Many children who come to occupational therapy handwriting assessments at Child and Family Development have difficulty in the classroom.

I think that most parents are surprised by all of the assessments and skill sets that we test in order to decide how to help with handwriting. A thorough handwriting assessment could include the following areas if your occupational therapist feels that they may be a contributing factor:

• Handwriting samples including writing from memory, copying near point and far point for both letters and numbers.
• Use of age appropriate paper.
• Grasping patterns on the pencil.
• Letter formation and reversals.
• Visual perceptual skills, especially discrimination (finding pictures that are the same).
• Fine motor coordination of the pencil.
• Visual motor integration, or copying shapes.
• Core, postural, arm, hand, and/or grasp strength.
• Gross motor coordination.
• Manual dexterity, fine motor speed and precision.
• Attention, motivation, and frustration.
• Visual screening of scanning, tracking, convergence, divergence.
• Additional visual perceptual skills if difficulty is suspected including visual figure ground, form constancy, visual closure, spatial relations, discrimination, memory, sequential memory.
• Consideration of patterns that may indicate learning disability, dyslexia, or dysgraphia and appropriate referral to an educational specialist.

Interested in a handwriting assessment for your child? Click here to visit our website for more information or call today.

Want to learn more about handwriting evaluations? Handwriting Evaluations.