Good pens for dysgraphia?

[summerreading]

Hi, My DS is learning touch typing, but I'd still like him to practice writing. 

What is a good pen for dysgraphia? Does your dc have a favorite?

[Rosie_0801]

Fountain pens help nag about pencil grip and pressure. 

[historically accurate]

My dd likes using a fountain pen. It only writes if they're holding it in the proper grip.

 

I will say that her dysgraphia doesn't really affect her handwriting; she actually has pretty good print (her cursive is atrocious!). However, her hand hurts after writing for any length of time, and she is SOOOOOO slow. It more affects spelling and getting the words to somehow translate from her head to the paper.

 

Now that she is older, we are looking at getting her a livescribe pen that records the lecture while she takes notes.

[Guest]

A bic four color with blue fat barrel

 

Bic flair markers are even better

[saw]

My ds uses a yoropen. Seems to make a difference between really awful and just plain awful.

 

[prairiewindmomma]

It depends on why your kid is dysgraphia. For my sensory kid, a fountain pen provided feedback. For my kid with hand contracture a felt pen that provided no resistance helped her avoid hand fatigue.

[Farrar]

When I once went to a seminar about dysgraphia, one of the pieces of advice was to keep lots of different writing implements on hand and let kids try different ones out and find the one that works for them. Not sure if that's right or not, but it seemed like a good idea, especially if part of the goal is for the student to learn to enjoy writing.

[Guest]

I went to a conference where they talked about this--it was a long time ago, but I remember a couple of things they recommended that actually worked for us.

 

1.  Gel pens work well with kids who like fluidity or a specific line size.  Sometimes the bolder pen works better for a kid because they can see it better; sometimes a fine point because it looks neater. 

2.  Try different kinds of *paper*--we ended up getting Clairfontaine paper because it was so smooth that it made the writing less effort. 

 

We also had a writing teacher who showed us a better way to hold a pen (he had been taught a proper grip, so it wasn't the really screwed up grip issue) that reduced clenching and let him write from one side of the paper to the other without moving his arm.  That made a big difference, and I learned how to do it, too.  I have always loved handwriting, so that wasn't my issue--but this made it even better.

 

[Rosie_0801]

We also had a writing teacher who showed us a better way to hold a pen (he had been taught a proper grip, so it wasn't the really screwed up grip issue) that reduced clenching and let him write from one side of the paper to the other without moving his arm.  That made a big difference, and I learned how to do it, too.  I have always loved handwriting, so that wasn't my issue--but this made it even better.

 

I respectfully request a youtube clip!

[Guest]

I respectfully request a youtube clip!

 

 

ACK!  

 

Basically, you just hold the pen like a chopstick, the pen resting on the end-knuckle of your middle finger, and the tip (not the pad) of the pointer and thumb grasping it.  BUT the trick is, you hold it higher on the barrel.  The best way I know to describe the difference is that before, my pen was at about a 75 degree angle--nearly upright--but now, it sort of rests in the crotch of my thumb and hand, and is at about a 45 degree angle.  

 

The thing is, you can sweep your hand across a whole page so you aren't constantly repositioning.  And it reduces clenching.  

[OneStepAtATime]

Agree this depends on the type of dysgraphia.

 

If your child needs feedback but gets anxious over mistakes you might look at these erasable pens.  They actually work very very well.  You might also look at different types of paper.  

 

https://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Frixion-Knock-Retractable-Erasable/dp/B00NN16J58/ref=sr_1_13?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1492041407&sr=1-13&keywords=frixion+erasable+pens

 

The link above is for blue ink and it comes with a lot of refills.  This is the most economic but I would just get one to start with to see it works well.

[HSmomof2]

My lefty with dysgraphia finds gel and fountain pens difficult to get to write smoothly. They seem to be meant to 'pull' across the paper, and lefties 'push' the pen. He likes a ballpoint best.

[displace]

We use the ones that are fully erasable. The friction erasing ones.

[MistyMountain]

I like the erasable gel pens although they are a little more scratchy and not as smooth as regular gel pens. With my one child especially she smudges the ink with the regular gel pens from too much ink coming out and her hand sweeping across it since she is left handed. With dysgraphia I find it good to have the ability to erase to correct spelling and formation when working in that.

[historically accurate]

When I once went to a seminar about dysgraphia, one of the pieces of advice was to keep lots of different writing implements on hand and let kids try different ones out and find the one that works for them. Not sure if that's right or not, but it seemed like a good idea, especially if part of the goal is for the student to learn to enjoy writing.

 

This reminded me. I bought two sampler packs of pencils, grips, etc and the kids chose between them periodically.

 

https://www.therapyshoppe.com/category/P1976-handwriting-hand-writing-tools-pencil-grips-sampler-kit

https://www.therapyshoppe.com/category/P2606-ot-hand-writing-tools-sampler-kit-pencil-grips-triangular

[SparklyUnicorn]

We've had good luck with Frixion erasable pens.  Also, DS was given a fountain pen by his uncle and he absolutely loves that pen.  And we have tried EVERYTHING.  I have several various grips and he hated them all.