Case Study: Handwriting Difficulties in a 5th Grader

Presenting Concern: Handwriting Challenges

We began by working on Robinson Hands Grasping reflex to develop better grasp skills and control of individual fingers before practicing our handwriting each week.

Identifying an Underlying Reflex Pattern

After several months of minimal progress in handwriting, I happened to look at his feet as we worked his hands and noticed the feet were rapidly moving through the Babinski reflex pattern. We began working on the Babinski reflex to help it regulate and the brain to understand that when his hands were engaged with grasping, lower body systems didn’t need to activate.

Early Functional Changes Noted at School

At my regular check in with his teacher, after 3 weeks of working on Babinski I asked his teacher if she noticed any differences. She said he was still not using a functional grip, his writing was still difficult to read BUT she wanted me to see his writing journal – he was writing pages each day.

Increased Openness to Tools and Experimentation

Within another week or two he came to his session and said “I don’t think I can write today, I have a cut on my finger” So I offered a super soft pencil grip to help cushion the pencil. He accepted it, used all session, and asked if he could take it with him!

The following week I suggested a different grip, one that I knew would place his fingers in even better position to control the pencil and he accepted that one. As he gained control over his Babinski pattern, he became more open to holding and using less structured pencil grips.

Growing Awareness and Confidence

In fact, he brought a drawing to a session in which he had correctly drawn the many different grips I had in my jar, from most structured to least, and then a pencil with no grip on it. He explained that he was going to keep improving until he didn’t need a pencil grip anymore.

Integration Leads to Functional Writing Gains

As both his Babinski and Robinson Hand Grasp reflexes integrated over the next 2 months, he began to have greater control of his pencil and his handwriting improved. It was now legible, he was keeping up with peers as far as how much he was writing, and he was no longer avoiding writing tasks.

Understanding Compensation and Neural Organization

B. was using the Babinski reflex to compensate when his Hands Grasping reflex wasn’t activating. By working on this foot reflex his brain was able to open up neural networks for his hands to have more control, and his brain was freed up to use writing to communicate his many ideas.