Grasp and Grippers

If your child is having a difficult time with using a mature grasp, typically doing more paper and pencil tasks are not the best way to learn a proper pencil grasp. Ask your OT for suggestions on games and activities to develop the two sides of the hand, the power and skill side of the hand, to assist with learning an efficient and a mature grasp pattern. A therapist prefers the use of a tripod grasp when the student is in first grade, but you may see your child use a variety of grasp patterns when he or she is coloring or writing at home. The reason occupational therapist like the tripod grasp is that is is most efficient. By using the most efficient grasp, the student is less likely to tire with writing/coloring because they are using the right muscles and body mechanics to hold a school tool. By using this grasp, students can have better pencil control and produce neater work. Below are the names of the developmental sequences of grasp patterns.

1. Fisted grasp: The movement comes from the shoulder vs. the wrist and fingers. You will see toddlers use this grasp when holding toys.
2. Palmer grasp: The pencil is held across the palm of the hand causing the child’s elbow to extend or be held up and away from the body. Sometimes I will cue the kids by saying, “ I can see your chicken wing”.
3. 5 finger grasp: The wrist is not flat on the table when writing and the pencil or marker is often vertical or straight up in the air. The wrist is working very hard with his grasp pattern and the fingers are doing little movement.
4. 4 finger grasp/Quad grasp: Four fingers are used to stabilize the pencil and the child is starting to develop a more mature grasp pattern.
5. Tripod or 3 finger grasp: This grasp pattern involves the thumb, index finger and the big or long finger. The fingers all come together towards the tip of the pencil and create an opening in the thumb web space.

When a student is not using an efficient and mature grasp pattern, a therapist may give a student a gripper to try and help the student learn how to hold the pencil. Sometimes other school staff may help the student by giving them a gripper they may have. The challenge is that therapists give out particular grippers based on the issues or challenges that they see the student has with grasp.

Not all grippers do the same thing and in fact some grippers are designed to correct specific finger or thumb issues. Other grippers are more general and may help kids get the fingers towards the pencil tip or be for comfort vs. position. I found a great website that has explanations and pictures of some of the grippers available in therapy catalogs and the reasons that particular grippers are used. There are so many types of grippers with such great names (Triangle grip, Stetro, The Writing Claw, Grotto, Start Right, The Grip, foam grips) and it can be difficult to know if the grip your teacher gave them to use in the classroom or the one you purchased at a local store is the "right fit" of your son or daughter.

Click here for good visuals of each gripper and an explanation of how each gripper is used.