Are your assessment tools for handwriting helping you determine the true needs of the child? Do your handwriting interventions work? Are you up to date with the latest evidence on dysgraphia or specific learning disability  in written expression?

Apply EBP Experts Series is here to help! Four (4) speakers will cover the multifaceted aspects of handwriting from assessment to evidence-informed interventions.
Peggy will start the day with a 4-Step Top-down process for assessing handwriting. You will learn the utility of various tools, including which tests are helpful for your decision-making and which ones to avoid as they are not helpful with your decision-making and intervention planning.

Intervention strategies start in the 2nd seminar, where Patti will discuss 5 strategies that are supported by various research to work!. She will utilize video case studies to model how to identify barriers to writing legibly, focus on what matters the most, and use active learning strategies to empower your client. Lara will then provide you with the 4 Steps to Decision-Making and Implementing AT for written expression. You’ll learn to assess AT needs, instruct the student on AT use, embed AT into the classroom, and monitor its successful use. In the 4th session, Dr. Spinks-Franklin will unpack the complex nature of SLD in Written Expression (formerly called dysgraphia). Learn the warning signs and examine how deficits in executive function, language skills, and handwriting all play a role in writing challenges. With this enhanced understanding, you’ll be able to advocate for a team approach with concrete executive functions and language interventions, in addition to handwriting remediation. Leave the course with multiple tools and strategies that you can effectively use the very next day!

Leave the course with a deeper understanding of supporting written expression and with various tools and strategies that you can use the next day! For a full description of each seminar, please download the Brochure.

Unable to attend all sessions? Don’t worry! All registrants will also have 1-year access to the on-demand versions of each session.*

*You will receive access instructions for the on-demand versions on the day of the course. These on-demand versions are pre-recorded to ensure superior quality for a smooth learning experience. Pre-recordings deliver clear content free from distractions or technical issues common in live sessions. Please note that as a result, the pre-recorded and live versions may differ slightly. For those attending the live course, your privacy is a priority. Feel confident in participating, knowing that no recordings will be made.

Peggy Morris, OTD, OTR/L, BCP has 30+ years of experience in pediatric practice. She worked in early intervention, private practice and out-patient rehab services, but most of her experience and passion is in school-based practice. She is a Lecturer and OTD Program Coordinator for Tufts University. She is Board Certified in Pediatrics through the AOTA, and a regular SeekFreaks contributor.

Patti Sharp, OTD, OTR/L, BCP is a certified CO-OP Instructor, and OT at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC). She co-leads the Developmental Coordination Disorder Community of Practice at CCHMC. She is an adjunct instructor at the University of Cincinnati. She works with children and youth with DCD, ASD, CP, SCI, TBI, orthopedic and neurologic injuries, and developmental delay. She also previously worked in neurorehabilitation and burn units. Patti is excited to share her passion for evidence-based practices with her therapy colleagues.

Lara Collins Barros, OTD, OTR/L has been a school-based OT for over 25 years. She discovered the CO-OP Approach while completing her OTD at NYU and has never looked back. She had the privilege to develop “A Guide for Implementation: Using the Principles of CO-OP to Frame a Top-Down Approach with School-Aged Children” with the mentorship of Dr. Helene Polatajko of ICAN CO-OP.

Adiaha Spinks-Franklin, MD, MPH, FAAP is a board certified Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrician. She has more than 20 years’ experience in caring for children and adolescents with developmental disabilities and behavior disorders, and in training pediatric health care professionals in the US and abroad. She holds leadership positions in many national pediatric professional organizations. She identifies as Wonder Woman.

Disclosures: Peggy, Patti, Adiaha, and Lara receive speaking fees from Apply EBP, LLC. They have no relevant nonfinancial relationships to disclose.

At the completion of this course, the learner will be able to:

1. 1. 1. 1. Identify 3 variables influencing handwriting.
         2. Select 2 assessment tools to investigate variables influencing the handwriting of a student in a given case study.
         3. Determine the appropriateness of OT services to support handwriting based on the assessment results of a given case study.
         4. Identify 2 diagnoses that are frequently associated with functional handwriting problems for children
         5. Determine 3 features of effective handwriting intervention that are supported by evidence
         6. Apply 3 strategies to remediate handwriting difficulties in the school, home, or community environment on a given case study
         7. Identify 3 available options for assistive technology (AT) for written expression
         8. Determine 3 considerations for assessing a student’s need for assistive technology (AT) for written expression
         9. Select 3 strategies for effective student instruction and implementation of AT for written expression
         10. Identify 3 features of Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) in Written Expression
         11. Determine 3 domains of executive functions that are often impacted in Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) in Written Expression
         12. Apply 3 evidence-informed strategies to promote successful school participation of a student with SLD in Written Expression in a given case scenario

This course is from 8:30 am – 3:30 pm Eastern Time. (Note that you may be in a different time zone. Contact Carlo at carlo@applyebp.com if you have any questions or need assistance. For a full description of each seminar, please download the Brochure.

• • • • 8:30 am – 10:00 am: Seminar 1: Assessing Handwriting: Testing Tools and Clinical Reasoning to Determine Need for OT Services | Peggy Morris, OTD, OTR/L, BCP
      • 10:00 am – 10:15 am: Break
      • 10:15 am – 11:45 am: Seminar 2: Remediating Handwriting: Strategies that Work!| Patti Sharp, OTD, OTR/L, BCP
      • 11:45 am – 12:15 pm: Lunch (on your own)
      • 12:15 pm – 2:45 pm: Seminar 3: Assistive Technology for Written Expression: 4 Steps to Decision-making and Implementation | Lara Collins Barros, OTD, OTR/L
      • 1:45 pm – 2:00 pm: Break
      • 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm: Seminar 4: Why Calling Dysgraphia “SLD in Written Expression” Matters! | Adiaha Spinks-Franklin, MD, MPH, FAAP

To help you apply what you learned the very next day you return to work, you will leave the course with your Practical Toolkit from each of the 4 seminars, which includes:

• • • • Resource: Link to Assessment Tools
      • Letters Workbook
      • Infographic: What We Think Tracing Does
      • Carpe DIEM: The 4 Steps to Decision-Making and Implement AT for Written Expression
      • Cheat Sheet: SLD in Written Expression Warning Signs
      • Cheat Sheet: SLD in Written Expression Comprehensive Strategies

Attendees who complete this course will receive a certificate for 6 hours of continuing education training

For OTs and OTAs

• • • Apply EBP, LLC is an AOTA-approved provider of CEUs. Each seminar counts for 0.15 AOTA CEUs for each, for a total of 0.6 AOTA CEUs.

Ticket Prices and Discounts

• • • Early Bird – Group: $199/person – save $80/person if 3 or more from the same organization, community group/network or study group register by October 23, 2026. Register together or separately, indicating at least 2 of your co-therapists who are also registering.
    • Early Bird – Individual: $239/person – save $40/person by registering by October 23, 2026.
    • Full Price – Group: $239/person – save $40/person if 3 or more from the same organization, community group/network or study group register starting October 24, 2026. Register together or separately, indicating at least 2 of your co-therapists who are also registering.
    • Full Price: $279/person – available starting October 24, 2026.

Purchasing Tickets

Select on the ticket type below. Enter required information. Select to pay via Credit Card or by PO.

• • • Pay via Credit Card: You are registered instantly!
    • Pay via Purchase Order: Register and select “Purchase Order” as form of payment. At the end of your registration, click on “View/Print Invoice” to download a copy of the invoice that you can share with your employer. Send your Purchase Order and/or request for Apply EBP’s W9 to vicki@applyebp.com.

Cancellation Policy

Registrants may cancel up to 14 days prior to the course for a refund minus a $75 administration fee. There is no cancellation less than 14 days prior to the course; you can find a substitute or use your registration to attend a future Apply EBP course. There is no cancellation or substitution after you have received any course material; you can use your registration to attend a future presentation of the same course. Email applyebp@gmail.com to request to cancel.  Apply EBP reserves the right to cancel a course up to 14 days prior to the course due to insufficient registration, with a full refund to registrants. Please do not arrange non-refundable travel arrangements until 13 days prior to the course, as Apply EBP is not responsible for such expenses.

Accommodation Request

Email or call 2 weeks prior to the course with requests for accommodations. We will make every effort to provide reasonable accommodation.

Email carlo@applyebp.com if you have any questions.

Live Online via Zoom

You will receive an email 2 days prior to the course date with Zoom invitation and course materials. Please check your spam folder if you do not see an email  2 days prior to the course. Contact vicki@applyebp.com if the email is not in your spam folder.

*You will receive access instructions for the on-demand versions on the day of the course. These on-demand versions are pre-recorded to ensure superior quality for a smooth learning experience. Pre-recordings deliver clear content free from distractions or technical issues common in live sessions. Please note that as a result, the pre-recorded and live versions may differ slightly. For those attending the live course, your privacy is a priority. Feel confident in participating, knowing that no recordings will be made.