Making Handwriting Practice Enjoyable for Your Autistic Child

By Bill Stanton, MSOT, OTR/L, BCBA

[This column was published in the West Springfield Republican on January 22nd, 2026.]

Handwriting is a skill many families value but often find difficult to practice with their children at home. It can be aversive, especially for autistic children and children with other developmental disabilities. Children typically seek out activities that offer stimulation and opportunities to be creative, such as playing with toys, enjoying video games, or spending time outside. Activities like copying or tracing letters, often used to practice handwriting at school, can lack stimulation and lead to avoidance at home. Fortunately, there are ways to make handwriting practice more enjoyable and engaging for everyone.

The first step is to determine whether handwriting is a valuable or necessary skill for your child. Some families prioritize handwriting skills, while others focus on fluent use of an Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) device to help their child express themself and carry out daily tasks. It is important to discuss the value of handwriting as an academic resource or life skill with your child’s school team.

If you’ve determined that handwriting practice can benefit your child, consider his or her current skill level in handwriting, reading, and spelling; often referred to as finding the “just right challenge.” Practice should match what your child can do now and what they are working toward, whether that means spelling individual words or writing full paragraphs.

To encourage handwriting practice at home, help your child find motivation in writing itself. For example, if your child likes cartoons, print out a blank comic strip and have them practice filling in the speech bubbles. Pretend play activities, such as writing out a menu for a favorite restaurant or jotting down a grocery list, also make writing meaningful. You can further motivate your child by having them list things they want for a birthday or holiday, which can in turn provide ideas for potential reinforcers.

Engaging, handwriting-adjacent activities such as playing games like tic-tac-toe, coloring with chalk, painting, playing with Playdough, or even using a stylus to draw on an iPad, support the many underlying skills involved in handwriting. These creative activities build motor control as well as the hand and shoulder strength needed for writing.

Placing significant emphasis on technical skills such as pencil grip can hinder your child’s progress instead of help it. Not every child will have a perfect, tripod grasp. Consult your child’s team, particularly their Occupational Therapist (OT), on whether you should correct their grip. Research shows that practicing handwriting itself improves handwriting more effectively than working on component skills like pincer grip or eye-hand coordination.       

Remember to offer praise and encouragement throughout the practice sessions, instead of corrective feedback. Praising your autistic child provides positive reinforcement that builds confidence, reinforces a sense of safety, and increases eagerness to practice and improve skills.

Finally, tailor handwriting practice to your child as an individual. Every child is different, and what works for one might not work for the other. We all learn best when the learning process aligns to our individuality and what makes us unique.

Bill Stanton, MSOT, OTR/L, BCBA, is based at May School | Chicopee. He can be contacted at wstanton@mayinstitute.org.

May Institute is a national leader in applied behavior analysis and evidence-based interdisciplinary care for autistic individuals and those with developmental disabilities, brain injury, and neurobehavioral disorders. Founded over 70 years ago as a nonprofit organization, we provide exceptional educational, clinical, and habilitative services across the lifespan—unlocking potential and empowering individuals and families to thrive. As home to the National Autism Center, May advances the field through research that elevates practice globally. For more information, call 800.778.7601 or visit www.mayinstitute.org.