February 1, 2024

5 Ways to Work on Endurance for Handwriting

Handwriting involves many components, such as visual motor skills, fine motor skills, bilateral skills (stabilizing the paper and manipulating a pencil), hand strength, grasping, and executive functioning (planning, preparing, organizing).

Handwriting involves many components, such as visual motor skills, fine motor skills, bilateral skills (stabilizing the paper and manipulating a pencil),  hand strength, grasping, and executive functioning (planning, preparing, organizing). Oftentimes, a child will greatly improve the sizing, spacing, and legibility of his handwriting, but will still have trouble getting his thoughts onto paper. This may be due to decreased attention, decreased hand strength and endurance for fine motor tasks, or increased distractibility. Below are some strategies to work on creativity and independence for handwriting, particularly focusing on complete sentences and paragraphs, to help increase success at home and at school.

5 Steps To Work On Handwriting Strength:

  1. Write out the steps to a favorite board game: Have your child write out the rules and directions to a frequently played board game from memory. Make sure he uses complete thoughts and sentences, and that someone else would be able to play the game simply by reading the handwritten directions.
  2. Write out the directions to a favorite recipe: Have your child write out the ingredients and steps to a recipe from memory. In order to check his accuracy, make the recipe with your child, using only his directions. Then, your child will be able to “fill in the gaps” of his recipe to determine if he left out any important details. For an extra challenge, have your child write out the recipe on an index card to practice small, controlled handwriting and legibility.
  3. Create a story by looking at a picture: Help your child to find a picture from a storybook or off of the computer to use as the foundation of their own story. Make sure that he uses his own ideas, rather than the ideas and themes from the original storybook. Remind your child that there should be a title, a theme to the story, an opening sentence, and a closing sentence.
  4. Use a story starter: Provide your child with one or two sentences to work off of. For instance, “I am looking forward to summer vacation because ____, ____, and ____.” Or, “One activity I am really good at is ____ because ____, ____, and ____.” Or, “One day I went to the ice cream shop and…”. Make sure your child uses complete thoughts and sentences, rather than just filling in the blanks.
  5. Create an obstacle course: First, have your child walk around the house in order to brainstorm several activities and pieces of equipment he could use to develop his own obstacle course (e.g. dribble a basketball 5 times, log roll over a pile of pillows, and do 10 frog jumps down the hallway). Next, have your child write down his thoughts and ideas, including the equipment needed, and place the steps of the obstacle course in logical order. Lastly, have your child complete the obstacle course, as you read through the steps. This will help to find any missing directions in the obstacle course and add in any needed information or details.

Download our Guide for Families

We know that choosing a local ABA facility can be a hard decision. We’ve created an informational guide to help you understand more about the questions you should be asking while meeting with different providers.

Although we talk about our services here, our highest goal is for you to feel comfortable and knowledgeable about picking a provider that is the best fit for your needs. You are making a decision that will impact the entire trajectory of your child’s life!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
The cover of the NSPT Guide for Families, which helps families to figure out the questions to ask when picking an ABA provider.

Continue Reading

Testimonials

Why we do what we do.
Success looks different for every child... But we bet we have a story that matches your child's needs. Like James, who started with us as non-verbal and lacking the ability to initiate and maintain social interactions. Today, he can speak complete sentences, clearly state his needs, and navigate social interactions with his friends!

Contact us to get started

  • 1
    Submit an inquiry form
    Completing this secure form helps us understand how we can serve you.
  • 2
    We'll reach out to you!
    One of our dedicated team members will connect with you to discuss services, your insurance benefits, and your family’s needs.
  • 3
    Paperwork & insurance
    We'll review and confirm your insurance benefits, and we'll work with you to gather additional paperwork required and discuss financial expectations based on insurance.
  • 4
    Treatment personalization
    We'll schedule an assessment date for your child with one of our clinicians. This assessment will serve as the basis for your child’s personalized treatment plan. After, we'll meet to discuss recommendations and your child’s treatment plan and start date.
  • 5
    Start making progress!
    We will greet and welcome your child to our warm and supportive environment where our staff will provide 1-on-1 care to meet our treatment goals.