The Effects of Using Handwriting Without Tears and a Handwriting Racetrack to Teach Five Preschool Students with Disabilities Pre Handwriting and Handwriting

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of employing the Handwriting Without Tears (HWT) program with and without a teacher-made handwriting racetrack. Five preschool students enrolled in a public elementary special education preschool classroom served as participants. A combind multiple baseline and an ABCD design were employed to assess the effectiveness of our two handwriting interventions. For three of our participants, a teacher-made handwriting racetrack and HWT were also assessed. During the first session of baseline, Participants 1 and 5 were prompted to trace five straight lines of varying lengths with a pencil. During the first session of baseline, Participants 2, 3, and 4 were prompted to write inside the four standard letters from the HWT workbook with a pencil. After baseline, each participant was instructed using the HWT program and materials. For two of our participants (P-1 and P-5), increases in handwriting scores were found. For our other three participants (P-2, P-3, P-4), the addition of the handwriting racetrack along with HWT resulted in minor additional improvements. The benefits of employing the Handwriting Without Tears program with and without a handwriting racetrack the classroom were outlined.