Handwriting skills do not just come naturally, they have to be taught and learned so that they eventually become automatic. Some children learn very readily, but for children with perceptual motor difficulties, it can be a daunting task.

How do you know if your child is having perceptual motor difficulties? Does your child demonstrate difficulty motor planning the formations of letters despite continued practice? If the answer is yes, he may need to experience letter formation in ways that provide extra sensory feedback in order to experience success. He can practice forming letters with large Handwriting Without Tears sticks and curves, form letters with play doh over letter cards, form letters in sand or in shaving cream, trace large letters with colored chalk (rainbow writing), trace letters formed with sand paper or other bumpy surfaces such as corrugated cardboard, write letters with a wiggly pen, etc. These methods will provide extra sensory feedback which help make letter formation more concrete. Consider using the Handwriting Without Tears method of learning to write. This program was developed specially for children with perceptual fine motor difficulties.

Does your child demonstrate difficulty keeping letters on the baseline, maintaining consistent letter case and height, or difficulty spacing within and between words? If the answer is yes, your child may be experiencing visual perceptual difficulties. A whole series of skills need to be in place before you can expect your child to produce neat, legible writing. These skills are called pre-writing skills.

Pre-writing skills include basic pencil skills. Your child should be able to demonstrate success with developmentally appropriate maze, dot-to-dot, tracing and coloring worksheets for example. He should have lots of practice with paper and pencil tasks that help him to develop tool use and basic eye-hand coordination with pencil skills tasks. Help him to avoid turning the paper as he works; he should be adjusting his hand to demonstrate proficiency in creating lines in vertical, horizontal, diagonal and circular planes.

Your child should have lots of practice with fun developmentally appropriate toys such as Legos and peg boards which require him to create a design by following a visual model. He should engage in fine motor activities such as lacing cards and stringing beads to help develop fine motor manipulation and bi-manual skills. He should play games with tweezers such as "Bed Bugs" or "Operation" or your own creation to help develop fine motor and important hand separation skills (stability with the ring and pinky fingers, and mobility with the thumb, index and middle "tripod" fingers). For overall hand strengthening to facilitate proper grasp, activities with theraputty are great! Try these activities: Squeeze and kneed it for greater hand strength. Pinch it between thumb and individual fingers for increased pinch strength. Roll small balls between the thumb, index and middle fingers to increase dynamic tripod finger movements. Roll it into snakes to help develop palmar arches. Snip snakes into pieces for scissor practice. Hide small objects inside to be found by stretching & pulling putty. Use your imagination!

Scissor skills are also considered a pre-writing skill. There are lots of sub skills involved with scissor skills, and these do not come automatically for children with perceptual motor difficulties. Your child has to remember to hold one side of the paper in a vertical plane while cutting up the other side with the wrist extended, and the cutting hand in a "thumbs-up" position, while opening and closing the scissors and advancing the blades, all while turning and adjusting the paper with the helper hand. Phew! Hard work for a child struggling to develop perceptual motor skills! How can you help? Begin by choosing the appropriate scissors. There are scissors available that help to decrease the amount of motor planning and overall hand strength required for cutting tasks. "PETA" speciality scissors are an excellent brand and my personal choice. Begin by having your child cut circular designs. Progress to square and rectangular designs, and then those that incorporate both curves and angles. Glue the design onto construction paper for added stability in the skill development phase. Follow up with paper dolls once a degree of proficiency has been established. Try to find paper dolls presented on thicker paper such as "Curious George" which comes on a heavier stock.