How do you hold a pen or pencil when handwriting?

[megacomic]

Never really thought about it. It's amazing how trivial the things we get criticized over are.

 

[Ellie.s]

Instead of holding it in a more traditional way the pen or pencil would be held against a clenched fist by my thumb

That's the way I hold my pen/pencil.
I also put a lot of pressure and lately my thumb is killing me.
Also, I'm lefthanded and my handwriting is terrible!
I'm not sure though why there's a "proper way" to hold a pen. Do what suits you best.

 

[owlet]

I hold a pen incorrectly too, although I have seen a few other people holding it the same way (it took forever to find a picture for it on google).

It means I can't hand-write for too long because it starts making my wrist hurt or hand cramp (I once got hand cramp from it as I started a two-hour exam and had to write through it, which was interesting). I also have terrible handwriting, to the point it's illegible at times. It is definitely possible to retrain your grip, but if it doesn't cause much trouble, it's possibly not worth the time and energy.

 

[Kirsty]

I was often picked on too for holding my pencils, etc., differently. I rest it on the inside of my index finger like this. I couldn’t understand why the teachers and kids kept mentioning it. On top of this I was bullied to the extreme by other kids calling me a ‘freak’ because I was like a boy. All this still effects me and people are still cruel nowadays for other things, but in a more subtle way, such as because I’m quiet. No wonder I’m quiet. F*** the world.

 

[Kirsty]

I'm of the opinion that if it gets the job done, then it shouldn't matter how one holds the pen. Us old Aspies that have arthritis do what we can to hold the freaking pen, so the pen Nazis can just bite us. So there!

The pen Nazis! Brilliant!

 

[the_tortoise]

Dynamic tripod. I remember as a child switching hands whenever the spot on my middle finger at the side of the first knuckle got sore from the pen/pencil rubbing against it. And sometimes I would just switch to a quadropod (using the ring finger in place of the middle finger) but I haven't done that for a long time.

I have mixed handedness. I wouldn't say I'm ambidextrous, exactly, because I have some specialization for certain tasks.

 

[Sabrina]

My daughter, 13, doesn’t know how to hold the pencil correctly, or use the fork and knife correctly. I gave up trying to ‘teach’ her. Her cousin (who I think is also aspie) holds the fork like the Flinstones too.

 

[Streetwise]

Dynamic tripod. I remember as a child switching hands whenever the spot on my middle finger at the side of the first knuckle got sore from the pen/pencil rubbing against it. And sometimes I would just switch to a quadropod (using the ring finger in place of the middle finger) but I haven't done that for a long time.

I have mixed handedness. I wouldn't say I'm ambidextrous, exactly, because I have some specialization for certain tasks.

you're the same as me in the respect of using a pen or pencil I can't even use oil pastels anymore it's way too painful

 

[Ellie.s]

My daughter, 13, doesn’t know how to hold the pencil correctly, or use the fork and knife correctly. I gave up trying to ‘teach’ her. Her cousin (who I think is also aspie) holds the fork like the Flinstones too.

There's a right and wrong way to use a fork? o.0 why? I mean, for me, if she gets the job done, then it's the right way!
I remember I was about 10, I was at this restaurant and was holding the fork with my left hand (I'm lefthanded) and this old guy walks in and says "you're holding the fork with the wrong hand". And I was sooo confused! I was like "why should I hold the fork with the other hand? It's not practical!" And he was wrong! I learned later that you're supposed (I don't know why) to hold the fork with your left hand!
I think people make their lifes difficult for no reason.

 

[WereBear]

I am right handed and use the "proper" hand grip but my handwriting is terrible and always has been.

Print, cursive, doesn't matter.

 

[the_tortoise]

you're the same as me in the respect of using a pen or pencil I can't even use oil pastels anymore it's way too painful

That's awful

It got better for me as I got older -- now I can draw or write by hand all day with one hand and I'm okay.

Not sure exactly why it got better....I think there were probably a number of reasons; One reason is that I developed callouses where the sore spots would develop. Another reason is that in later grades we were allowed to hand in typed assignments instead of writing everything by hand all the time. It's also possible I eased up my grip in some way as my fine motor coordination continued to develop, so there was less friction and pressure on my skin and soft tissue.

 

[Streetwise]

That's awful

It got better for me as I got older -- now I can draw or write by hand all day with one hand and I'm okay.

Not sure exactly why it got better....I think there were probably a number of reasons; One reason is that I developed callouses where the sore spots would develop. Another reason is that in later grades we were allowed to hand in typed assignments instead of writing everything by hand all the time. It's also possible I eased up my grip in some way as my fine motor coordination continued to develop, so there was less friction and pressure on my skin and soft tissue.

I think a lot of it comes from an old neck injury but at least I'm not paralysed from it .

 

[ACJ]

What I've read about pencil grip not being correct in children with autism is that it has to do with how much sensory input and output they are capable of doing. E.g., some kids can't make a tripod grip intentionally. My daughter is one such kid.

She was able to grasp objects from the time she was 4 months old. But as she got older and had to use the same movement intentionally in situations like holding a fork or writing (in both, a tripod grip is preferred as it confers more of an ease of movement, in my own understanding), she wasn't able to do, even when trying to copy someone else's grip.

Early on after she was diagnosed, around the time she was four, I had been doing a lot of reading about mirror neurons, and generally on the neuronal development of neurotypical infants and toddlers. Most toddlers don't have to be drilled on how to hold a fork. They just have an intuitive grasp for it from seeing adults do it for as long as they've been aware of it. What happens in their brain when they watch adults perform certain movements is that the motor centers of said infant brains activate, even though the infant him or herself isn't actually performing the movement. That is, they are rehearsing the movement they see.

With my own child, eye contact and generally paying attention to the adults around her was, in hindsight, never prioritized. She couldn't figure out how to use a tripod grip in using a fork or writing because, quite simply, her brain wasn't wired in a way where she found herself deeply interested in the movements of others. If anything, we have concluded these days, my daughter's brain processes movements differently even when she's actually not shutting out the visuals.

When she watches me do most movements, she can't really replicate them. The only way we've found that she is able to do certain movements is by very painstakingly practice them in a very rigid manner. E.g., while learning to swim, we had to actually move her legs to get her to understand what we meant by "kick". She could do it upright, but had no clue how to do it in the water. We spent a few days just asking her to float, and then her dad and I alternated making her legs do the movement, just so she might develop some muscle memory that could help her understanding of "kicking in water".

She has an adaptive tripod grip down by now, but she had to learn it for drawing first, then relearn how to use the same for eating, and then relearn it again for writing. In contrast, as far as I remember, I always "instinctively" knew how to make the classic tripod grip, and to apply it across different domains of activity. I never even had to think about it before having a child on the spectrum.

Before observing my child needing to learn the same basic movement to apply to different skills, it never occurred to me, but: it's possible that children with autism use grips different than the basic tripod grasp because their brains cannot fully integrate the skill. The understanding that such a grip is useful (I can attest that it is less painful on the hand joints) might be there, but the neural know-how might not be. It has to be cobbled into existence through a lot of adaptive therapy, which my child has definitely received a lot of between the ages of 4-7, which means it's a much more complex process. If that makes any sense.

 

[Pariah Dog]

I also hold a pen funny. I hold It in a way so I think the index and middle finger are pretty much proper. My thumb however, instead of the thumb knuckle sticking out like in Kristy's picture, it is the other way. Basically my thumb gets pretty much locked the opposite way for a "bent back" sort of look. Teachers occasionally tried to "correct" this but it did not improve my writing/printing. I can now write cursive fairly decent if I take my time at it. Printing looks like crap pretty much no matter what.

I also hold eating utensils funny apparently. Not in a flintstones kind of way mind you, but something else that is apparently not quite right. My ex used to ***** about it. I have been slightly mindful about it on recent dates but try not to worry too much. I can't remember what the "proper" grasp is supposed to be.

 

[keebles]

I hold a pen incorrectly too, although I have seen a few other people holding it the same way (it took forever to find a picture for it on google).

This is the way I hold mine, but I'm left-handed. All the lefties I know write with their hands twisted downward and I always thought I was weird because I held my hand like a rightie, but when I was in school, they forced me to hold my hand this way and not hook it like a normal leftie (they also tried to force me to be a rightie, but I couldn't do it...even when I broke my left arm in first grade and had to write right-handed for a time). I write really fast and tiny too, which means I can't use gel pens either because they can't keep up, but I don't know if it's from the extra pressure of my middle finger. They just skip too much.

I can write with my right hand, but it looks like the hand-writing of a first grader and my tongue automatically comes out like it's part of the process or something. I've tried to write with my tongue forced in my mouth and I can't do it. Weird that.

 

[pjcnet]

This is the way I hold mine, but I'm left-handed. All the lefties I know write with their hands twisted downward and I always thought I was weird because I held my hand like a rightie, but when I was in school, they forced me to hold my hand this way and not hook it like a normal leftie (they also tried to force me to be a rightie, but I couldn't do it...even when I broke my left arm in first grade and had to write right-handed for a time). I write really fast and tiny too, which means I can't use gel pens either because they can't keep up, but I don't know if it's from the extra pressure of my middle finger. They just skip too much.

I can write with my right hand, but it looks like the hand-writing of a first grader and my tongue automatically comes out like it's part of the process or something. I've tried to write with my tongue forced in my mouth and I can't do it. Weird that.

I'm actually right handed, but there's definitely a much higher percentage of people on the autistic spectrum who are left handed, I'd hazard a guess it could be as high as 50% when only around 10% of the general population are apparently left handed. Like @Chance however they even tried to force you be to right handed which as I said before is ridiculous and wrong, there's no disadvantage to being left handed except that more hand specific merchandise such as gaming PC mice are right handed, but they're still often available in left handed versions even if you have to order them.

Also most people here seem to hold a pen or pencil in a different way to the majority of NTs and at school teachers have attempted to "correct" it when it's normally unnecessary and even detrimental. I didn't realise this had happened to so many autistic people at school.

 

[keebles]

I'm actually right handed, but there's definitely a much higher percentage of people on the autistic spectrum who are left handed, I'd hazard a guess it could be as high as 50% when only around 10% of the general population are apparently left handed. Like @Chance however they even tried to force you be to right handed which as I said before is ridiculous and wrong, there's no disadvantage to being left handed except that more hand specific merchandise such as gaming PC mice are right handed, but they're still often available in left handed versions even if you have to order them.

Also most people here seem to hold a pen or pencil in a different way to the majority of NTs and at school teachers have attempted to "correct" it when it's normally unnecessary and even detrimental. I didn't realise this had happened to so many autistic people at school.

I've tried to do the "upside down" left writing style (as I call it) but I just can't. It's another one of those times when my tongue comes out. I use things like adding machines, gaming machines and what-nots with my left hand, so it's kind of backwards, but I'm left dominant, so I can't figure out how to make it "right" (pardon the pun) with my right hand. I can't use the numeric keypad to the right of the keyboard because my brain has been trained to do it with my left hand (and therefore the numbers are backwards to me), so a left-handed keypad would be nice (because it's a lot slower using the numbers at the top row). About the only thing left-handed I own is leftie scissors because normal scissors hurt. Maybe I should look around for a left-sided numeric keypadded keyboard.

But it's also very hard for me to think backwards with things anyway. I can drive easily to a location in one direction, but doing a return trip, on the exact same road, is very difficult. I have to learn it as two separate trips or I can't find my way back because the scenery has changed and my brain can't process the change. It's probably the same with my left versus right issue.

 

[pjcnet]

I can't use the numeric keypad to the right of the keyboard because my brain has been trained to do it with my left hand (and therefore the numbers are backwards to me), so a left-handed keypad would be nice (because it's a lot slower using the numbers at the top row). About the only thing left-handed I own is leftie scissors because normal scissors hurt. Maybe I should look around for a left-sided numeric keypadded keyboard.

You can buy a few left handed keyboards with the numeric keys on the left, I've just took a quick look online and you can order them, but you will probably won't find one in the high street shops, they also seem to cost a bit more.

 

[keebles]

You can buy a few left handed keyboards with the numeric keys on the left, I've just took a quick look online and you can order them, but you will probably won't find one in the high street shops, they also seem to cost a bit more.

Thanks! I'll give it a look-see!

 

[michaa]

i'm right handed and i've always held them the wrong way no matter how hard i, my school, parents, etc. tried to change it: