Is your child or student having difficulty manipulating their hands and fingers in order to separate and turn pages in books? Here is a valuable therapist’s trick that is a cheap and easy way to help kids turn pages in a book more independently without needing to open their hand or manipulate their fingers!
What you will need
Craft sticks
Tape
How to construct
- Cut the craft stick up into pieces (one piece per number of pages in the book)
- Tape one stick pieces to the back side of each pages
- Tape the stick pieces in varying positions down the page edges, starting with the highest position on the first page and slightly lowering the stick position with each subsequent page
- For the added benefit of identifying the correct page to turn, write in numbers on the sticks to give the book “page numbers”
Turning the modified pages
Once the modified book has been constructed, the child will be able to turn the pages by just lifting the craft stick up, instead of having to utilize refined finger movements to grasp and separate individuals pages.
Who can benefit from page turner modifications?
This simple modification can greatly benefit individuals who are having difficulty with finge
r range of motion and dexterity limitations including:
Individuals with developmental delays
Individuals with celebral palsy
Individuals with high spasticity or tone in their hands
Individuals who have had a stroke or other neurological damage in their hands
Individuals with hand abnormalities
Individuals with arthritis
Its not just for books either…
This modification would also work with magazines, notebooks, index cards, folders, and photo albums