Denise K. Donica

Although handwriting skills are important for child development, there are limited screening tools available to measure print and cursive skills for performance or progress monitoring. The Screener of Handwriting Proficiency (SHP) is a quick non-standardized assessment designed to screen handwriting skills. A retrospective normative research design was used to begin establishing benchmarks using data of students who have completed the assessment compared to peers. The scores from kindergarten through fifth students collected up to three periods during the school year were compared to the assessment developer's expectations. All but one print criterion score increased in median score over the year for kindergarten through second grade with the most growth in kindergarten. Students progressed in all areas of cursive writing within the year except for fifth grade word skills with the most growth during third grade. The progression of handwriting expectations across grades and comparison to assessment developer's expectations are discussed to show gaps and alignments in addition to suggested updates for the assessment.

Background. Research suggests praxis and sensory integration contributes to handwriting legibility in primary students. However, little research has demonstrated performance-based measures of praxis and its relationship to handwriting legibility. This study examined performance-based praxis skills of third and fourth grade students with and without handwriting difficulties (HD). Method: Handwriting legibility and praxis were examined in 33 third and fourth grade students at a local primary school using the Handwriting Legibility Scale and five praxis tests from the Evaluation in Ayres Sensory Integration. Participants were categorized into two groups based on their handwriting legibility scores: students with HD (n = 6) and students without HD (n = 27). Mann-Whitney U and effect size r was calculated to compare the two groups. Results: Students with HD had significantly lower scores on three areas of praxis (positions, sequences, and ocular praxis); pAreas without significant differences include ideation and following directions. Conclusion: Overall, preliminary data support a relationship between praxis and handwriting legibility, which supports the need to evaluate praxis skills to inform occupational therapy interventions for students with handwriting difficulties.

Date Presented 03/22/24 This poster will highlight the outcomes of a quantitative cross-sectional study comparing two groups of children (based on handwriting skills) and their sensory integration outcomes in areas of praxis, tactile perception, and motor-related functions. Primary Author and Speaker: Denise K. Donica Contributing Authors: Larymi Beck, Katie Hill

Background: Existing evidence supports occupational therapy’s (OT) role in improving handwriting skills; however, evidence is limited regarding the delivery of virtual intervention. Method: This pilot study reviewed the use of a virtual interprofessional writing program for five children 7 to 12 years of age that addressed both handwriting (OT) and spelling (speech-language pathology) skills. The program included eight weekly sessions using Microsoft Teams (first four sessions) and Cisco WebEx (last four sessions). A parent survey consisting of 14 questions was conducted to gauge overall satisfaction with the program as well as learn about platform preferences. In addition, the occupational therapists provided insights from using the features of the two platforms. Results: Overall, the families were satisfied with the virtual program, the primary strengths being the engagement of their child, the materials used in the program, and skill development. The occupational therapists identified various features of the virtual platforms that impacted their use for individual and group interventions. Conclusion: Information from this pilot study can be used to help clinicians when preparing for the virtual delivery of OT services. It also provided feedback from parents that is consistent with previous literature about strengths and weaknesses of virtual services.

Background: Keyboarding skill development is important for elementary students. Limited research exists to inform practice on effective keyboarding instruction methods. Method: Using a quasi-experimental design, we examined the effectiveness of Keyboarding Without Tears® (n = 786) in the experimental schools compared to the control schools who used the district standard instructional approach of free web-based activities (n = 953) on improving keyboarding skills (speed, accuracy, and technique) in elementary students. Results: The results showed significant improvements in keyboarding speed and accuracy in all schools for all grades favoring the experimental schools compared to the control schools. Significant differences in improvements in keyboarding technique were found with large effect sizes favoring the experimental schools for kindergarten to the second grade and small effect sizes favoring the control schools for the third to fifth grade. Conclusion: Professionals involved in assisting with keyboarding skill development in children are recommended to begin training in these skills in early elementary grades, especially to assist in proper keyboarding technique development. While using free web-based activities are beneficial to improving keyboarding speed and accuracy, as well as keyboarding technique, using a developmentally-based curriculum, such as Keyboarding Without Tears®, may further enhance improvements in the keyboarding skills of elementary students.

Date Presented 04/04/19 As technology use continues to advance in educational settings as well as daily life, effective use of computers, including keyboarding skills, is becoming increasingly more critical. This session will review two different keyboarding instructional approaches for the elementary-school setting. Outcomes including keyboarding speed, accuracy, and technique will be reported for approximately 1,900 total students included in this study. Relevance to OT services will be discussed. Primary Author and Speaker: Denise Donica Additional Authors and Speakers: Peter Giroux, Young Joo Kim

Handwriting assessments offer practitioners an objective measure to determine handwriting deficits, track student progress, and provide evidence for the use of occupational therapy intervention. This study determines the concurrent validity of the Print Tool with the Test of Handwriting Skills–Revised (THS-R) and examines the alignment of teacher perception with the Print Tool. Participants included 46 first- and second-grade students. All participants completed both handwriting assessments, and classroom teachers (n = 4) rated each students’ overall handwriting performance and potential areas of concern addressed by the Print Tool. The Print Tool overall scores have a strong correlation (r = .606) with THS-R standard scores, suggesting good concurrent validity. Median Print Tool overall scores increased with each successive teacher rating classification, supporting alignment with teacher perception. This study provides preliminary evidence for the use of the Print Tool by occupational therapy practitioners to identify potential handwriting deficits that also align with teacher perception of performance.

Literature has indicated conflicting results regarding the relationship between grasp patterns and legible handwriting. Historically, the dynamic tripod grasp was viewed as the gold standard, but more recent literature indicates that grasp may not have as much of an effect on handwriting legibility as once thought. The purpose of this study is to contribute to this evidence regarding the relationship between grasp and handwriting legibility. The Print Tool, Test of Handwriting Skills-Revised, and a researcher-developed grasp checklist were administered to first- and second-grade students (N = 46). The inference between immature versus mature grasps in relation to legibility remains undetermined. However, there were no statistically significant differences between legibility scores on these two assessments for first- and second-grade students when grouped by pencil grasp. Further research is necessary regarding the relationship of mature versus immature grasps and handwriting legibility.

Using computers and keyboarding skills for written communication have been common adaptations recommended by occupational therapists which are now important for all students. We used a quasi-experimental, pre-test/post-test design to examine the effectiveness of a developmentally based curriculum, Keyboarding Without Tears®, as compared to free web-based activities for learning keyboarding skills in students (general and special education) in grades kindergarten through fifth. Overall, students learning the developmentally based curriculum demonstrated improved speed and accuracy, especially in the upper elementary grades and improved keyboarding method in the lower elementary grades as compared to the free web-based activities.