Handwriting help for 8 year old?

Binxy

Bless his heart, my 8 year old son is struggling badly with his handwriting.

I am not the most patient of people - precisely why I'm not a teacher :rolleyes: Yet of course I'm trying to help him in any way I can.

I don't want to slap a lable on him, but he has the same condition as me, namely hypermobility of his joints. In short it means he can barely hold a pencil/pen properly or control it, but I had to learn how to make my writing at least legible, and that's what he is doing.

What I'd love is some advice, really. Comments from other parents in the same boat, or who have been through it. Should I be printing out sheets of writing for him to copy? (If so, does anyone please know of any free sites, all I can find is pay to download :mad: )

How can I help him whilst not losing my rag? I'm near tears over this as it brings to mind all the years I had of teachers berating my awful writing. And it truly wasn't through lack of trying - I was only later (only this year actually. I'm 31) diagnosed with hypermobility. I hate the fact he's going through the same thing, and they won't recognsie what hypermobility is even though I've given them info sheets. They want an official assessment from an occupational therapist (how long do YOU think the waiting list is?) before they can do anything to help him.

Any advise appreciated

skintchick

I have no proper knowledge, having no kids, but could you make him sheets of writing that are big so it's easier to copy? Perhaps he could trace letters to begin with?

I think maybe doing it big then once he's got the hang of that making it all smaller might be easier than trying to go straight in with small writing?

I don't know anything about the condition he has so sorry if this isn't helpful.

Bossyboots

When I worked in a school I had a young girl who was totally despondent about her writing. She was in year 5, so would have been around 10. She tried and tried and when she took her "good" work to the teacher, she just rubbished it. (Thats a whole different tale and let me assure you she did not get away with it). The girl came to me in floods of tears, her confidence totally gone.

I sat down with her and showed her slowly how to try to get the tall the letters the same and the short letters the same, almost going back to the beginning. We then built on it from there, joining them together but with her going slowly and taking care. Within weeks she had picked it up and a year later sent me a note that she had written herself thanking me for helping her. I still her now (she is 20) as she is in one of my daughter's friendship circles and she often thanks me for what I did, not only in helping her to write nicely but helping get her confidence back and standing up to the teacher on behalf of the class.

So the moral is, don't push it too hard and let him take his time. If necessary go back to basics. Personally I would give him sheets to copy over so that he learns the feel of the shape. Make it a fun learning process or you will put him off. If you can make writing a game, he is less likely to lose his confidence. Most importantly, don't lose your rag with him. You know yourself what that is like and I have seen the results too.

fesdufun

Hi, Would it help if you contacted your GP and asked for a referral to an Occupational Therapist? I know our OT's run a handwriting group. They could give you lots of ideas and it might help your son to realise that lots of other children struggle with handwritting as well. Sometimes the waiting lists are a bit long but I am sure they would send you some fact sheets for advice whilst you are waiting . Good luck.

fesdufun

Sorry, just read your post again and see you have already mentioned an OT assessment. You could try contacting the OT department direct, you will probably still have to wait for an assessment but they may give you some advice over the phone.

I have a book about handwriting a work so I will have look through and let you know if there are any helpful tips.

Binxy

fesdufun wrote:

Hi, Would it help if you contacted your GP and asked for a referral to an Occupational Therapist? I know our OT's run a handwriting group. They could give you lots of ideas and it might help your son to realise that lots of other children struggle with handwritting as well. Sometimes the waiting lists are a bit long but I am sure they would send you some fact sheets for advice whilst you are waiting . Good luck.

We saw the GP who wants to refer him to paediatrics, who will then possibly refer him to OT.

We've since seen the school who asked in that case would we mind if they referred him directly to OT. Well, no! :rolleyes: Anything that gets this sorted sooner rather than later, in my opinion, is not a bad thing.

We're still waiting for an appointment with paediatrics so far.

blackbird_2

I think there is too much pressure on children at primary school to have good handwriting and those years were terrible for myself and my son as i tried to support him with his handwriting difficulties. He's now 17and doing very well. once at senior school you should find that they have their own assessments and laptops are available for kids who struggle with handwriting, they also do exams on them. My son was referred to OT and physio but unfortunately did nothing to help and in the end I asked for my son to be left alone and he has adapted wonderfully and doing A levels.

Binxy

blackbird wrote:

I think there is too much pressure on children at primary school to have good handwriting and those years were terrible for myself and my son as i tried to support him with his handwriting difficulties. He's now 17and doing very well. once at senior school you should find that they have their own assessments and laptops are available for kids who struggle with handwriting, they also do exams on them. My son was referred to OT and physio but unfortunately did nothing to help and in the end I asked for my son to be left alone and he has adapted wonderfully and doing A levels.

Good for you!

You know, I do want to tell them to leave him alone. Their standards are ridiculously high, and short of wanting him to conform for their assessment requirements, they couldn't care less.

As soon as he gets to the point of being able to read his own writing, I'll be happy.

Thank you for making me feel better!

Magentasue

My first had this problem, he was very unco-ordinated and I don't mean he wore striped shirts with tartan trousers. His life changed when he was assessed and diagnosed as dyspraxic. He had a scribe and extra time in exams and had use of a laptop in class. That was some help but he was so slow at typing it didn't solve it. What made the difference is that he was no longer expected to write much.

Teachers provided printed answer sheets so that he only had to fill in answers and he always had help with longer pieces of writing. Teachers stopped nagging about how slow he was, how untidy his books were and he realised he was as bright as his friends. He's now 20 and doing a Maths degree - if I hadn't made a fuss and kept on I don't think it would have worked out as it has.

If he can't write neatly or fast enough, then he needs another way to produce his work. My son's writing is legible but spidery, he is still slow and avoids writing but, hey, he doesn't need to write much now! The buzz word in schools now is individual, teachers have to plan, teach and assess in a way that's accessible to every child. Your son obviously needs help, I'd be asking for an Individual Education Plan (IEP) which will have to show what support the school are going to provide. Good luck!

Binxy

Well that's encouraging!

He has an IEP. It seems to consist of "must have out of school interest" where they try and persuade us to force him to cubs or karate or something :rolleyes:

He just ins't a joiner, you know? Some kids aren't. Quite what that has to do with handwriting is anybodies guess.

How could dyspraxia be confirmed/diagnosed? I do wonder if there's more of an underlying cause, because he's a really bright lad. But he gets numbers and letters back to front, for example.

Magentasue

Well, dyspraxia was diagnosed through some OT tests (like picking up small objects, balancing, catching etc) and history. He was a classic case - fussy baby, difficulty starting solids, fussy about chewing, unable to dress himself, couldn't pedal a trike or bike or catch a ball, unable to manage knife and fork, disorganised, unintelligible speech until he started school (years of speech therapy) and so on.

Also not much of a joiner, has always had one or two 'best friends' rather than a group although he has found socialising easier as he got older.

If the school are making an issue of handwriting, it needs to be a target on his IEP with strategies to achieve detailed. Ideally, the targets should be agreed with you - they should be specific and there should be a measure of success. Have an outside interest is way too vague - a better one would be 'To write the following ten words legibly'. They would then identify the person who was going to work with his, the resources that would be used and when it would be reviewed, at the end of term, for example. At the end of term, it should be reviewed and if achieved another target set and if not achieved further strategies identified. There should be a purpose to the targets - you should know why the school want him to achieve them!