On a coding system to describe the particular
hand grip used by an individual child to hold a pencil/pen/brush when
engaged in the activities of writing/drawing/painting.
[We must assume of course
first, that the individual
understands what the examiner wants him to do. The examiner may
signal this in a variety of ways, e.g.
a. Telling him.
b. Signing to him.
c. Demonstrating.
d. Physical prompt/t.r.a. *
and
second, that the individual accepts the task of drawing, writing etc.
He may not and act accordingly , e.g. he may refuse to hold the pencil,
or grab the pencil and try to put it away, back in the examiner's case,
or throw it away or even break it.
* Note here the two different types of what we have called t.r.a. ]
Various styles of hand grip of implements are noted in psychological
assessments of people and it is convenient to have a coding system by
which to make a record of the individual hand grip used.
1. What is the body part most visibly used, by definition this is the
hand.
Is the hand used to grasp the pencil, does the child actually grasp
the pencil?
2. Which hand is used, R or L?
3. What is the hand shape used to grip the pencil ? This is coded
according to the Stokoe type of system.
The hand shapes relevant here are:-
a. Fist hand shape/fist grip, in the Stokoe system A.
b. Fingers 1, 2, 3, and 4 in line, thumb opposing against e.g. #2, in
the Stokoe system B^
c.
d.
e.
f.
g. Bunched hand, mature tripoidal grasp. In the Stokoe system this
might be coded as
either
G, ( with three dots or tiny vertical strokes in a horizontal line
above and a little hat, ^ , above this.)
or
H, ( with three dots or tiny vertical strokes in a horizontal line
above and a little hat, ^ , above this.)
These varying hand shapes can be graded in terms of refinement,
suitability to the job in hand etc.
We might have a developmental sequence of grips. Since there has to be
a b.s.l. writing sign, this might give us the hand shape and coding
for the mature pencil grasp. The writing hand shape is coded as
G'''^, and this is also the hand shape for holding a tiny object or
pellet by the tips of the index finger and thumb. However it might well
be that that the code H,''',^ is more appropriate, even though it seems
that this shape is not used at all often in b.s.l. to signify grasping
something small, except perhaps for the first part of the two part sign
for bow tie. The mature tripoidal grip seems to involve holding the
lower part of the pencil in three fingers, thumb, forefinger and middle
finger, and this seems to be best coded as H'''^.
These signs are OK because they are holding classifiers, (at least the
first one certainly is) but if the sign is one like that for e.g.
paint, where the the hand shape represents a paintbrush, this is no
good for our purpose, ( H").
4. What is the implement, e.g. pen, pencil, paintbrush or what? These
can be graded in terms of suitability, appropriateness etc.
5. What is the method of contacting the pencil, where is the implement
placed , in or w.r.t. this hand shape?
a. The implement could be held in the middle, close to the point, or
close to the other end, and these possibilities coded appropriately.
Holding the instrument far away from the point, if the work demanded
is of a detailed, precise, tight nature is probably inappropriate, but
it may be O.K. for loose, broad tasks such as painting ; here one may
want to use a long handled brush and stand off from the work. For
close, precise, tiny work one will probably want to hold a small
implement, e.g. brush, carving or modelling tool etc. closer to the
point or other 'business' end and look closely at the work, maybe even
with artificial aids to clear vision, e.g. more powerful spectacles or
even a magnifying glass.
Note here that usually there are infinite variations in types of grip
and we are just selecting a few values. This of course happens with the
hand shapes themselves, there are main types,e.g. A, G, B, 5 etc. and
the variations are coded by adding codes to these main types, in the
form of little lines or dots or circumflex accents over the main letter
or number.
The above hand shapes could be considered separately, although this may
not be a very sophisticated approach, so:-
In case 3a above, a fist grip, the implement could be placed with its
'business' end, e.g. for a pencil the point, closer to the thumb side
of the hand or closer to the little finger side, code these ? and ?
The fist grip, by its nature will involve a position of the pencil in
the fist which is not very variable, its unlikely that the pencil will
be gripped other than along the line of the first joints of fingers
one, two, three, and four . The only reasonably likely variation would
be the orientation of the pencil, whether the point of the pencil is
towards the little finger or towards the thumb.
In fact , on a little thought it becomes clear that we need to consider
the orientation of the pencil w.r.t. the hand. We may imagine, for any
grip of a pencil, the hand opened out with the fingers stretched out in
hand shape B or B. , then we can look at how the pencil is orientated
w.r.t. the palm side or face of the flat hand. We can consider the
three orthogonal axes,
along the length of the hand and arm
at right angles to this, but still in the plane of the flat hand, from
thumb side of the hand to the little finger side
at right angles to both of these, from palm face to back of the hand.
We can call these longways, broadways and depthways respectively and
so code them
l , b , and d.
[ picture of three axes of a B shape hand]
Then there will be three main placements of the pencil in the hand,
with the pencil aligned parallel to one of these three axes, and coded
as the above l , b , or d.
Then for each of these orientations there will be two values, according
to the placement of the point of the pencil:-
l 0 1
b 0 1
d 0 1
In l 0 the point of the pencil is closer to the
finger tips
In l 1 the point is closer to
the wrist
In b 0 the point of the pencil is closer to the
thumb
In b 1 the point is closer to the
little finger
In d 0 the point of the pencil is closer to the
palm of the hand
In d 1 the point is
closer to the back of the hand.
These can be graded in terms of suitability and appropriateness.
(Note # 1:
When we talk of the pencil being placed in a particular hand shape,
this may sound as if first the person makes his hand adopt a particular
hand shape and then has the pencil placed in it, ? by someone else or
by use of his other hand, perhaps. Of course this does not happen, and
the person first grasps the pencil and then both forms his hand into a
particular shape and gets the pencil into a placement in the hand
shape, at the same time, in one smooth movement. In the case of the
mature hand grip it so happens that at the first grasp the hand is
probably in something like the right hand shape, that appropriate for
grasping a pellet, i.e. G'''^ and then the pencil is flipped over so
that a part of the pencil closer to the non-business end of the pencil
comes to rest in the ' v ' between the thumb and first fingers,
but this isn't the point. The fact is that all we want to say is that
the conformation of hand and pencil is describable as a particular hand
shape together with a particular placement or position of the pencil
and it doesn't really matter, for our present purpose, how this
conformation comes about.)
(Note # 2:
Objects or parts of objects in certain relationships form complexes,
postures, positions etc. which are situations. Postures and situations
are frozen cross-sections through events, and could be starting points
for events, as the posture, or other aspect of the situation changes
in time. In the gross motor activity sphere the posture of being on all
fours could lead to the activity of crawling and the posture of
standing could lead to walking or running ; in the fine motor sphere
the situation of holding a pen, pencil or brush in a certain manner,
close to or better in contact with a surface e.g. a piece of paper, or
a canvas could lead to the activity, event of writing , drawing or
painting.)
6. What is the writing, drawing, painting surface? This could be paper,
cardboard, canvas, a wall etc.
This can be evaluated in terms of suitability and appropriateness.
7. We have to add the relationship, the orientation, of the writing/
drawing/painting instrument/implement to the second inanimate object
involved in the event/activity, the writing/drawing/painting surface,
i.e. paper, canvas etc. as a result of a movement of hand and
instrument towards the paper. ( In Stokoe terms we could call this
sig 1).
This could be described in terms of appropriateness, or effectiveness.
Is the pencil or pen point or brush end brought into contact with the
surface? Or is it the ' wrong ' end?
The proper use of the implement in conjunction with the surface,
requires that the 'business' end maintains contact with the surface,
if a mark is to be made.
( However of course the implement is lifted, to allow for gaps between
words, gaps between figures, separations between pen, pencil and brush
strokes in drawing and painting etc. For any stroke, the 'business'
end of the implement maintains contact with the surface. For a heavy
stroke the pressure is greater, for a lighter, fainter stroke the
pressure is lighter. Separation of pencil point and paper, light
contact and heavy contact could be considered to be more or less all
parts /values of the same dimension, an aspect of the spatial
relationship between pencil point and paper:-
[diagram of continuum]
This relates strokes with values in this continuum:-
[diagram of graph of distance between pencil point and paper plane
against time]
If we add another dimension, of space, we could get a 3-D situation
picturable as:-
[ 3-D diagram]
If we use the Stokoe type coding for contact, we may code contact of
the pencil point with the paper as
paper surface x p 0, or if we use p for palm we will have to
distinguish these as, perhaps
'p' for palm
and
' P ' for pencil,
so our coding would be
paper x P 0
What is the orientation or angle of the implement to the surface? Is it
90 degrees, or 60, or 45, or 30 etc.?
8. The pressure of the implement on the writing, drawing, painting etc.
surface. This might be coded in just five levels, e.g. very slight,
slight, medium, heavy, and very heavy. This will produce corresponding
differences in heaviness of the line. At the extreme it may result in
damage to the pencil point and/or paper etc. This would be considered
to be inappropriate. ( Before this, in the actual approach of the
pencil etc. to the surface, the force and/or speed of this may be
excessive and we get the phenomenon of stabbing at the paper)
9. The subsequent movement of the hand with the instrument.
This can be described in terms of level of complexity, associated with
different developmental levels. A possible sequence might be:-
a. scribble, sort of arc type movements?
b. continuous circular movements
c.
etc.
The movements produce various permanent figures or forms on the paper
etc., of varying degrees of complexity, corresponding to the degree of
complexity of the movements, provided of course that the 'right' end of
the instrument is brought into contact with the surface, e.g. paper.
These movements of hand and instrument could be classed , using a
Stokoe term under the heading 'sig 2'. *
Also we have to bring into this discussion
the nature and difficulty level of any task set by e.g. the adult,
and
the degree to which the graphic production satisfies the task.
As for the difficulty level of the task we may have some such sequence
as
a. follow imposed movement/production
b. imitate some form
c. copy some form immediately
d. copy some form after a delay
* In any of these the dimension or variable of complexity of form has
to considered, e.g.:-
a. vertical line
b. circular lines
c. circle
d. cross
e. square
f. diamond
etc.
These reflect increasingly complex forms of movement at the fingers,
wrist and elbow etc. So that for simple arc type movements the only
movement needed is one at the wrist or elbow. For a proper straight
line, e.g. a horizontal or vertical, onto movement at the wrist or
elbow must be added movement of the wrist or elbow joint.
The degree to which the graphic production satisfies the task is given
by various scoring standards, rules and criteria. Most simply this
could be a mere matter of a dichotomy, does the person pass, or fail?
So for example, in the D.D.S.T. to pass the 'copy a circle' item,
placed at year 3.5 , the child must only draw a closed or nearly closed
form of an approximately circular shape.
This sort of flow chart could describe the process and individual
nature of a person's use of some drawing , painting ,or writing
implement:-
body part?
e.g. hand
|
|
|
shape?
e.g. handshape X
|
|
|
|
|
object?
e.g. pencil
|
|
|
|
grasp?
e.g.grasp Z
|
|
|
|
|
movement?
e.g. movement M
In devising a coding system for types of hand grips of a pen/pencil/
brush etc. it is natural to use an already developed system, that of
hand shapes, coded by a Stokoe type system, adapted for use with b.s.l.
. This provides the hand shape, (dez), and we can also use the point,
and place of contact code, (parts of the hand) which is meant to
represent the part of the hand contacting another part of the body,
to represent the part of the hand contacting the object/tool/implement
used (pencil).
So:-
a. thumb
e. index finger
i. middle finger
o. ring finger
u. little finger
1. between 'a' and 'e'
2. between 'e' and 'i'
3. between 'i' and 'o'
4. between 'o' and 'u'
(Note here that the Stokoe type system codes the thumb and fingers in
terms of their significance in b.s.l. finger-spelling , in which the
thumb and fingers represent the five vowels of the English language.)
We also need of course to specify which part of the finger is in
contact with the object. We could specify which section of the finger
or thumb marked out by the joints of the finger or thumb is in contact
and then we would need three codes, perhaps numbers, for the three
sections of the fingers amd two numbers for the thumb. If the palm is
coded ' p ', ( or 0? ), then , working away from the palm the three
sections would be coded 1, 2, and 3, for a finger, and 1 and 2, for the
thumb. So, if an object O4 is in contact with the tip of the thumb, and
the tip of the forefinger ( index finger) we might code this as
a2 x O4 x e3.
This may not be considered fine enough and one may want to distinguish
between the very tip of the thumb or finger, in which case we would
have to add more numbers up to a total of 6, as in our diagram ?
The Stokoe system involves
hand shape (dez)
position or place of sign ( tab)
orientation (w.r.t. body especially)
hand arrangement
point and place of contact
movement (sig)
Most, if not all, of these can be used to describe how a person grasps
an object, e.g. a pencil, how he brings it to the paper, what forms he
produces, how he moves the pen on the paper, etc.
As for the hand shapes, since some of these are involved in signs which
have meaning because they show how an object is held e.g. pen, cup,
tumbler, etc. it seems natural to try to use the sign language coding
system to describe various types of grip of a pen/pencil/paint brush
etc.
The layout of this material on hand grip might well be arranged in the
usual pattern for describing plans, e.g.
a. Task, goal, aim, aufgabe, e.g. draw a circle
b. Gather necessary items of equipment to complete the task
Equipment:
pencil, paper, hard flat horizontal surface on which to rest
the paper
c. Procedure
i. Grasp pencil
ii. Bring it to the paper
iii. Bring pencil point to the surface
iv. Move it around in a circular movement---
Examples.
Example # 1
C.B. (s.l.d. student , C.A.= ? )
Her grasp of a pencil, was seen on assessment to be so:-
[picture of C. B.'s pencil grip]
with the left hand.
This is basically a fist grip, fist hand shape, in b.s.l. Stokoe type
code its 'A'. In contrast to this the typical fist grip is where the
pencil is placed in the hand so:-
[picture of typical fist grip]
e.g. in the palm of the hand. This is called a crude palmar grip. We
could code this as:-
Apa
A = fist hand shape
p = palm contact
a = point of pencil at little finger end
Catherine's grip of the pencil may be coded so:-
A = fist hand shape
t/f = thumb/forefinger/pencil contact
or
A : a 2 x pencil x e 1 & e4 : d 0
[ Here the first section shews the hand shape, the second shews the
contact points between object and hand, and the third shews the
direction the pencil point is pointing in]
Example # 2
F.McC.
[picture of this girl's pencil grip]
The hand shape here is similar but not exactly the same as the b.s.l.
code B. In fact F.'s handshape seems most like the B variant that is
described on page 635 of the Dictionary of British Sign Language/
English as occurring in I.S.L. and A.S.L. and expresses the letter b.
So perhaps we will have to call this B variant or B plus a code not
used by the b.s.l. dictionary, say B*. Then F.'s grip may be given as
B* : a 2 x pencil x p : b 1
[p = palm]
Example # 3
H. Gunzburg. ( my boss at Monyhull Hospital for Subnormals )
[picture of his rather idiosyncratic type of grip of a pencil or pen]
^
'''
We may code this as H 2
Here the # 2 refers to the fact that the upper part of the implement
does not rest in the angle between the thumb and first finger, but
between the first (index) and second ( middle) fingers.
( The standard mature tripoidal grip will be coded
^
'''
H 1 )
Do we code according to this hand shape method, as in Stokoe's coding
of sign language or according to a system where parts of the hand are
coded numerically and a conjunction of different parts of the hand are
shown by putting these numbers together, so: -
[ picture of hand with numbers and letters assigned to different parts]
a fist hand grip could then be given by
point
L 012
R 012345 FIST
M 012345
F 012345
other end
or
L 012 : P 1 / R 012345 : P 2 / M 012345 : P 3 / F 012345 : P 4
for one type of fist grip
[picture of pencils with numbers affixed denoting various parts of the
implement]
For a purely numerical coding of the mature grip we might have
T4 F6 M5 : P1 / T0 F0 : P3
Grasp of a pellet.
Of course the coding for the grasp of a tiny object, a pellet,
something with zero dimensions, as it were, a point , is simpler,
compared with the coding for something which in a sense is a line,
having one dimension, length, e.g. a pencil.
^
...
The Stokoe type coding for the hand shape appropriate to this grip
is of course G ,or perhaps simply G ^ . (What we are talking about
is the fine pincer mature and skilfull grip, that is. The grasp may
of course be much less skilful, e.g. in the Denver the child may 'rake'
the raisin and end up with this sort of grip
and this would be coded differently, of course, e.g.
A : palm x pellet x e3 , & i3 & o3
or, according to our other numbering of the finger parts,
A: palm x pellet x e6, & i6 & o6
We may want to code for different parts of the palm, and try to get a
code for the fleshy, muscular base of the thumb, in anatomy the
'thenar eminence'.
Rather more skilful would be a grip in which the child picks up the
raisin by bringing together any part of the thumb and one or several
fingers. The handshape for this seems to be more or less that coded in
the dictionary as B^. Depending on which fingers contact the pellet,
and which parts of them do, the codings could be various. One type of
grip in this class could be coded as
B^ : a 3 x pellet x i 3 & o3
or, if we prefer the more detailed numbering system, and we have the
case of contact with e and i fingers
B^ : a 6 x pellet x e 6 & i 6
Of course the contact may not solely be with the tips of fingers and
thumb, and we may have e.g.
B^ : a 6 x pellet x e 4 & i 5
[ It would be better to put this section in developmental order]
To code the actual grip we have to put in the code expressing where
the pellet is placed in this hand shape. This could be
T2 x object x F 3 .
That is the object touches, is in contact with, the tip of the thumb,
and the tip of the the fore- or index finger. We could also use the
more b.s.l. coding where the fingers are coded according to their
finger spelling values, the vowels a , e , i , o , and u. In full then,
in both styles, we would have:-
Hand shape contact points with object
G'''^ T2 x object x F3
or
G'''^ a 2 x object x e 3
In our more complex coding system, the coding for this could be:-
2 fingers together
tips of both
thumb and forefinger other parts of fingers
thumb and middle
thumb and ring
thumb and little
3 fingers together
thumb & forefinger & middle
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
--------------------------------------
The grasp of a long , thin object such as a pencil, is more complex
than this but includes the above sort of grip as a component. So the
pencil is gripped, as a small pellet, ideally rather close to the
point, and in addition a part of the pencil closer to the other end
rests in the angle between thumb and first or fore-finger. In coding
this would need a code to represent contact such as ' x ' , if we
were using something like the Stokoe system.
©2000 John and Ian Locking
GO BACK TO TOP OF PAGE
GO BACK TO INTRODUCTION
Related Topics
Handshapes