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Most club meetings followed the same basic format.
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improve their abilities to work with peers in a somewhat loosely structured and stimulating situation, and.
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improve students' cursive handwriting skills,.They had special education labels of learning disabilities, other health impaired (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder), or behavior disordered. The students we chose for the Handwriting Club were all third- and fourth-grade boys who had handwriting and social skill deficits. Our premise for the Handwriting Club was that combining sensory activities with direct instruction in handwriting would be an effective way to address both areas. For example, a student with proprioceptive problems may hold the pencil too tight and push too hard while writing. Our district OT found that students with difficulties in sensory processing, sensory awareness, and/or perceptual skills usually have handwriting problems. visual, auditory, and visuomotor perception.Dobbie and Askov described the processes necessary for handwriting: Handwriting is a very complex skill that requires many of these systems to work well together. All of the senses together are required for the end products concentration, organization, self-esteem, self-control, self-confidence, academic learning, abstract thought and reasoning, and specialization of each side of the body and the brain (Ayres, 1979). The vestibular, proprioceptive, tactile, and visual senses result in eye-hand coordination, visual perception, and purposeful activity. Body perception, coordination of two sides of the body, motor planning, activity level, attention span, and emotional stability result from the integration of vestibular, proprioceptive, and tactile senses. The integration of vestibular and proprioceptive senses results in eye movements, posture, balance, muscle tone, and gravitational security. The seven sensory systems that deliver this flow of information are:Īyres described the sensory inputs and end products in her chart entitled, "The Senses, Integration of Their Inputs, and Their End Products." The integration of the auditory and vestibular senses results in speech and language. When the flow of sensations is disorganized, life can be like a rush-hour traffic jam. When sensations flow in a well-organized or integrated manner, the brain can use those sensations to form perceptions, behaviors, and learning. The brain locates, sorts, and orders sensations somewhat as a traffic policeman directs moving cars. The brain must organize all of these sensations if a person is to move and learn and behave normally. Countless bits of sensory information enter our brain at every moment, not only from our eyes and ears, but also from every place in our bodies. Sensations flow into the brain like streams flowing into a lake. Our senses give us information about the physical conditions around us. Sensory integration is the organization of sensation for use. Handwriting Club sounded like a great way to combine sensory integration and handwriting. I was interested because I had begun working on some sensory integration activities using the How Does Your Engine Run? program with my students with behavior disorders. The club met for a few weeks with the teacher and the occupational therapist (OT) and incorporated sensory activities with handwriting instruction. Then last year another teacher in my building told me about the Handwriting Club she had conducted at a school where she previously taught. As a teacher of students with behavior disorders and learning disabilities, I felt more responsible for teaching the basic skills. Handwriting was a subject that I didn't believe I had time to teach. Handwriting Club: Using Sensory Integration Strategies to Improve Handwriting