Now, without further ado, let’s proceed to types of pencil grips that most OTs recommend, what their purpose is, and why they are recommended!Īmazon affiliate links are included below for purchase of various types of pencil grips. The OT Toolbox has a great Pencil Grasp Bundle available for purchase to support various needs related to pencil grasp.
The type of pencil grip can also serve to support the child as they focus on the writing process, therefore not exhausting their thought and energy, trying to remember to grasp the pencil properly for the best function.
Think of pencil grips as a supplemental tool to aid a child as they continue to work on building the hand and finger skills needed to achieve an independent and efficient grasp. With this inefficient grasp comes fatigue, pain, stress on the joints, decreased writing speed and overall legibility.Ī pencil grip may be a tool provided to support a functional pencil grasp, depending on the needs of the individual student. Inefficient grasps are used as a child attempts to compensate for lack of stability, skill finger strength, and endurance. This results in an efficient and functional tripod grasp for the most success with handwriting, drawing, and coloring. This is based on many factors including their current skill level, motivation, and understanding that the pencil grasp should be efficient and effective, but NOT perfect.įunctional grasps have a few basic components, which include an open web space, skill fingers holding the pencil (thumb, first, and middle fingers), and stability (achieved with the ring and little fingers being curled securely into the palm). Pencil grips are designed to support the most functional and efficient pencil grasp a child can achieve. To meet the needs of the individual student, a pencil grip may be supplied as a tool to support those individual needs.īefore we get into the various types of pencil grips you may see an occupational therapy practitioner recommend, it’s important to cover functional pencil grip. All of these areas play into handwriting. A therapist may have 40, 50, or even 70 students on their school-based OT caseload…and each student will be completely different when it comes to grasp patterns, pencil pressure, positioning of the fingers, preferences, letter formation strokes, executive functioning skills, self-regulation, visual motor skills, sensory preferences, and handwriting considerations. In occupational therapy sessions, the OT practitioner is striving to achieve the most effective and functional pencil grasp for each individual.
They can help in certain circumstances based on the child’s individual needs.ĭifferent types of pencil grips do not help to overcome the root of the inefficient grasp, as these issues must be addressed simultaneously, while implementing the gripper. It helps them understand exactly where the child is developmentally and where you, as the OT, wants the learner to head, and why! pencil grips and Occupational Therapyįirst, let me begin by saying that pencil grips are NOT a miracle cure for pencil grasp. My prediction is that these tools will help get buy-in from the educational team and the family. The visuals will help parents and teachers understand grasp development and the goals for an appropriate grasping pattern. To further explore pencil grasp development, take a look at our blog post, Pencil Grasp Development and get this great Pencil Grasp Quick Visual Guide, which helps Occupational Therapists identify and explain grasp patterns, using pictures to educate, and explain how pencil grasps progress developmentally. We’ll address types of pencil grips (with links for purchase) and why each pencil grip is used.įinally, we’ll cover a variety of related resources and activities to support the development of pencil grip use. In this blog post, we’ll dive into pencil grips occupational therapy practitioners may offer as a tool to support handwriting needs.
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