It takes a lot of hard work and effort for a child to modify their pencil grasp, or the way they hold the pencil to write.
For many years, it has been considered prudent to ‘force’ a child to correct their pencil grasp, especially if it is/was NOT the dynamic tripod grasp, which is commonly known as the most correct grasp for the teaching and development of proficient handwriting.
But does it really matter? And when should a grasp be changed?
If you are shuddering in your boots and wondering why a Paediatric OT would even be questioning this, after all, isn’t this what OTs who see children struggling with their handwriting do?
And what do you mean, that there maybe a case when a student’s wonky or bad grasp should be kept as is?
And how can improving handwriting also impact upon reading fluency and spelling?
We discuss these questions and more in this episode of the ‘Research & Reality’ podcast.
Thank you so very much (to Sarah Cavallaro and Mim Rodda who are two passionate Australian Paediatric OTs who host this podcast) for inviting me to speak as a guest on the topic of handwriting and what the evidence says about pencil grasp and other evidence-informed aspects of handwriting development. I thoroughly enjoyed it! I trust you will enjoy tuning in too!
B3 – Handwriting Bonus Episode Interview with Melissa Savonoff