Handwriting issues, continued.

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As a matter of fact, I am increasingly convinced that we're looking at Dysgraphia for Eldest. Even when he takes his time, and writes carefully and legibly, he's still reversing his letters and numbers. "S" is always backwards, every time.

We're on the waiting list to see the developmental pediatrician when she's next visiting our office, and I'm hoping we can get an actual diagnosis then -- we've been advised to bring samples of his writing, so I'm stockpiling his homework now.

With a diagnosis, we can get his IEP revised...and then, hopefully, a keyboard for him. I think that he'd do very well with that.

My wife pointed out the other day that he's stimming very hard after homework now -- running back and forth across the living room -- and is especially bad on those nights when we're getting him to re-write things that are completely illegible.

It sounds like Dysgraphia. Besides a developmental specialist, you can push for the Dyslexia specialist to test him. They can test for Dysgraphia besides just Dyslexia. I hope you can get this problem sorted soon so his anxiety can calm down.

my son (6yrs) had illegible handwriting... I wrote to handwriting without tears describing exact problems-- letters were various sizes, not aligned correctly, reversals, writing off the page or stacking letters at the end of a line, etc. I didn't really expect much back, but suprisingly they sent a very long email detailing why he was having these issues. We used handwriting without tears (with lots of rewards) for a few months (meanwhile, the school ordered him a word processor) and have seen huge improvement-- you can read it!! He is proud that we can read his writing. However, he still HATES handwriting!

A lot of the reversals were helped with the concept of magic c-- start with magic c, then make a d, g, o, q.

During this same time, we have been seeing an OT. She has done a lot of exercises for eye tracking since his finger strength seems to be fine. She put him on a swing and had him assemble colored cars like they were on a map. Also, things like word searches or crack the code type things where he has to look at a map then fill in info in a different place. Also, mazes. We subscribe to Puzzlemania from Highlights, and it has a lot of similar type puzzles. He has always liked the puzzles, but he used to get frustrated and give up-- now he completes them with only a little help. But, he still hates handwriting!

I would separate homework from handwriting practice. I wish I had done this with our son earlier. For his homework, I let him write the answer, and then I translate the writing underneath so the teacher can read it, or sometimes I just write it for him if he is having an overwhelming day. I try to not pressure him about writing during homework because he was starting to hate homework. I definitely have noticed a huge difference in his writing from in-school work, so I know his handwriting is improving; I still think he is at a point where it just becomes too much since it is not as automatic as it is for other people so I don't pressure him at home.

We do a separate 10 minute handwriting lesson/practice from HWT and reward him a lot. Sometimes, we only do handwriting on the weekends.

We have him using adult version Typing Instructor to learn to type and he has done well with it; it has been especially good because his older brother is doing it right along with him.

Very interesting thread. My thirteen-year-old Aspie son has always had horrible handwriting and gets OT. Writing doesn't "hurt" my son (as I saw mentioned on a few other pages on dysgraphia), he's pefectly content to write pages and pages of lists on his current obsession(s) but whether he's writing by choice or for school, his handwriting is far below what an eighth grader's should be. I've thought about the assistive technology, but thought it would make the handwriting worse. Is this something schools are generally familiar with? I keep on top of the terminology as much as possible, on and offline, but this is the first I've heard of dysgraphia. Can schools test for this?

If you ask for OT, they can have an an OT evaluate. I do not know all of what they test, but I think it depends on what is asked for. In our case it was handwriting plus sensory issues. In our case, I know they looked at how he writes, eye tracking, whether he reached certain neurological milestones, could cross the midline smoothly etc.

We have not had OT very long. The teacher seems to think my son's handwriting is improving, I am not so sure, based on what we see at home. I think maybe he is trying a bit more at school because the teacher is constantly up his you-know-what about it. So it might be that he is improving, but only in the sense that a slightly greater percentage of his classwork is more legible. At home, he gets very aggravated with it.

They are still in the trial and error phase. We have bought various different hand grip assistors, but this year I think I will wait to buy more until I see what they finally end up with. So far, this year, they have used a triangular grip, a hand sock thing, and they are going to try a weighted pencil. Even before the OT eval they had been trying various grips, which we had bought, but then it keeps changing.

When and if I have kids, I hope they don't take after my writing ability. I have to write slow and grip the pen/pencil HARD just to write neatly, I remember once in high school I was in science class with this once girl. She wrote cursive and handwriting really neatly and QUICKLY. I cried and left the room. If it weren't for the computer, I'd probably be screwed. I just hope my children can write correctly and normally.

My sons have similar problems. We practiced a lot and it didn't help very much. Our 5th grader now use a laptop at school to type most things. Our 3rd grader doesn't have anything yet as he's still learning typing. They have assistants who'd scribe for them for tests. I think eventually the school will allow our second son to use a computer as well. His handwriting is so bad even he couldn't quite read it. And we've done plenty of practice since he was in K. The school lets him use computer occasionally and he can write long and imaginative compositions which astounded teachers and us. It pretty much increased his written output by 500%. And since it's fast it could keep up with his thoughts and imagination. I guess we should be grateful to live in a time they can have easy access to computers.

You mentioned PT, but does he receive OT? I would bring up your concerns with the school and see maybe about getting an OT evaluation. Someone mentioned Ipad apps...there are some great ones out there that focus on writing, "Write my Name" comes to mind. I am also a special ed teacher and I use them with my students and my youngest DD w/o dx of ASD.

My son is in first grade...And he have the same problems with handwriting... my son is actually left-handed BUT he writes with his right hand...from the time he first held a pencil,crayon or pen...he held it with his right hand... but really he is left-handed..

Should we encourage him to write with his left-hand instead of his write since his left-hand is, I believe, stronger than his right?

Or it will be more confusing to him or it will be just the same....his handwriting skills will struggle just like some Aspies here who became adults BUT didn't really improved their handwriting..

Just saw this article and thought it would be pertinent to this discussion - don't miss the link at the very bottom, which lists a number of resources. http://www.ncld.org/ld-insights/blogs/d ... y-to-write

Has anyone had a child that uses a voice to text system for writing? The developmental pediatrician recommended that for my oldest with fine motor problems, but we haven't tried it yet since the ones that actually look functional are several hundred dollars.