Mental practice combined with repetitive task practice to rehabilitate handwriting in children.

Abstract

Handwriting dysfunction contributes to 40% of all school-based referrals to occupational therapy. Empirically based handwriting interventions are needed to remediate the negative effects of handwriting dysfunction on a child's occupational performance. This study examined the effectiveness of mental practice (MP) combined with repetitive task practice (RTP) to rehabilitate handwriting in children. Twenty typically developing first and second graders with impaired handwriting received RTP twice a week for 4 weeks, then engaged in MP combined with RTP for the same duration. Using the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment (MHA), they were assessed across four time points: baseline (1), after RTP (2), after MP combined with RTP (3), and follow-up (4). Children significantly improved and retained this increase on all variables of MHA ( p < .001) after MP combined with RTP. After RTP, the only significant improvement occurred in handwriting form ( p < .001). MP may be a potential therapeutic addition to RTP in rehabilitating global handwriting dysfunction.