CHILDREN AND HANDWRITING ERGONOMICS
Cindy Burt, Mary Benbow · 2007
Introduction 690 Background 691Postural Stability 691 Hand Mobility 692 Hand Dominance 694 Visual Skills and Writing 695 Gripping Skills 696Index Grip 696 “Locked” Grip with Thumb Wrap 697 “Locked” Grip with Thumb Tuck 698 Lateral Pinch Grip 699 Quadrupod Grip: Static to Dynamic 699 Tripod Grip: Static to Dynamic 700 Adapted Tripod Grip 700Indication for a Specialized Hand Skills Evaluation 701 Developing Mature Writing Grip 701Readiness 701 What Is a Mature Writing Grip? 701The Challenges of Handwriting Ergonomics 704 Postural Stability and Control 704 Writing Readiness 707 Efficient Grips 708 Paper and Writing Tools Selection 711 Management of the Writing Paper 712 Furniture Design 712Implementing a Kinesthetic Writing Program 714Instructor’s Guide 714 Student Motor Learning 715Summary 716 Appendix A: Writing Problem Indicators 717 Appendix B: Glossary 718 References 720INTRODUCTIONMany of us take children’s ability to learn handwriting for granted. Yet handwriting is physically and intellectually demanding. So demanding that between 10% and 20% of school-age children find it difficult to write (Hamstra et al., 1993).