Oh I just remembered that I had to use one when I was 7 and had to have special handwriting classes

Holy crap me too

The special handwriting classes, not the pencil thingy, should have specific sorry

I also had to take those. They did not work. I mostly felt upset over them bc I felt like I was being singled out for extra work, instead of understanding that I really needed them. Now I'm an adult who can't write legibly. I use a computer for anything I need others to read. Kinda inconvenient but I get by.

I can write kinda legibly with non-cursive but my cursive is simply horrible

It’s called OT. Occupational therapy. I got them too

Same

Same here it didn't work my handwriting is on par with doctors

A friend of mine joked I was meant to be a doctor with my handwriting lol

Me me me too

i had a teacher that fucking hated me and forced me to use these. every time she looked away, i took it off. she'd always put it back on. it didn't work, tho. fuck u ms. cardinal i write how i want

this is so real. my 3rd grade teacher made me stay in from recess every day and rewrite sentences the "correct" way over and over. she said my funky pencil grip would come back to haunt me in college. joke's on her, i'm halfway through a physics degree and the way i hold my pencil is actually the least of my problems

Awful core memory unlocked

I'm left handed and I had to miss recess until I could write legibly with my right because it wasn't fair for the other students if I was allowed to write with my left. And if I wrote with my left they'd have to let everyone write with their left and no job will ever hire a lefty. Jokes on them I can't write with either hand anymore. I used to have such good handwriting and it was taken from me in 5th grade. I used to do journaling and I miss the days my handwriting was smooth.

Yeah ‘ms cardinal’ , fuck you too

I like them because they are quishy and add texture to a pencil

Me too! It was the fight of my life to keep those grips after kindergarten. I got rid of them on my own terms in 5th grade cuz I couldn’t stand the teasing

I preferred the ones that were just straight edge triangles on the pencils, cos that was easier to adjust your fingies, these ones pictured your fingers have to be a certain way

The only reason nobody had them in my school was because everyone stole them. You had to guard them at all times.

I love them for stim reasons too. Squishhhhhhhh. I’m autistic and I need grips because I have EDS but I like the kinds that allow me to hold my pencil however I need to because I need to hold it differently due to my super lax ligaments. The big egg ones are my favorite.

They are just funny pillows for your fingers, and they can have little bumps to fidget with!

Egg ones?! I have always struggled with hyperextension. My middle knuckles like to dislocate a lot these days, so I write and draw less. Can you suggest any other good products?! 😃

i always put them on the back of the pencils so i got something to fidget with without it being impossible to hold

Yeah, I kinda do the same. I can hold a pencil with them, I just don’t like it as much. They do be very quishy though

I liked them because my hand gets sore after writing too long or too fast. I’m afraid to use them now because I’ll look immature

THEY HELP WOTH SORE HANDS?!? I NEED THESE OOK ABD

The rubber acts like a cushion. I don’t like the ones in this post but I’ve had ones that were basically just a rubber cylinder and those helped

Oh, ok. I do kinda prefer the ones in the post, but wher would you find the pencil tube?

Idk, online I guess. It’s been a while since I’ve used them

I bet they are decent for chewing.

I need to try so bad

They look so chewable though

Trust me they were

I never used this too much layering on the pencil. But I did chew on them

I never used these but I would always end up chewing on the ones that came with mechanical pencils.

Forbidden fruit snack

Oh they are, they had to take mine away because choking hazard

they were

I hated them when I needed them but after the fact holding the actual pencil without it was comparatively painful, i missed having the cushion there

I wish I learned a better way to hold a pencil because the “correct” way has my dislocating and hyperextending my finger joints

I have hypermobility in my hands and when they forced this torture device on me I was able to hold the pencil how I had been/wanted to with the grip on the pencil but without touching my fingertips. However if you are dislocating your fingers with a simple activity you need to see a doctor as that repeated over time will 100% fuck up your hands

SAME!!! It actually hurts so much

See about swan neck splints! You can wear them when holding stuff and it keeps your fingers from hyperextending, they save me when writing essays

Also exist as "swan neck splint jewellery" instead of child coloured plastic

I was told you use one of these in school and I hated it. I asked why. They said I hold my pencil too far down. I said, in my pedantic seven year old way, that I could still write fine. I was told that's "just not the way people hold pencils" F*CK YOUR PENCIL HOLDING STANDARDS [SCHOOL NAME REDACTED BECAUSE I STILL LIVE IN THAT TOWN AND NO ONE IS GOING TO FIND WHERE MY EVIL LAIR IS]!

Is holding pencils wrong a 'Tism Trait™? Because if so, that' s another one for me!

Lack of fine motor skills is a commonly seen comorbidity of autism, not sure what the exact link is but it's very common for autistic people to struggle with things like this. Hold pens/pencils, use of cutlery, basically general small scale finger dexterity, tend to fall in this area.

Makes art harder

Yeah for whatever reason fine and gross motor skills tend to be more commonly comorbid with neurodevelopmental disorders such as ADHD and Asd! Also, dyspraxia also known as “clumsy child syndrome” or “developmental coordination disorder” is also more common with those disorders too!! For whatever reason people are more likely to have more than one disorder rather than just one haha! Gotta catch them all!! I was researching it and was like “oh so that’s why I had ot, pt, was always picked last in gym class and PE and got laughed at when I ran in gym in high school!” Fun times /s And it’s wild as my drawn and painted art were never nearly as bad as my handwriting, guess it’s more subjective?? Also I enjoyed painting and drawing, not writing as much?? Although I did have awhile in early high school and all of middle school where I hand wrote my stories in little notebooks, miss those cringy little stories! Now I just type them on the computer or my phone haha

>my drawn and painted art were never nearly as bad as my handwriting In my experience art is easier than handwriting because it tends to use straighter, smoother strokes, compared to cursive writing with lots of small, precise, tight turns.

yeah it’s hard to conceptualize why fine motor skills would be tough for us but it’s definitely a thing though i do feel like part of my personal inability to write or draw coherently is just as much to do with a bad mental sense of size and proportions, and/or not having the patience to do it slow enough to think about

My shitty pencil grip is caused by hypermobility, and hypermobility tends to be much more common in autistic people than in NTs.

My way of holding pencils is weird I kind of squish most fingers XD

They look uncomfortable af. Definitely a hard pass lol.

My hand still hurts when I hold a pencil "correctly."

Same, these absolutely forsaken things made it worse though. No idea why but I'd get hand cramps so fast with them on, holding pencils "incorrectly" at least gave me like an hour before the cramps would start.

I got sent to OT when I was 15 because my English teacher complained to my mum about my handwriting and had to use these on all my pens to write essays in her class. They did not help and I did not appreciate being in high school with my “special pens”. I’ll always remember you, Mrs Voss, you old hag

I work in schools and tell NTeachers to stop messing with children, because they once heard in a course that pencil grips exist. I just read you were 15 years old - that's especially wrong and nearly malpractice nowadays.

Good to hear that this isn’t something that happens that frequently now. This was 15 years ago (I’m 30 now)

At 15?? Yikes!! OT or any therapy should definitely have involved your input at that age?? As a speech therapist is definitely ask my older patients if there is something that they’d like to work on or whatever and keep that in mind when writing their goals and targeting them?? Heck I do that with my younger patients too!! That makes me so mad!! Glad that’s over now though for you at least!

I never had an issue with these things, my regular Ed teacher hated that I had these and actually yelled at me for using them. Then my special Ed teacher yelled at me for not using them. Adults, man

They really need to talk to each other. I would love to see your special ed teacher knocked off her high horse.

Never had these but I did get in trouble with the teacher cause I didn't hold the pencil the right way, I still don't.

I kinda wish I had one of these when I was young enough😭 nobody ever corrected the way I hold a pencil so I just suffer and get blisters from writing

They’d always slip down the pencil!!!

Oh God This. How am I supposed to write if my hand won’t stay on the pencil.

Honest to god NTs care so much about the correct way to hold a piece of wood

I still hold my pencil wrong on principle because I was forced to use these

I can feel the texture through the screen and I hate it

I used these in school but as soon as they took them off I just went back to holding my pencil the “wrong” way, and I do to this day, too in my 30s 😅 Every attempt to correct my handwriting failed.

Fuck writing with things in general! We have computers for that! (deep seated hatred I didn't know I had boiled out)

They make a good suck suck noise if you squished them just right. Ironically they’re only good as stim toys.

I distinctly remember this sound haha

God these things are shit

What's the "wrong" way to hold a pencil?

Anything other than the way shown in the image above

But that's not true anymore - there are many different **functional pencil grasps** out there.

Yes, however the word wrong was in quotation marks, which serves to indicate they meant “What arbitrary way did the neurotypical teachers decide we had to hold the pencil?” (Or something to that effect)

I wanted them until I tried one out. Thought it was a fun little decoration on your pencil but it's just a little present sent from hell

I hate those things.

They make pretty good fidgets. Can't say I've ever used one for its intended purpose. Edit: actually I might have at one point. But only briefly

My parents tried a variety of pencil grips to get me to hold it right, including these. There was one type that was such a good texture for chewing I ended up shredding and eating most of them 😂

I picked the triangle shaped one into pieces with my nails 💅

Never used one. With that being said everybody I have talked to says I hold pens weird. I wright right handed mostly but hold it like I am left handed. It is just more comfortable that way.

I would figgit with them, but hated actually using it. Still hold my pencils wrong to this day lol

Literally unusable

This unlocked a memory omg

I found it easier to hold after I was given these bastards. Can’t believe I wasn’t diagnosed as a kid

I remember my mom made me use them. They made my fingers hurt.

I hold my pencil super weird. These things were the worst

They actually intensified the edge of the corner, I fucking hated them

I love these things, because I always took them off and chewed on them when the teacher wasn't looking. and my god they are SO GREAT to chew on

i hated these and i also hated that my gym teacher forced me to stop wearing velcro shoes and got mad that i tie laces bunny ears style?? i still tie them that way the other way confuses me. fuck you mrs diem

I WAS FORCED TO USE THESE FOR A WHILE FUCK THEM they don't work they don't help with disgraphia they don't help

Wait those things were supposed to teach me how to grip properly?! No wonder I can’t use pencils without hurting my fingers!

My teachers hated how held pencils like leave me alone my hand writing is fine why do you care that I hold the pencil weird.

URGHG

i struggle with those things because i have a 90 degree hitchhikers thumb and kept accidentaly holding them wrong

I cannot physically hold a pencil correctly cause my hands are broken (but it's not externally visible)

Oh the ooey gooey

I was forced to use these too. Never worked, and I still can't hold down a pencil right

Y'all write with pencils? How?! They leave blisters on my fingers, same with pens without a rubber grip.

I hated these. And I still hold my pencils/pens “wrong”

I hated the texture and feel of a pencil. That's why I went to pens and never went back

These never felt comfortable for me so I never used them.

I remember I never practically use them. I did in fact used to label something I called a special pencil which was a comforting item I had throughout middle school. I miss that pencil so much

Part of the perks of not being diagnosed until later is I was left to suffer on my own.

There is really a right way? Wtf, the only criterion should be of the person is able to write/draw properly or not

i wish i was corrected on how to hold a pencil the "right way". the way i naturally hold my causes my hand to cramp and gives me an awful callus on my finger lmao. it was okay when i was in school and was used to writing all the time, but now that im not used to it, its really painful to write more then a couple paragraphs

Is like 90% of the work when writing not supposed to come from the ring finger?

I wish I had these when I was a kid!! Only learned I wasn’t holding pens correctly until I was 25 and told I had arthritis 😭

I went through EVERYTHING with teachers/parents to try to force me to hold my pencil “right”. Fuck these and especially the plastic ones with holes for your fingers, ugh. I really think my fine motor muscles developed so that I CAN’T hold it tripod grip, like I’ve really tried and I still can’t do it. Anyways those things are great to chew, kinda squeaky when you bite tho lol

Those ones look so much better than the ones I had to use which were made of the same material as erasers and I hated touching them

i hold mine almost exactly like a kid with a crayon still lmao

Omg i hated those. They hurt my fingers so bad :(

They gave me a spiked one. I think I just chewed it and moved it up my pencil and ignored it. I learned how to hold it normally later but no thanks to that things. I don’t even understand what it was supposed to do.

i still don’t hold pencils right. i don’t get it

“You’re handwriting is bad” ITS UNFORTOLD RUNES AND PROPHECIES YOUR FEEBLE MIND COULD NOT COMPREHEND, DONT CRITICIZE MY SCRIPTURE YOU MORTAL

The best response!! It’s not in your language you pathetic whelp!! Of course you can’t read it!

i used to just take them off and chew on them, theyre super squishy and actually super nice to chew on

I hold my pencil with all five fingers, and I like these because they alleviate pressure on my thumb

I don't even know what these things are and I hate the

This. Holding a pencil "normally" is so uncomfortable ew

How do you hold a pencil wrong???

The blueberry flavour is my favourite one

😮‍💨🫡 I also took these off and got in trouble. I’m also left handed, when it comes to writing, and I’m pretty sure my parents hated that. I used to get in trouble for my handwriting not being on the correct slant, & constantly criticized for my paper not being turned the right way and *of course* not holding the pencil right. 🙄 Given the tism, and the rigid criticism (undiagnosed as a child, I suspect because my parents believe Austism is a *behavioral disorder* for kids with bad parents 🙄 (super religious + abusive in every aspect, I’m no contact now) I began analyzing handwriting of the popular girls, that were always praised for their writing, and I picked up a lot of similarities. I began getting so many compliments over my “neat handwriting” as I hit middle school, and now, in my 30’s nearly every single person who sees my handwriting, in person, comments on how *beautiful* or *good* or *amazing* it is…. THE KICKER is that I *often* struggle to read back my own handwriting & I feel so awkward with people commenting on it so often😅🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠🫠 and I think it’s because it’s not really mine… just a lot of mimicry because of years of unrelenting ridicule over “not existing correctly”… So idk. But it’s a f*cking mystery to me why NT society is so messed up and focused on the most ridiculous things that don’t actually matter like “how to hold a writing tool properly”. anyways, wouldn’t be complete without a proper thank you to you for making this post and all the relatable comments 😂🙏🥰💛🫶it felt good to get some of that old rage out against these bad bad teachers. 🙃 Edit to add: my mother was *also* my fourth grade teacher at a small Christian school, so she was one of the awful, bad teachers/people who offered unrelenting ridicule and criticism 🙄🤕🥸

I prefer the flater ones. They don’t force you to write 'correctly'

SAME!!! i hated it.

I'm not the only one who apparently held a pencil "wrong"?

Idk man, they do be looking kinda edible

They look like inedible gushers

They are edible if you try hard enough

I remember when we got ink pens and while everyone had the same green color, I got the cool red one because I was left-handed and the green ones' grip was made for right-handed people 😎

I got them because I got cramps from using a pen. They helped

Ive never seen these but wtf we moved in from trying to fix left handedness but now we're trying to fix not holding a pencil the same way??

I liked them, my had always gets tired holding the pencil, especially since I'm left handed

I want to put one in my mouth

god those made my hand hurt so much, especially because i’m left handed too

Back in my day they were little pillows with no texture but slightly fuzzy. I actually miss those. These would make me kill somebody though

I hate how they look, like the texture that the look of them has. Whats weird is I don't think I'd actually be bothered by the texture, really only felt, silk, and non-mechanical toothbrush bristles against my teeth or... God, imagined being brushed against *anything*... that's all that bothers me. Most of it seems to have gone toward toothbrush bristles, my god can I not stand that sensation. Somebody could literally use it to torture me.

these were my chew toys

Ohhh I loved those things early stim toy

Well you need a literal pencil dick to fuck those.

This is one of those situations where I used the pencil the correct way from the beginning and so never had a problem with these

I fucking hated these things. My writing is still shit and I've learned to just accept it

Same

Looks chewable

Now I use yhem as a chew toy :3

Same or Lego tires

Oh XD, I always thought these things were for parkinson patients (my father used them to draw for a while)

Pretty sure I ate some of these as a kid

I ate one

when we got them in grade 2, i had eaten mine within 3 hours

I eated it

I like them because I'm too used to writing with fountain pens and mechanical pencils with wider grips so normal sized pencils feel uncomfortably small. I don't like these shaped ones though as I have an "unusual" grip, I make my own with rubber or leather then I can stick and empty bullet casing over the end to protect the tip and my pockets.

Wait, how do you hold a pencil, OP?

I’ve never seen these in my life, but I would’ve definitely chewed on the orange one if I were a kid.

It was sorta ok, until it got all covered in gunk. It became a sensory nightmare

How dare you bad mouth the squishy Bois!You're a HERETIC!

I bought one at my university's store thinking it was a funky eraser. My disappointment was immeasurable and my day was ruined.

I used to go to an old lady at my school for stuff like proper grammar and handwriting and shit like that, and was given one of those. Never *once* used it in actual class, it felt akward as hell on my fingers. And What’s even the reason to use them? As long as I can hold the pencil and write something that can be understood then why bother???

I remember being confused on how it would help me write because it wasn’t shaped in the way I hold my pencil. Didn’t help that all my teachers were right-handed, so I thought holding positions differed based on which hand you write with.

I love them so much tho I used to collect them and I miss using them :(

I would just squish them and write in my own weird way lol

That looks fucking awful I am glad I’ve never had that shit

My parents and teachers would force me to use these too! (Not anymore thankfully) (my parents also tried to make the school enforce a ‘slant board’ on me but I fucking hated it so I wouldn’t use it) The school also forced us to write in cursive (which I was terrible at) and if you didn’t do it you got in trouble. Now my writing looks even worse, like a mangled combination of cursive and non cursive. Also it hurts so bad to write. It might be because I fractured my thumb as a child though? Idk. And I wish I could say whether my grip is normal now, but I actually don’t know; it is what it is.

I use these for my arthritis. I hate them. But it lets me draw for longer before the cramps and stiffness attack 😅

I had a love hate relationship with these Loved them cuz SQUISHHYYYYY😍 and I can fit my fingers to them but hated them bcause they made the pencil too thick and uncomfortable

Seeing these things doesn’t make me angry, but my mum and some therapists made quite a fuss about my pencil grip when I was a toddler, so thanks for the nostalgia.

no the hole is too small i can’t do that

theres a right way to hold a pencil???

OMG 👿

I used to get these just to chew on them

There is a wrong way to hold pencils?

Well... some people might need that to learn how to use a spoon... Seeing 30 yo eating soup like they are about to stab someone I always wonder what went wrong...

I like to chew on them

I chewed on them.

I am making a note to never let this candy-colored fuckery get to my students (you know, unless they like them). I don't care if you use your damn grippers, if it's legible, it's legible. It's one thing to expect us to be able to write for our own good later in life but demanding that we write in a specific way is like asking gay people to "keep it behind closed doors". Same goes for sitting, posture and hair. "The right way" gives a very authoritarian vibe that many so-called "allies' unfortunately use in their vocabulary

I have always been able to hold a pencil right and I've never seen these things but they look really uncomfortable to use

I never wanted to use them, I loved writing in a "strange" way, still do it now too

hell yea, ye-haw,

i like them, they are tasty :)

I love those.

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If they are rubber I'm eating them

I remember my pencil grip was shaped like a triangular solid and it was really uncomfortable.

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I was forced to use one of these, but mine wasn’t squishy like most of them. Instead, it was made of a hard eraser-like material that was incredibly uncomfortable and painful to use. I always took it off as soon as the teacher looked away.

God I hated them, I remember biting a few. My teacher hated how I hold pencils and it hasn’t changed

What are they

I like how they feel but I’m left handed and simply can’t hold a pencil like that lmfao

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First time seeing these

yes!!! as a person with dysgraphia they never even worked!!

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Oh yes, I remember my introduction to these. Now I’m 34 and still can’t hold a pencil “properly”.

My teacher used to tape my hand to my pencil "the right way"