My Ds having problems writing

jopsey

A bit of background my DS 6 Is doing really well in school can read all his words for his stage (plus many more ) has been put on the gifted and talented list for some subjects and generally enjoys learning,he is confident happy child but is really struggling writing.
up until now I have just thought it will come ,but it seems to be regressing which his teacher has noticed and commented on to myself and gave us extra work to do at home.
Yesterday DS came home from school heartbroken saying he is no good and his results where rubbish and he is trying his hardest but just can't write (BTW I totally assured him he wasn't rubbish and you can't be good at everything in life and with practise he will get better and that he is on 6 years old and should not be worring )

He does get extra help for it in school and we do practise at home but I dont really want to make a big deal of it ,
but I can't help feeling there is an underlying problem as he has general poor coordination on the whole and generally falls over on a daily basis ..I mean you can be walking with him and the next minute he is on the floor not tripped over something just like he has lost balance ,he could ride a 2 wheel bike at 3 but can't even balance on it now at 6 !
he did have glue ear as a toddler and I wonder if he could have an ear problem that affects balance but would this affect coordination ?
Yet he is fantastic at following lego instructions and can build complex models
My Dp think's I am bonkers and he is just a clumbsy kid

Any ideas welcome

GlasweJen

Best person to comment would be your GP.

For the writing, have you tried a triangle grip on his pencil? I still write with one of these as it makes the shapes easier to prodcuce.

Mupette

my Ds is 16 and his writing is terrible, i worry the examiners will read his writing in his exams he is currently doing.

All the best people have bad handwriting

RAS

Hi

Please explain to your son that (despite what the UK educational system thinks) 6 year old boys rarely have the fine motor skills needed to write neatly. It simply does not develop until later. One of the reason most of Europe waits until 6 or 7 to start school.

However, do get a check with your GP if his sense of balance is getting worse rahter than better, sooner rather than later.

Jenx

Just a quick post as I am at work! (naughty...)
My DS struggled a lot with writing, and although he could write, he felt it was messy, he was slower than others in his class, and if he couldn't do it perfectly first go, then there was no point bothering - lots of discussions, arguments and frustrations later he is now 9 and writes brilliantly...
Some of the things we tried;
Take the pressure off - dont mention it, and dont push him.
For homework, he would dictate and we would write
We did spellings with fingers in water sprayed on windows, wrote with our fingers in flour, used a paintbrush dipped in water and wrote on the patio
Encouraged colouring and drawing as it wasnt writing and helped with pen control
We basically did everything and anything that wasnt 'proper' writing
If you panic about it, so will he....
He is now on the G&T list, reading is above average, maths is above average, art & Science he is considered gifted...but in th eend he is just a normal boy who wasnt ready at that time, and has caught up when he was ready (if that makes sense)
Hope this helps!

sivyour

My 16 old writes terribly but is fantastically intellegent. He knows the programs he uses at school better then his teachers, takes classes and makes their presentations. He has worked on advertising outside of school when he was just 14, for fun.
He is a little genius. He collects odd things and his best friend was his dog. He doesnt get people and didnt understand emotions or figurative speech. He used to forget how to ride his bike over night and is stupidly clumsy.
He has aspergers.

FattyBettyBoo

He sounds like most 6 year olds so don't worry!

However, my friends child had these symptoms and has been diagnosed with dispraxia (clumsy child syndrome). He has terrible handwriting, keeps falling over, cant ride a bike or catch a ball or tie his shoe laces, but has a massive IQ for his age and his reading has always been amazing compared to his peers. Have a look at this and if you recognise any other symptoms then ask your GP about it http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/services/gu_symptoms.php

I'm not a fan of inetrnet diagnosis but if it helps structure your thoughts before going to the GP it may be worth it. Good luck!

peachyprice

FattyBettyBoo wrote: »

He sounds like most 6 year olds so don't worry!

However, my friends child had these symptoms and has been diagnosed with dispraxia (clumsy child syndrome). He has terrible handwriting, keeps falling over, cant ride a bike or catch a ball or tie his shoe laces, but has a massive IQ for his age and his reading has always been amazing compared to his peers. Have a look at this and if you recognise any other symptoms then ask your GP about it http://www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk/services/gu_symptoms.php

I'm not a fan of inetrnet diagnosis but if it helps structure your thoughts before going to the GP it may be worth it. Good luck!

Are you my friend, because that's my son you've described

OP, I did type out a reply to this effect but decided not to post it because it's so easy for us SN mum's to see the same symptoms in other children that don't necessarily mean a child has that problem. But now it's out here I may as well reply!

As a starting point I would talk to the SENCO at school, this is who first noticed my son's problem when he was in year 1. If it is looking like there may be a problem you can go to your GP and asked to be referred to your Child Development Centre, these are the people who will do the necessary test to establish whether there is a problem and what action to take.

HTH

bluenoseam

The writing part, is it the actual handwriting or the act of word composition etc that he struggles with? If it's handwriting i wouldn't be too concerned at 6 years old if it was less than neat and there are plenty of writing aids, pens, pencils which can help with that - and as has been pointed out before, some of the smartest people going (think Doctors!) have some of the worst handwriting out there! If it's composition & actual language difficulties then that may be a bit trickier to deal with, however not impossible, if he can read to an advanced level for his age it could be that he's struggling to figure out how to express what he's thinking in terms of how to actually get it down on the page. That's something that proper teaching technique & positive correction can be a MASSIVE help with - speak to the teacher and see if he/she knows of any ways to improve his confidence in writing and translate his success in reading & the other good subjects into writing.

As for the balance, it could be an ear problem, i would speak to your GP and ask them to have a look at them, maybe even see if they will refer him to an ENT specialist and perhaps check his eyesight too - there doesn't necessarily have to be pain for there to be an issue and most of the time they're solved fairly easilly.

Good luck

sivyour

Dispraxia is exactly what started off the investigation into my sons behaviour.

jopsey

Thankyou all very much for taking the time to reply .
Never used a pen grip will get one and give that a whirl .
If I am honest I have suspected dyspraxia for a long time but Dp thinks I am trying to get him labeled as such ,Dp's nephew has aspergers and is my DS favorite cousin in the world because he know's everything about everything .

Had a quick word with teacher today and she has said she will have a word with senco as she agrees he does have, sometimes a hand to eye cordination problem but it may just be a development issue rather than anything else,she said that he is possibly too young to assess yet I have read that 6 yr old is ok to assess ?
I will also phone gp to get ears checked,It's just nice to have other peoples views on things because as his Mum I don't want to make a fuss about nothing but would never forgive myself if I didn't at least just get him checked