After working in this field for over 20 years, I know how challenging it can be to find the right resources to support teaching handwriting given the unique needs of your students with autism. One of the things that I was constantly trying to integrate into most of my lessons was fine motor skill practice. So many of our students come to us with underdeveloped motor skills. It’s as if you’d think autism and handwriting don’t go together. And, that’s why it’s important to work on fine motor skills often!
I designed the Pre-Writing Practice Mini-Book printables specifically to meet the needs of students with autism and other similar special needs. These mini-books are on one page and can be folded into a book. The steps to developing writing skills start with building fine motor strength, moving on to tracing shapes and lines, and then gradually introducing letter formation.
When teaching students with autism writing skills like copying, tracing or drawing lines, you must have a strategy. Otherwise, you are just chasing after students all day, skipping your lunch break, and hoping no one sips out of your water bottle! So, I want to share a strategy for teaching handwriting that’s worked wonders in my experience, especially with students on the autism spectrum who struggle with writing. If you’ve got a student who’s having a hard time tracing or imitating lines and shapes, most to least prompting is my go-to advice. Grab your water bottle and let’s see how this works!
You start by giving as much support as the student needs to be successful, and then you gradually fade out that help until they’re tracing the lines or writing on their own. Here’s how I typically break it down:
Step 1: Full Physical Prompt or Hand-over-Hand Prompting
Think of this as maximum support. You’re right there, physically guiding their hand to help them trace or imitate the line or shape. I’ll often put my hand over theirs and guide them completely. (Be careful because some students may not like this, so in cases like that, I will hold the top of their pencil to help guide it.) It helps them understand what the task feels like when done correctly. Start here when the student is brand new to tracing or really struggling with the task.
If you don’t, you will allow them to do their own thing and spend weeks or months completing the task incorrectly never getting it right. They will have to relearn it. You must initially guide them with the correct hand movements. You want to teach it to them correctly from the start.
Step 2: Partial Physical Prompt
Once they get the hang of it a bit, you can back off the handholding (literally!). Instead of guiding their entire hand, you might just give a little help by holding their wrist and offering light guidance. It’s still support, but less hands-on. They’re hopefully starting to feel a little more independent. This is so important to give a good foundation to our students with autism and handwriting instruction with the correct formation of the lines, shapes, and letters can support that.
Step 3: Show Them What To Do (Modeling)
Here’s where you can start pulling back even more. Instead of guiding their hand, you can show them how it’s done. I’ll trace or draw the shape first and then ask the student to copy what I did. Pretending to trace works just as well. They’re watching and learning but doing a lot of the actual work on their own.
Step 4: Decrease Prompting Even More
Now you’re starting to see some steps toward independence! At this point, give verbal cues, like "Start at the top and draw down," or "Can you trace the circle?" They might not need you guiding their hand anymore, but they still benefit from hearing those gentle reminders about what to do next when you are teaching handwriting.
At this point, you might just be pointing to where they should start or maybe gesturing in the direction they should draw. It’s like a visual cue with your pointer and they’re usually close to doing it all on their own.
Here’s the ultimate goal: your student is tracing or imitating shapes without any help. For students with special needs, this may take a lot of time, and that is okay! You will be thrilled once they are writing on their own, and all that gradual fading of support has paid off.
Once you have your teaching method down and have practiced with some worksheets, the next step is yours. Introduce to your students with autism writing practice that they can gain from in the Pre-Writing Practice Mini-Books! They support this developmental process by offering a fun way to practice pre-writing skills.
1. The cover page shows students the skill they will be working on.
2. The second page has them tracing a solid line. 
3. The third page asks them to tracing a dashed line.
4. And the last mini-page has them practice making their own line.
We all know how busy a teacher's life can be. The best part about these Pre-Writing Practice Mini-Books is that they’re ready to use and you can just print and go! There’s no need for extensive prep time.
As your students create their books and trace or draw the lines, they’re working on folding skills as well!
I love that the mini-books can be printed on one page. This allows you to incorporate them into your daily routine easily, saving you time and effort.
Okay, now get back to class! And oh, check on your water bottle!!!
