Toward the end of my work with Henry and his family, his mom brought up one last piece of the puzzle: fine motor challenges.
This wasn’t their top concern; she understood that fine motor skills take time to develop. But she wanted to know if there were games or activities they could try to help make sure things were trending in the right direction.
I was so glad she asked, because based on everything I already knew about Henry’s sensory profile, it was easy to connect the dots.
[PS- click here to go back and catch up on Henry's story]
How sensory processing impacts fine motor skills
I know it might not seem obvious at first, but here are just some links between sensory development and handwriting/fine motor skills:
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Tactile processing plays a role in how we grasp a pencil. Developing a grip that feels natural and automatic requires that our brain can recognize the tactile input from holding the pencil.
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Having a high threshold for proprioceptive input plays a role as well. The input to your hand and finger muscles and joints talk to your brain, which affects how tightly you grip a pencil, how hard you press down, and how smoothly you form letters.
- Visual perceptual skills play a role in recognizing shapes and letters, perceiving the lines on your notebook paper and understanding the spatial relationships between letters and drawings, etc. It's common for some fine motor challenges to be unrelated to the motor aspect of writing and be more related to the visual processing aspects of writing.
- Vestibular and proprioceptive processing as they relate to posture also plays a role in how you can sit upright at a table, which contributes toward coordination and stability in your handwriting muscles.
“He demonstrates great fine motor skills in play (e.g., Legos) but has a loose grip and tires easily.”
But wait… if he can build with tiny Legos, why is his pencil grip so weak?
That’s a totally valid question.
Yes, Legos require fine motor control, precision, and strength. But what Henry’s struggling with isn’t hand strength. His brain needs extra support in knowing how his fingers are positioned and how much pressure to apply when writing.
Imagine wearing oversized oven mitts and trying to pick up a pencil.
You can’t feel the shape of it, so you'd probably grip it awkwardly and overcompensate by squeezing tighter so it doesn’t fall. Not only would you be cramping from exhaustion, but you'd have a difficult time writing with any kind of precision.
That’s what it can feel like for some kids with tactile and proprioceptive processing differences. If you’re holding a pencil awkwardly and getting fatigued quickly, it makes the whole writing process more physically and mentally exhausting.
It’s no surprise that Henry wasn’t excited to practice letters or numbers after school!
