Condensed from Tricks for Written Communication, OT KIDS, Inc

Suggestions for Left-Handed Students from Trics for Written Communication

1. About 1 of every 10 children in a classroom is left-handed.

2. Instruction: One of the most helpful things a teacher can do is to demonstrate an activity, including letter formation, with the left hand. Left-handed students push a writing tool across the paper from left to right when forming letters, whereas right-handed students pull the writing utensil from left to right. Demonstrating left-handed may require some practice in ambidexterity for the teacher, but it will help students to model the necessary movements more accurately.

3. Letter Formation: In regard to letter formation it is important for all students, including left-handed ones, to learn to write letters in a consistent way. This makes it possible for handwriting to become automatic so that students’ minds are free to concentrate on the higher processes of writing such as planning, composing, and revising.

4. Pencil Grasp: Help left-handed students to avoid developing a “hooked grasp” with their wrists bent around so their palms face the inside of their forearms. Hooking a wrist is done to help students see what they are writing, so help them find other ways to see (suggestions provided below). Students who use a hooked grasp may write more slowly and tire more quickly than their age peers.

5. Using Inclined Surfaces: Practicing drawing and writing on a vertical surface can help students to correct a “hooked grasp” pattern. A paper may be attached with masking tape to a chalkboard or tall file cabinet at eye-level initially; later an inclined surface at a desk or table (such as a slantboard or large 3-ring notebook binder) can be used, and eventually students can write on their desk tops in the same manner as their classmates.

6. Desk Placement: Leave space between the desks, if a left-handed student is placed to the right of a right-handed student. Otherwise students will tend to bump elbows.

7. Seeing What is Written: Holding a pencil about 1” from the tip of the writing tool with the hand below the writing baseline facilitates seeing what is written. It will also help if the paper is placed to the left of the body’s midline on the desk.

8. Teacher-Prepared Workbooks and Worksheets: Binding a workbook at the top, rather than on the left, will prevent left-handed students from having to maneuver over the big “hump”. Lists of words to be copied should be placed at the top, on the right hand side, or on a separate sheet of paper for left-handed students.

9. Three-Ring Notebook Binders or Spiral Notebooks: If left-handed students are allowed to make the back of the binder or spiral notebook the front, it will help them to write more smoothly and easily. This modification requires teacher adaptability, but can be very helpful.

10. Left-Handed Desks: For older students having left-handed desks available is important, if at all possible.

11. Pencil Grasp: Here’s a poem for helping children remember how to hold a pencil correctly.

Start with your wrist lying down in place,

With thumbkin and pointer face to face,

Long boy has the pencil rest on its side,

And all the other children go along for a ride.