Kinesthetic Perception and Handwriting Legibility and Speed

The Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools and Early Intervention published research on haptic and kinesthetic perceptions relationships to handwriting legibility and speed  in 177 first and second grade children in Taiwan.  Haptic perception is the ability to recognize objects through touch.  Kinesthetic perception is the ability to recognize how the body moves in space.  The children participated in 5 assessments which revealed the following:

• haptic perception had a greater influence on handwriting speed than kinesthetic perception for the children in first and second grade
• kinesthetic perception accounted for a greater variance than haptic perception on handwriting legibility for the children in the first grade but not in the second grade

The researchers recommend that evaluators examine haptic and kinesthetic perception when evaluating handwriting skills.  In addition, when teaching young children to write one may need to develop the kinesthetic perception.

Reference:  Tzu-Ying Yu, Tsu-Hsin Howe & Jim Hinojosa Contributions of Haptic and Kinesthetic Perceptions on Handwriting Speed and Legibility for First and Second Grade Children. Journal of Occupational Therapy, Schools, & Early Intervention Volume 5, Issue 1, 2012 DOI:10.1080/19411243.2012.673320

Need handwriting activities?  Check out our huge collection of downloads at YourTherapySource.