Exploring the participation of children with Down Syndrome in Handwriting Without Tears®

Background

Children with Down Syndrome typically experience difficulties with attention to task and lack motivation when learning to write. This article provides an evaluation of the HWT® method applied as an intervention to promote handwriting amongst children with Down Syndrome attending mainstream school in The Republic of Ireland.

Methods

In the absence of standardised measures, a purpose-designed group task participation scale and pre- and post-intervention teacher/parent questionnaire were developed by the first author and used to investigate the participation of 40 children with Down Syndrome in HWT® activities.

Results

Positive changes in participation in HWT® activities were recorded in group data and in teacher/parent report.

Conclusions

Hands-on multisensory learning approaches such as HWT® may encourage children with Down Syndrome to participate in activities that promote handwriting skills. Further research and the development of robust measures to evaluate handwriting intervention for this population of children is required