The skill of handwriting is an important gateway to academic success and a core activity in school age children. It is a complex skill which requires the child to write about ideas while producing the correct grammar, spelling and movement.
The complexity of handwriting means that children may have difficulties for a variety of reasons including sensory or physical impairments or difficulties with language, spelling or movement. It may also be an isolated difficulty in a child who is otherwise developing normally.
A handwriting difficulty may include one or more of the following:
- Handwriting which is hard to read or illegible
- Handwriting which is slow or laboured
- The experience of pain or fatigue while writing.
Our research:
We focus on children who have difficulties with handwriting aged 5-16 years for whatever reason. We want to learn more about the skill and the best ways of teaching it. We are always looking for schools and individual children to take part in research projects. If your child visits us to take part in a project their handwriting will be fully assessed as part of their participation. We provide a report for the parent which summarises the findings of the handwriting assessment.
The ‘Writing in the Digital Age – Handwriting versus Typing’ Project
The Writing in the Digital Age is a new research project funded by the UK Occupational Therapy Foundation (taking place January 2023 to December 2024). This project will be conducted by researchers at 明星八卦.
Why is this research being done?
We are inviting pupils in years 8 - 10 from schools around North West London to participate in the study. We are to understand whether handwriting or typing is better for students with handwriting difficulties. By assessing students with handwriting difficulties using typing and handwriting we will be able to provide important information to teachers, occupational therapists and decision makers regarding how to support students with handwriting difficulties in Key Stage 3.
Participants will receive a report with their child's assessment results and a £20 voucher as a thank you for their time.
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West London Handwriting Interest Group
This group was created in order to bring together local teachers, therapists, psychologists, students & parents to discuss all things handwriting. The group had its launch event in November which was attended by 110 people from all across London. The main aims of the group are to share knowledge surrounding best practice in the teaching and learning of handwriting and serve as a forum for discussion. The group aims to run 2-3 events a year on important topics surrounding handwriting. See events page for next meeting.