Saw a photo in the pix thread of a unicycle with some type of small grips in front of the seat. Does being able to grip something help a beginner to learn? Or are they uneeded for a beginner?
Those are touring bars. Not good for beginners.
Can you post the picture or a URL to it? Many saddles have a handle in front (which isn’t the same as the handle bars knoxuni is talking about) which is useful for hopping, when riding up hills, doing drops etc. However, when teaching someone I usually tell them to not grab it and instead use both arms to balance.
You want to learn first without one but once you start using them you never want to go back.
OK so it was what knoxuni wrote about and what I initially thought. 
I can’t say for sure since I don’t know about anyone learning with a handle bar, but personally I found it harder to ride with it in the beginning (partly because you don’t use your arms for balance/steering anymore).
Grips are different than a handle