Tag Archives: Handwriting

Feifer Assessment of Writing

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Feifer Assessment of Writing logo

The Feifer Assessment of Writing (FAW) goes beyond standard handwriting measures to help practitioners truly understand the factors contributing to handwriting difficulty. The FAW allows practitioners to answer the “why”!   By understanding the factors contributing to handwriting difficulty, practitioners are better equipped to develop treatment plans that are efficient and that adequately address the underlying cause of difficulty.

Feifer Assessment of Writing: What’s Measured?

The FAW is comprised of ten subtests (and two additional, optional, subtests) designed to identify and differentiate among the three subtypes of dysgraphia.  The subsets are: (*indicates subtest used in the Feifer Assessment of Writing Screening Form (FAW-SF))

  • Alphabet Tracing Fluency*
  • Motor Sequencing*
  • Copying Speed
  • Motor Planning
  • Executive Working Memory*
  • Isolated Spelling*
  • Retrieval Fluency
  • Sentence Scaffolding
  • Homophone Spelling
  • Expository Writing
  • Copy Editing (optional)
  • Story Mapping (optional)

FAW vs. FAW-SF

FWFAW-SF
PurposeA diagnostic achievement test used to examine the underlying processes that support written language skills in order to identify the presence of a written language disorder and to identify the specific subtype of dysgraphia.Identify children at risk for developmental dysgraphia Can be used as progress monitoring tool
Key Areas of FocusThree subtypes of written language disorder: Graphomotor dysgraphiaDyslexia dysgraphiaExecutive dysgraphiaK-1st grade: Graphomotor demands of the writing process  Grade 2 & above: Cognitive-linguistic demands of the writing process
Age RangePre-K- CollegeGrades kindergarten through college 
TimePre-Kindergarten: 15 minutesGrades K- 1: 20 minutes Grades 2+: 55-65 minutes K-1st grade:15-20 minuteGrades 2 and above: 20 minutes
Scores YieldedProvides an overall Total Index & three target index scoresGraphomotor IndexDyslexic IndexExecutive IndexProves a single index score that indicates the risk for dysgraphia or a written language learning disability and the need for further assessment. 
Therapro's Essential Classroom Kit - each

Exploring Therapro’s Everyday Essentials Kit

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Therapro’s Everyday Classroom Kit is the newest kit to hit our shelves. This kit was created  with the thought of students returning to classrooms under new pandemic guidelines.  Therapro’s Everyday Classroom Kit includes all the essentials for day to day classroom use and is intended for a single user. In this way every student has the essential items they need for classroom participation while minimizing the sharing of these commonly used classroom essentials!  Included in each kit are:

  • 1 Standard Size Pencil With #4 Jumbo Lead 
  • 1 Swirl Foam Grip 
  • 1 Spike Tactile Pencil Topper 
  • 1 Fiskars Blunt-tip Kids 5″ Scissors
  • 1 Sensory Bookmark 
  • 1 Two Hole Pencil Sharpener
  • 1 Star Spacer 
  • 1 Reading Guide Strip

Set your pencil up right! Included in each kit is a Standard Size Pencil With #4 Jumbo Lead and just the right accessories, a Swirl Foam Grip and a Spike Tactile Pencil Topper! These are just the right pencil accessories for comfort and increased focus during writing tasks.  The swirl foam grip can be used by every student, it is not meant to correct grip instead it is simply for comfort.  The Spike Tactile Pencil Topper is a great accessory for every student; this small fidget is a great way to improve attention and focus! 

Improve handwriting legibility!  Included in each kit is the The Star Spacer; the Star Spacer is a clever handwriting tool made of see-through plastic which acts as a guide to help the child understand spacing, sizing, and alignment of letters and words to promote more legible handwriting. The blue star printed on the spacer is a great reminder for both letter size and space between words.  Here’s a bonus tip, turn it vertically to help line up columns of numbers during math work! 

Increase attention and focus!  Included in each kit is the Reading Guide Strip.  The Reading Guide Strip is a great tool to help all students attend to and focus during reading tasks. The Reading Guide Strips helps students track print through it’s transparent, tinted windows; a great way to improve attention when reading!  

To round out this kit we included  three “must have” classroom essentials;  Fiskars Blunt-tip Kids 5″ Scissors, The Sensory Bookmark, and a Transparent Two Hole Pencil Sharpener!  Scissors, bookmarks, and pencil sharpeners are frequently used multiple times through the course of a typical school day; by providing each student one of their own you can decrease cross contamination!  The Sensory Bookmark doubles as a fidget; users can run their fingertips across four different textured sections!  

OT Rubrics for Fine Motor, Visual Motor and Handwriting Skills

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Valorie Todd, MA, OTR/LWhen a group of OTs get together to brainstorm, there’s bound to be some exciting “stuff” that is the outcome. Valorie Todd, MA, OTR/L and her school-based practice colleagues in the New York and New Jersey vicinity had a goal in mind. They wanted to devise a way to monitor quarterly progress in performance skills they identified as “OT goals” or “Areas of Need” on the IEP that was based on normative data. Valorie discussed the rubrics her group developed during her Therapro Saturday Seminar Series workshop on August 22, 2015 entitled:  OT Rubrics for Fine Motor, Visual Motor and Handwriting Skills.

This seminar was the kick-off for the Fall Saturday Seminar Series and attracted about 60 attendees who listened closely, commented freely, and shared thoughts. Valorie and her colleagues were determined to conceive a way to assess a student’s performance against predetermined criteria, in which a student is measured against his own performance.

Valorie’s group identified 7 areas for assessment including:

  • Postural Control
  • Sensory Modulation
  • Ocular Motor Skills
  • Object Manipulation: Fine Motor/Hand Skills
  • Controlled Tool Use: Color, Trace, Cut
  • Design Copy: Graphics/Objects, and
  • Handwriting.

In her seminar, Valorie discussed Object Manipulation, Controlled Tool Use, Design Copy, and Handwriting. Fine Motor Rubrics for Kindergarten and Grade 1 were identified.

Valorie offered a thoroughly researched plan on how to assess function and address the skill through worksheets that acknowledged how a student was expected to progress sequentially in each area.  She made clear distinctions in skills expected of a kindergartner versus a first grader.  For example, when assessing “Tracing,” specifically Pencil Control:

A kindergartner would receive a score of 4 if he:

  • “Controls lines with min. errors 90-100%”
  • “Stops/turns at corners (angles/arcs)”

A first grader would receive a score of 4 if he

  • “Has good control within/on lines in all directions (90-100%)”
  • “Starts/stops on dots with 1-2 errors”

Valorie’s rubrics were well-defined and can be easily replicated. She was very enthused about sharing her work, including worksheets, and encouraged therapists to use her rubrics and provide her with feedback so that the rubrics can further be developed with input and use over time. As a result, a meaningful assessment of quarterly progress can be obtained and insufficient areas can be addressed systematically and meaningfully before the student is due for the next standardized evaluation.

Attendees comments were very positive and encouraging:

“It was excellent! So much info, well related to school based OTs. This will be helpful in writing goals, tracking progress, presenting at meetings, and for my Teachpoint eval.”  Amanda B., Occupational Therapist

“It helps so much to have these rubrics to support our clinical observations when IEPs are moving toward data driven/measurable goals and objectives. It will help with tracking and also guide thinking when working on skills.”  Anonymous, Occupational Therapist

“Love the practicality of the Rubrics.  Anything we can take away & use is terrific!”  Amanda H., Occupational Therapist

“Looks at detail of task performance and observation of foundational skills which students have or need to build on.”  Anonymous,  Occupational Therapist

“I would recommend this seminar to a colleague because it was well researched and the information was very comprehensive.  The material is very current and I can readily apply this information.”  Anonymous, Occupational Therapist

Thank you, Val!

Filomena Connor, MS, OTR/L