How many different types of paper are our students asked to write on in school?
The worksheets look different, the lines look different, the pages are cluttered, and our students are trying their best but many times struggle to keep their writing within whatever boundaries they are given on a page.
For students with CVI (Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment), consistency is so important. Some of our students may need bold lines, some may benefit from highlighting, many need more spacing between lines and a reduced number of lines on the page to reduce visual complexity.
I have experimented with many different types of paper to find the type of paper that works best for my student who is currently in third grade.
As we know, what works best for one student, may not work for another. Finding the right sized lines and just the right paper for your student may require many attempts and a lot of patience. I have provided writing samples to show the progression of my student’s writing as we adjusted the paper.
I have worked closely with the occupational therapist, the parent, and of course, the student to get the right fit for her. Her writing has improved and she is now more confident and able to read her own writing! I am sharing with you my sample pages in hopes that they may help your students or give you some ideas. My student now uses this paper for all of her writing assignments. I bind 25 pages together to make small notebooks for each class.
Trial 1: A classroom paper highlighted 
Trial 2: A black line on bottom, highlighted line on top, and a bumpy dot at the beginning of each line
Trial 3: Paper by Abilitations Hi-write that have a bold highlighted line on each line to write
We then moved to reducing the amount of lines on each paper:
Two handwriting papers that have reduced lines, bold base lines, and highlights
Student writing on a four lined, highlighted piece of paper
I made these pages using Google Slides. If you have a student that is having difficulty with handwriting, it may be helpful to try different types of paper until you find the right one for that student.
UPDATED August 2023: Here are some additional handwriting lined papers that work well with some beginners.
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