Special needs children diagnosed with autism or cerebral palsy often have problem in writing.

Autistic children find it difficult to learn the process of writing itself, because of their weakness in the ability to learn motor skills, as well as their cognitive struggles. Cerebral palsy children, on the other hand, know how to write- since their condition doesn’t affect mind- but are unable to write due to weakness/inability of their muscles.

Fortunately, the advancements in technology have found a way to mitigate both of these challenges to a large extent.Here are some specifically designed handwriting aids for special needs children.

Autism writing aids

Pencil grips: They stimulate the tactile (touch-related) centers of the autistic brain much more than the normal pencils or pencil grips. And since touching is the most effective way of learning for the autistics, they do slowly learn how to hold a pencil and write.

They come in many varieties- classical ridges, bumpy etc.- each having a special advantage of its own.

The Pencil Grip has a wide range and variety of pencil grips of different colors and other variants; specifically designed to enhance the “fun” part of the writing exercises.

Adaptive pencils: These are the special pencils, custom-designed- from color and artwork over them, to their material- to make it easier for the autistic children to hold them and write. Also, their artworks provide visual-pictorial stimulation to the autistic mind, another important source of information for them.

The Pencil Grip also offers a very helpful design of Heavyweight pencil, which can prove to be a really useful aide to your child’s special needs.

Writing “claws”: These assist in writing by supporting the finger-muscles in maintaining the grip. They are “worn” above the fingers- and other parts of the hand they’re intended to cover. They can be thought of like ‘gloves’ to help an autistic child to learn.

Another advantage of them is that they are usable for holding different kinds of stationery instruments- like crayons, ball-point pens, chalk etc.

The Writing C.L.A.W.’s writing claw is just the right thing to buy, with all of the abovementioned qualities incorporated in it.

Cerebral Palsy writing aids

In cerebral palsy, just like autism, the pencil grips are used for writing assistance. However, the difference is that in cerebral palsy, the support is more mechanical and physical and psychological. This is because of muscles of cerebral palsy children get tired and weakened easily.

The grips, therefore, make it easier for the child to support the pencil between his fingers while writing; thus helping the cerebral palsy child write more without complaints of fatigue or pain in the fingers’ muscles.