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Purpose -This study aims to investigate teacher perspectives on teaching handwriting to children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) and collaboration with occupational therapists.Design/methodology/approach -A descriptive design was applied. Purpose-designed surveys were distributed to teachers of children with ASD (aged 4-12 years) in the Republic of Ireland. A response rate of 35 per cent (N = 75) was obtained, with 25 responses analysed using descriptive statistics of closed questions and content analysis of open-ended questions.Findings -Of 139 children with ASD, 80 (58 per cent) were reported to have difficulties with handwriting.Teachers reported specific difficulties with pencil grasp, letter formation and task concept among the children with ASD. Fourteen (56 per cent, N = 25) respondents did not give handwriting as homework. Teachers valued occupational therapy advice, individualised programmes and ongoing consultation during implementation. Interest in occupational therapy education regarding handwriting was reported.Practical implications -Occupational therapy collaboration to address handwriting difficulties for children with ASD should include involvement in teacher education, coordination of teacher-parent collaboration and the need for involvement in early intervention provision within an emergent literacy framework.Originality/value -Handwriting development is challenging for children with ASD. There is limited information on teaching or teacher-occupational therapy collaborative practices to address handwriting difficulties of children with ASD.

BackgroundChildren with Down Syndrome typically experience difficulties with attention to task and lack motivation when learning to write. This article provides an evaluation of the HWT® method applied as an intervention to promote handwriting amongst children with Down Syndrome attending mainstream school in The Republic of Ireland. MethodsIn the absence of standardised measures, a purpose-designed group task participation scale and pre-and post-intervention teacher/parent questionnaire were developed by the first author and used to investigate the participation of 40 children with Down Syndrome in HWT® activities . ResultsPositive changes in participation in HWT® activities were recorded in group data and in teacher/parent report. ConclusionsHands-on multisensory learning approaches such as HWT® may encourage children with Down Syndrome to participate in activities that promote handwriting skills.Further research and the development of robust measures to evaluate handwriting intervention for this population of children is required.

There is a dearth of studies investigating writing readiness in children with Down Syndrome (DS) and limited information on appropriate interventions. This article reports on a study conducted in the Republic of Ireland. An uncontrolled pretest‐posttest design was implemented using writing readiness measures specifically adapted/developed from the literature to collect data on the writing readiness skills of 28 school‐aged children with DS attending mainstream schools in the Republic of Ireland. Teacher/parent perspectives were also gathered during focus groups. The children presented with complex needs in relation to posture, pencil grasp, copying basic shapes, name/letter copying. Teacher and parent reports highlighted the need for collaborative intervention with occupational therapy. Findings from the study support the need for targeted early collaborative syndrome‐specific intervention to support the development of writing readiness in children with DS as an important part of school readiness. Intervention should include adopting a broader emergent literacy approach, teacher education regarding writing readiness and parental involvement in intervention.

Background The active involvement of parents and children in goal setting and intervention is integral to contemporary occupational therapy process models. However, parental perspectives on collaborative handwriting intervention are limited. This paper presents parental perspectives on a three‐way collaboration involving teachers, parents and an occupational therapist in the application of Handwriting Without Tears® (HWT®) with children with Down syndrome. Methods Within a larger mixed methods study, 44 parents completed purpose‐designed questionnaires and six parents participated in a focus group, post 8 months of programme implementation. Both methods gathered parent's perspectives on the usefulness and limitations of applying HWT®. The focus group explored collaboration in depth. Analysis involved triangulation of data from descriptive analysis of numerical data with content analysis of open‐ended questions and focus group data. Findings Enablers of parent–child engagement in HWT® were identified as; the parent–child‐friendly aspects of HWT®, the teacher involvement ensuring continuity which eased demands on parents, the ongoing support/guidance of the occupational therapist and the child's involvement in HWT® group intervention. The occupational therapists' involvement was reported as essential to encouraging teacher/parent involvement. Barriers to child–parent engagement included fluctuations in child health, mood, attention span and time limitations including the child's involvement in other therapy programmes. Conclusions Parents perceived the HWT® and the three‐way collaborative approach as enabling active parent–child engagement in handwriting intervention. This approach warrants further investigation. Findings have the potential to inform practice guidelines and pre‐ and post‐graduation education related to collaborative handwriting intervention with children with Down syndrome and their families.

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