First grader born without hands wins special award for penmanship

Anaya Ellick was born without both of her hands, but that didn't stop her from winning a national penmanship award this month.

The 7-year-old Virginia first grader, who does not use prosthetics, was awarded this year's Nicholas Maxim Special Award for Excellence in Manuscript Penmanship.

The Zaner-Bloser sponsored award is named for another student, also born without hands, who was honored for his remarkable handwriting in 2011.

According to Anaya's mother, Bianca Middleton, Anaya writes by holding a pencil between her arms, then standing up to achieve the proper angle with the paper. And her independence doesn't stop with penmanship — it's clear that Anaya has no room for any lowered expectations.

"She ties her shoes, she gets dressed by herself and she doesn’t need any assistance to do anything,” Middleton told a local ABC affiliate.

You go, girl.