🧑⚕️ For Grown-Ups
Parents, caregivers, teachers and therapists — this page is for you: how to use LookSeeWrite well, an observation checklist you can bring to a professional, what the evidence honestly says, and your child's progress.
How to use LookSeeWrite well
Short & sweet
10–15 minutes is plenty. Every game has a clear finish so it's easy to stop. (Pediatric guidance suggests keeping total screen time modest — under age 6, about an hour a day across everything.)
Screen → paper
The strongest research finding in this space: what improves handwriting is practicing handwriting. Use games as the warm-up, then do 5 minutes of real crayon-and-paper letters.
Let the OT drive
If your child sees an OT, ask which activities to use and how often. Show them the progress page — the star counts and “best” scores give them something concrete.
Comfort first
If a game causes squinting, headaches, dizziness or frustration — stop and note it. That observation is more valuable than finishing the game. The ⚙️ settings can reduce motion, raise contrast and enlarge text.
👁 Observation guide (not a diagnosis — a structured way to describe what you see)
OTs learn a lot just by watching a child's eyes work. This guide animates a simple target while you watch your child's eyes (sit facing them, screen between you, about an arm's length away). Check anything you notice, add notes, and print the summary for your OT / eye doctor visit.
1. Everyday signs
2. Watch the eyes: smooth following
Press play, ask your child to “follow the ladybug with just your eyes,” and watch their eyes, not the screen. The target circles slowly twice, then stops.
3. Watch the eyes: quick jumps
Now the ladybug jumps side to side eight times. Ask your child to “jump your eyes to it each time it moves.”
4. Notes
LookSeeWrite observation summary
Date: — Checked items reflect a caregiver's informal observations using LookSeeWrite's observation guide. This is not a diagnosis or screening result; it is a conversation starter for an occupational therapist, optometrist, or ophthalmologist.
What the evidence honestly says
What's well supported: directly practicing handwriting improves handwriting (strong evidence in an AJOT systematic review). Letter formation is best taught developmentally — pre-writing shapes first, letters grouped by stroke type, correct start point and stroke order — with lots of short, frequent practice.
What's NOT supported: major pediatric and ophthalmology bodies (AAP, AAO, AAPOS) jointly state that eye exercises and behavioral vision therapy have not been shown to help learning disabilities, dyslexia, or school performance — and home computer-based exercises did no better than placebo even for convergence insufficiency, the one condition where (office-based) vision therapy is well supported. That's why LookSeeWrite never claims to treat anything.
So why the eye games? Engagement, warm-up and structured practice. OTs really do use saccade, tracking
and visual-perception activities in sessions and home programs — as supportive practice woven around functional goals,
not as a cure. LookSeeWrite gives those activities a friendly, free, no-ads home and always points back to real paper.
The full research write-up (with citations) lives in the project's RESEARCH.md.
⭐ Progress on this device
Saved only in this browser — nothing is uploaded. Print it before an OT visit!
These are the activities your child can play: