Service Tag: Ideas

Handwriting Without Tears

Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) is a structured curriculum for teaching handwriting to children. The program is used regularly in Occupational Therapy treatment sessions. During the summer we offer HWT summer camps at both NTS locations. The camp is developmentally based and appropriate for children with pre-kindergarten level skills through 5th grade. This curriculum has proven to be very effective for children with special handwriting needs. The lessons follow a multi-sensory and developmentally appropriate approach to meet the needs associated with different learning styles. Camps are taught by an HWT-trained Occupational Therapist. Groups typically consist of 3-5 children per camp.

Learning to print and later to write in cursive, requires a detailed set of skills that include appropriate stability, hand and finger strength, visual motor skills, and visual perceptual ability. Difficulty forming letters, becoming fatigued with lengthy writing tasks, trouble with spacing &/or placement on the writing line, are all addressed both by identifying and remediating underlying component parts of writing ability, and well as practice during sessions and at home.


Interactive Metronome

Interactive Metronome (IM) is a computer program that utilizes sound, visual input, and motor coordination to improve motor planning, coordination, and timing. Everything the human brain does requires very precise timing. This unconscious capability is critical to the brain’s ability to plan and sequence thoughts and actions and connects them to their consequences. Thus “natural timing” is an important foundation of our ability to attend, learn, sequence, process information, and physically execute actions. The Interactive Metronome System is the result of years of rehabilitation technology, research, and development. It systematically uses sounds and repetitive physical motion exercises to help individuals improve their underlying motor planning, sequencing, and timing ability. IM is available at both NTS locations.