The Role of Occupational Therapy on Improvement of Handwriting Problems in Primary School Aged Children

Handwriting as a visible trace of spoken language is an essential skill for learning and using the knowledge. This skill is necessary to success and participates in various activities. Handwriting problems influence on education and social performances of students. Also, it can effect on job achievement, personal relationships and activity performance. Therefore, early assessment and intervention is necessary to prevent problems in the future. In addition to reviewing the client’s history, many standardized tools are used for evaluation. Many tools are available to evaluate the handwriting process (sensory motor, perceptual, cognitive and psychological components). To evaluate the handwriting product, the Persian handwriting assessment tool is the only available tool.
Occupational therapy interventions in the field of handwriting problems include neurodevelopmental, educational, sensory motor, biomechanical and psychosocial approaches. Using a combination of these approaches increases the effectiveness of interventions. It is necessary to have sufficient knowledge about the handwriting problem. Also, early evaluation and intervention are essential to prevention. It is suggested to use appropriate and standardized tool in order to evaluate. Also, Integration of different therapeutic approaches in meaningful and purposeful activities is recommended to therapist and educational specialists.