Three fingers contact the barrel in a tripod grasp and four in a quadrupod grasp.Īlthough a child’s pencil grasp pattern is commonly implicated in handwriting problems, this implication is not evidence based ( Graham et al., 2008 Rigby & Schwellnus, 1999 Rosenblum, Dvorkin, & Weiss, 2006). However, the pad of the thumb tends to contact the lateral border of the index finger instead of the shaft of the pencil. In lateral grasps, the thumb crosses over the pencil, stabilizing it against the other fingers. In dynamic grasps, the thumb is positioned in opposition to the fingers the thumb and fingers are placed on opposite sides of the pencil. Pencil grasps are commonly classified according to the position of the thumb, the number of fingers on the barrel of the pencil, and finger joint positions. Interventions for handwriting difficulties should focus more on speed and letter formation than on grasp pattern.
Kinetic differences resulting from thumb position seemed to have no bearing on speed and legibility. Grip forces were generally similar across the different grasps. However, when grasps were grouped according to the thumb position, the adducted grasps exhibited higher mean grip and axial forces.ĬONCLUSION.
We found no kinetic differences among grasps, whether considered individually or grouped by the number of fingers on the barrel. We used multiple linear regression to analyze the relationship between grasp pattern and grip and axial forces. Grip and axial forces were measured with an instrumented stylus and force-sensitive tablet. Seventy-four Grade 4 students completed a handwriting assessment before and after a copy task. We investigated differences in handwriting kinetics, speed, and legibility among four pencil grasps after a 10-min copy task.
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