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The Impact of Occupational Therapy Involvement on Handwriting Acquisition for Children: A Systematic Review
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This systematic review examines how the contributions of occupational therapy practitioners impact handwriting acquisition for children learning to write. Twenty-four studies met the inclusion criteria and examined outcomes related to handwriting interventions that are developed or provided by occupational therapy practitioners as compared with conventional classroom teacher instruction.
Major Findings and Implications
• Occupational therapy involvement in handwriting acquisition skills, significantly improves handwriting outcomes such as handwriting readiness, handwriting speed, handwriting legibility, fine motor coordination, and far point copying for students learning to write compared with conventional teacher-led instruction.
• The Traditional reactive delivery approach for occupational therapy handwriting intervention significantly improves handwriting outcomes for students that have been identified as having a handwriting difficulty compared with conventional teacher-led handwriting instruction.
• When occupational therapists are involved with handwriting acquisition in the classroom, they are able to identify individual student needs and provide immediate feedback in terms of specific interventions or support.
• Combining the complementary skillsets of occupational therapists and classroom teachers during initial handwriting instruction provides a comprehensive platform that significantly improves handwriting outcomes when compared with conventional teacher-led handwriting instruction.
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