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Teaching handwriting skills to children with intellectual disabilities using an adapted handwriting programme
Author(s) -
Grindle Corinna F.,
Cianfaglione Rina,
Corbel Liz,
Wormald Emily V.,
Brown Freddy Jackson,
Hastings Richard P.,
Carl Hughes J.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
support for learning
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.25
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1467-9604
pISSN - 0268-2141
DOI - 10.1111/1467-9604.12178
Subject(s) - handwriting , psychology , curriculum , intellectual disability , intervention (counseling) , mathematics education , medical education , computer science , pedagogy , medicine , artificial intelligence , psychiatry
Children with intellectual disabilities often struggle with handwriting, but there is very little research to inform intervention approaches. In this study, we developed a teaching manual based on Handwriting Without Tears®, a comprehensive handwriting programme designed for typically developing children. Three children with intellectual disabilities participated in the study and received handwriting instruction based on the manual three times a week over a 32‐week period. Our aims were to explore whether Handwriting Without Tears® can be used as a comprehensive handwriting curriculum for children with intellectual disabilities and to evaluate improvement in handwriting skills. We found that the intervention was successfully incorporated into small group teaching sessions within the child's regular classroom, and that all three children made improvements. Our data show promising results and support the need for larger evaluation studies.