This week’s Tip Tuesday comes from Sydney, one of our pediatric occupational therapists, about handwriting.
Technology has a tendency to dominate today’s society, which can make handwriting less important to some individuals.  Handwriting is still important for all children even as technology becomes more dominant in their lives.

Did you know that hand writing skills can be linked to how well a child does in school?  If they are having to focus more on writing the letters and spelling the words, they miss the content they should be learning.

Here are some “Red Flags” to look for while your children are writing according to the authors (Colleen Beck OTR/L, Cindy Chuan OT, Tonya Cooley OTR/L, Lauren Greutman COTA/L, Claire Heffron OTR/L, Anna Meadows OT, Margaret Rice PT, Jamie Spencer OTR/L) of “The Hand Writing Book”:
1.   Poor posture while writing
2.   Movement is not coming from the fingers
3.   Pain, tiredness or weakness in the hand area while writing
4.   “Pencil pressure” is either too hard or too soft
If you think your child might benefit from an evaluation with one of our Occupational Therapists for their handwriting message us or give our offices a call at (989) 402-5133.