking Backwards
  • Heart Pumping Fun

Disclaimers

  • Full Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • HIPAA Patient Notice

Search

Patient Resources

  • New Patient Intake Forms
  • Resources
  • Our Services

Clinical Resources

  • Career Opportunties
  • Continuing Education

Contact

  (650) 638-9142
  (650) 638-9141
  admin@starfishtherapies.com

Join Our Online Community

Locations

  BURLINGAME / MAIN CLINIC
  1541 Old Bayshore Highway
  Burlingame, CA 94010


  SAN FRANCISCO
  (located in KidSpace)
  3401 Mission St.
  San Francisco, CA 94110


  PALO ALTO
  (located in Agile Physical Therapy)
  3825 El Camino Real
  Palo Alto, CA 94306


HALF MOON BAY
  (located at Sensitive Solutions)
  30 Avenue Portola, Suite 200 C & D
  Half Moon Bay, CA 94018

© Copyright 2021 Starfish Therapies · All Rights Reserved · Powered by babaLucas