Do I need pencil grips?

[mom24boys]

I don't think my boys have a major problem but it seems like their 3rd finger might not be in the right place. Do you think they have a problem? If so, what type of grip do I need? I don't know much about this at all.

[rwilliams]

I am an occupational therapy assistant. Here are a few suggestions. The left-handed child needs to align his paper with his forearm. Right-handed child does too but his main issue seems to be holding the pencil too tight. The side of the middle finger rests on the pencil. I think you can model for the left-handed child and he will be okay. The right-handed child would benefit from a grip to prevent hand fatigue. A triangular grip should be fine. In case my rambling is not clear. Left-handed child: Priority is the align paper with forearm so that the forearm and paper are parallel. After he adjusts to this, model resting the middle finger on the pencil and verbally cue him until it becomes a habit. right-handed child: priority is what appears in the picture to be a too tight grip on pencil. triangular pencil grip should help this. second, align paper with forearm. :)

[mom24boys]

Awesome! Thanks so much. You're the best. Yay! I will work on paper alignment and buy a few triangle grips. :D

[nansk]

A triangular grip worked well for my dd.

 

I read posts on this issue just yesterday on another forum. For correcting a tight grip, the advice given was to ensure the child's writing hand was cupped. i.e. With the pencil in hand, if the hand was turned up (palm showing) it should look like the hand was cupped. A suggested exercise was to ball up a piece of paper and tell the child to hold it in the palm while writing. Then the last three fingers would be holding the paper ball in place, so the 3-finger grip would result.

 

Another thing to note; if the first finger is rounded outward then the grip is right. If it is rounded inward, the grip is tight. If the parent is unable to pull the pencil out of the child's hand, the grip is tight.

 

Let me know if that didnt make sense :-P

Edited August 21, 2010 by nansk

[mom24boys]

So I ordered the pencil grips and hope they will be here in the next couple of days. My son is tentatively excited about the grips, although I'm sure our work is cut out for us.

 

I have tried to encourage my son to turn his paper to match his arm. He is very resistant to this. Any suggestions? How important is turning the paper? Will turning the paper become easier once the grip is being worked on? Do I only require the paper to be turned during handwriting class? Or is it something that I need to be reiterating during all subjects?

 

Thanks for your help.

[Ellyndria]

I have tried to encourage my son to turn his paper to match his arm. He is very resistant to this. Any suggestions? How important is turning the paper? Will turning the paper become easier once the grip is being worked on? Do I only require the paper to be turned during handwriting class? Or is it something that I need to be reiterating during all subjects?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

It's important! Turn the paper to be parallel with his forearm, always. I am left handed, and I always turn my paper. I think if you make sure the paper is turned correctly you can avoid that awful hooked hand from developing. If the paper is turned correctly, the hand will be below the letters being written *and* he'll be able to see what he's writing. Right now, in the picture you posted, his hand is above the letters he's tracing, where it should be below. The paper and forearm should both be at about a 45 degree angle to accomplish this.

Edited August 31, 2010 by Ellyndria

[mom24boys]

It's odd. I've been encouraging my lefty to turn his paper and he isn't resistive. It's my righty that is resistive to turning the paper. :confused:

 

I wish his Kindergarten teacher would have addressed this at least some. I guess there are too many kids in a class to pay attention to the details like I'm trying to do.

 

Will the pencil grips help with the paper turning? I have decided that I need to rip pages out of their books instead of leaving them in. That might help too.

[FO4UR]

I have no idea what to do with a lefty. I've never had one.

 

2 of my dc do the middle finger on top grip if I'm not watching. Stetro grips are the best things we've tried for them. I agree that the paper has to be turned to be straight with the arm. That makes a HUGE difference! And, definitely rip those pages out of workbooks so that they lay flat!

[rwilliams]

It is more important your left handed child adjusts his paper for now. For your right-handed child, do not try to change his grip and the way he turns his paper at the same time. For him, holding the pencil too tight is the priority. Change his grip first. Try to make it not so unpleasant by giving him praise and rewards for using the grips. Do not start out using the grips all or nothing. Gradually increase the use of the grips over time. Let him use the grips at first for fun activities....writing in playdough with the pencil, playing tic-tac-toe with you. After the grip is accepted, then gradually work on the paper turning the same way. A little at a time. I would turn the paper the way I wanted it to be angled in therapy and then tape it in place. But start out with the fun type activities first and then gradually turn/tape school work. You are trying to build habits that are as natural as how they write now. The quality of writing may decrease while they are learning new techniques. This is okay and do not make a big deal out of it. Really try to make this fun and pleasant while still gently changing their habits a little each day. Could you buy some really cool pencils just to use with the grips or when they turn their paper. I hope this is helpful and on target for you.

[Guest TheBugsMom]

With so many types of grips out there, which one is the best? Do the different ones correct/help different problems? I went to get some the other day and had 4 different ones to choose from.

[rwilliams]

With so many types of grips out there, which one is the best? Do the different ones correct/help different problems? I went to get some the other day and had 4 different ones to choose from.

 

 

I like one called The Pencil Grip. A neat website is otideas.com

[Georgia On My Mind]

:iagree:I like The Pencil Grip as well but most any one the student will use consistantly will work. The tactile sensory input to the brain from the fingers is facilitated with correct pencil grip. This is important to learning.

Carolyn in Georgia

[Oops, duplicate account :/]

I'm buying these. This brand is specifically mentioned in Cursive First so I'm just going with their rec. Don't know what I'll do with 36 of them, though!

 

http://www.amazon.com/Stetro-Pencil-Grips-Assorted-Colors/dp/B000KIEJKE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1283313810&sr=8-4

[mom24boys]

I bought "The Pencil Grip"

http://www.amazon.com/Pencil-Grip-Crossover-Ergonomic-Metallic/dp/B001SN8HPI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1283370896&sr=8-1

and the writing claw

http://www.amazon.com/Pencil-Classics-Writing-Assorted-TPG-21106/dp/B003BNJB94/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&s=office-products&qid=1283370896&sr=8-5

so that the boys could have a choice. (When they choose they tend to be more inclined to use.)

 

My "righty" son prefers to use the claw. He thinks it is fun and seems to be just fine with using it. Today was our first day. That is a great suggestion to turn the paper slowly and tape it down. I'll start doing that.

 

My "lefty" son is more resistant to the pencil grip but he did it. He chose the claw as well (probably because his brother did). I guess I'll start him more slowly.

 

Part of the problem seems to be getting them to write out in front of them. They don't have really bad hooks, but they like to stick their elbow out. Have I heard that you can let kids lie down on the floor and prop their work up on a binder to get them to write correctly? I guess to prevent hooking? Does that ring a bell? I thought I read it in another post but now I can't find it. :confused:

 

Thanks for the help. Any other ideas welcome!

[rwilliams]

You can try writing on the floor on a slightly vertcial surface but I doubt they will like it. You lay on the floor and try to write on a raised surface for at least 10 minutes. It is alot of work. I would make sure they are sitting properly at a desk/table that is the right size/fitted to them. I would let them write on a slightly vertical surface from a table top. Make sure to angle the vertical surface. Try to floor activity for something really fun with you but I have rarely had a child who willingly would write on the floor.