Mental practice combined with repetitive task practice to rehabilitate handwriting in children

Background.: Handwriting dysfunction contributes to 40% of all school-based referrals to occupational therapy. Empirically based handwriting interventions are needed to remediate the negative effects of handwriting dysfunction on a child’s occupational performance. Purpose.: This study examined the effectiveness of mental practice (MP) combined with repetitive task practice (RTP) to rehabilitate handwriting in children. Method.: Twenty typically developing first and second graders with impaired handwriting received RTP twice a week for 4 weeks, then engaged in MP combined with RTP for the same duration. Using the Minnesota Handwriting Assessment (MHA), they were assessed across four time points: baseline (1), after RTP (2), after MP combined with RTP (3), and follow-up (4). Findings.: Children significantly improved and retained this increase on all variables of MHA (p <.001) after MP combined with RTP. After RTP, the only significant improvement occurred in handwriting form (p <.001). Implications.: MP may be a potential therapeutic addition to RTP in rehabilitating global handwriting dysfunction.