Night Elf Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Is there any way to retrain a pencil death grip? Dd14's hand hurts from gripping her pencil so hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In The Great White North Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Mom's teachers, back in the day, used to sneak up behind the students and try to snag it out of their hands. They were in trouble if it didn't slide out easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
besroma Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I was just googling pencil grips today! Have you looked at any of the YouTube videos? There are quite a few out there. I wonder if one of the plastic pencil grips that you put on the end of the pencil would help? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 change writing utensil and switch from a pencil to a fountain pen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 :bigear: My dd does this--and I recently realized I do this too. :001_unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovin Learnin Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Mechanical pencils will prevent this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixjen Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 My DS just started OT because of his grip. His OT recommended having him spend some time each day writing, doing mazes, etc. on a whiteboard or to hang his paper on the wall. She said this will make it harder for him to press so hard. Also he is to keep a "magic penny" in the palm of his hand using the last two finger to hold it in place. Hopefully one of these ideas will help your DD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 a grotto grip or a crossover grip. also a VERY short pencil/crayon are impossible to hold tightly. eta: a mom on a sensory board I"m on referred to it as "the darth vader death grip". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarlaS Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 Mechanical pencils will prevent this. Not sure how? I can totally grip a mechanical pencil or fountain pen as hard as anything else. My DS just started OT because of his grip. His OT recommended having him spend some time each day writing, doing mazes, etc. on a whiteboard or to hang his paper on the wall. She said this will make it harder for him to press so hard. Also he is to keep a "magic penny" in the palm of his hand using the last two finger to hold it in place. Hopefully one of these ideas will help your DD. I think we may be talking about two different things here. I grip the pencil hard, and so does my dd, but we don't press hard. Just hang on for dear life. If I try to be conscious of it, I can loosen my grip a bit, but it takes effort. I usually just avoid writing by hand. I used to have such nice handwriting too. :sad: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Night Elf Posted August 17, 2012 Author Share Posted August 17, 2012 We looked up the correct way to grip and we are both holding it correctly. Our problem is that we grip it too tightly. Will pencil grips help with that problem at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 They may help. I find that with a large, slightly squishy rubber grip my hand is be able to hold a pencil better without needing to squeeze as hard to hang on to it. The hard ones work, too, but they aren't as comfortable for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merry gardens Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 My DS just started OT because of his grip. His OT recommended having him spend some time each day writing, doing mazes, etc. on a whiteboard or to hang his paper on the wall. She said this will make it harder for him to press so hard. Also he is to keep a "magic penny" in the palm of his hand using the last two finger to hold it in place. Hopefully one of these ideas will help your DD. :iagree: I second the suggestion of getting an occupational therapy evaluation. They have lots of tricks to help solve the problem and may uncover the root cause. That said, we didn't see an ot, but I did retrain ds at age 9-10 using techniques and materials that occupational therapists sometimes use. The problem of death grip and insane pressure improved after several months of using a weighted glove and some nicer pens for handwriting practice with a program called Callirobics--plus, we worked on hand strength with a variety of other techniques--plus I'd been correcting his pencil hold almost daily since kindergarten. I suspect an ot would have been able to fix the problem faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I teach mine to switch to an alternate grip when their hand starts to hurt, 2nd picture down. http://school-ot.com/fine%20motor%20tools.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 http://www.thewritingpenstore.com/popup.aspx?src=/images/Product/large/1024.jpg These help(ed) my dd who writes with a death grip. We purchased elsewhere, but the design is still her favorite for writing comfort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celticmom Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 :lurk5: I don't think my dd has this problem but I do. I have delegated her handwriting instruction to my mother because my handwriting is abysmal and I don't want to inadvertently teach her my bad habits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kb44 Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I have a death grip, too. Have always had a calus on my middle finger from writing. Thanks for all the tips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted August 17, 2012 Share Posted August 17, 2012 I second the mechanical pencil recommendation. It really helped my son break the habit. We also found that the finer leads break easier. I wouldn't skip an OT evaluation though. Ds was helped by some dexterity exercises. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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