Your Therapy Source Magazine for Pediatric Therapists August 2016 Issue #86 | Page 20

I have. My hope is that Handwriting Heroes will revitalize handwriting instruction, by making it
easier to teach handwriting.
Q: You have been in the “app business” for several years which is considered a long time.
Have things changed considerably since you first started? The ability for users to find one’s
apps is significantly harder because the app store has become far more congested.
Q: If a therapist has an idea for creating an app, what is your number one tip to get it
developed? Marry a programmer! Unfortunately it is becoming extremely hard to find and
afford experienced developers. I have sourced most of my developers (and artists, animators,
voice-over artists, composers, etc.) from upwork.com.
Q: Handwriting Heroes only addresses lower case; is there a reason for that?
Most of the students who are referred to me with handwriting problems write with upper case
letters or mix their upper and lower case. So, my goal in focusing on lower case is to avoid
confusion by solidifying the students’ knowledge of lower case before introducing upper case.
Since lower case is used in 95% of writing, I feel strongly that it ought to be prioritized.
Upper case is often taught first because these letters are easier to form; and therefore it is also
no surprise that students would defer to upper case. Lower case letters are however more
efficient to produce since there are far fewer pencil lifts.
Q: You describe Handwriting Heroes as being suitable for children of “all abilities”. Is
handwriting important (relative to other interventions) for children with delays?
Yes! I like to distinguish between handwriting and letter formation though. With handwriting
one produces letters by hand using a writing implement. Letter formation, on the other hand,
relates only to the stroke sequence used to produce a letter. Some of my students, who have
significant motor delays, may never be fluent at handwriting. However, it is still important for
them to learn the steps for forming the letters – whether following the animations with their
eyes, writing the letters in the air or tracing large letter models with their finger. It is my, as-yetuntested theory that the benefits of handwriting including – “better perception of letters which
transfers to reading, training the orthographic loop and improved serial organization” (Virginia
Wise Berninger, Strengthening the Mind’s Eye) – applies to letter formation as well.
That said my app does provide three levels of difficulty. The easiest allows the user the lift their
finger from the screen while the hardest requires the user to complete the letter using a
continuous stroke i.e. without any finger lifts.
Q: Where can we find more information about your apps?
Abilipad can be found
at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/abilipad/id435865000?mt=8&at=1010l7q
Handwriting Heroes can be found at https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/handwritingheroes/id1057029973?mt=8&at=1010l7q

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