| Product Model | Brand | View Best Price |
| #1: Writing-Bird Easy Grip Writing Aid | North Coast | View Price |
| #2: Easy Grip Weighted Pen for Dexterity | North Coast | View Price |
| #2: Easy Grip Weighted Pen for Dexterity | North Coast | View Price |
| #4: Transparent Yellow Reading Aid | MaxiAids | View Price |
| #5: Black Plastic Typoscope | MaxiAids | View Price |
Writing and reading aids include a wide range of assistive devices that allow people with manual disabilities and low vision to read and write more easily. This might mean reading and typing on a computer, reading a book, or writing with a pen or pencil. These tools are useful in the home, at work, or at school.
Some writing tools make holding a pen or pencil easier by supplying a larger, more easily manipulated grip, or by adding weight, while others are designed to offer alternate movements that allow a person to more easily control their pen or pencil across a paper.
Typing assistive tools allow users who have difficulty with fine motor control or dexterity to perform both necessary and recreational tasks on computers.
Visual aids are designed to make it easier for those who have low vision to read either in print or on a screen without unnecessary difficulty or strain.
Rulers, keyboards, and, of course, books printed in Braille are the most familiar type of visual aid for reading. But devices that magnify and isolate print on a page, as well as those that actually read to a person, are among other types of visual aids that make reading easy and enjoyable for people with low vision.
RehabMart is proud to offer a wide range of reading and writing aids from vendors including North Coast and Maxi-Aids.
Medical conditions, injury, and other circumstances call for the use of writing and reading aids to help those with weak or nonfunctioning hands.
Those with a weakened grasp, decreased dexterity, or hands that fatigue easily, are some who might benefit from an assistive writing device.
Arthritis, spasticity, or tremors due to a neurological condition such as Parkinson’s disease, will find writing easier and less stressful with the use of a writing aid. Hand surgery patients will most certainly make use of writing aids as they recover strength and dexterity.
A wide range of devices can be placed on a standard pen or pencil to provide a modified grip.
Ring writers help those with limited finger dexterity to have greater control of a pen or pencil. Foam grips that are triangular in shape, or a foam “ball” that slides onto a pencil, make it easier to grip the writing utensil when the hand is weak and finger-thumb dexterity is limited.
Slant boards that hold paper at a convenient angle are another sort of device that makes writing easier for those with weak hands. Using a slant board can take the strain off of the fingers and wrists, and often will hold the paper in place for the user.
So much of our communication today takes place via the keyboard, whether that be the computer, phone or iPad. So of course, there are writing aids to make this easier and less stressful for the user who has manual dexterity issues.
Typing aids often involve wearing a comfortable wristband with an attached key depressor that is soft-tipped so as not to damage keys, and can bend and re-bend to fit the user’s natural hand position.
Book stands and weighted bookmarks help users with limited hand dexterity and strength with reading. They keep a book open with little or no need to use the hands, except for turning pages and replacing the bookmark.
Large print books, textbooks, and other reading material is often the first thing a user turns to when vision begins to fail, offering larger text than traditional printings to make it easier for users to read without eye strain.
Transparencies are also available to increase the contrast of reading materials for eaier visibility. These transparencies are usually made of yellow vinyl, and can be placed over black-on-white print to make it stand out more boldly.
A typoscope is a deceptively simple tool that can be of tremendous help to adults and children who have low vision and/or have trouble focusing on one line of text at a time. It is simply a page-size sheet with a horizontal rectangular slot that fits over one line of text, made of paper, thin metal, or plastic. By moving the typoscope down the page as they read, the user can read just one line at a time, easing eye strain.
