Auntie - ? re drawing vs writing

[auntie]

Oct 30, 2014 22:47:43 GMT -5 @kar said:

Do you have any links on the difference/treatment and therapists/specialists who might be able to help address? DS has mild CP and has had OT on and off for a few years. He has kept progressing around the lower end of average, sometimes a little higher, sometimes dipping into the -1.5 dev behind level. One thing we have noticed is that when his OT has intervened to help him too quickly, he is pretty quick to want help and tell us he needs help to do things the right way. It's frustrating for all of us. What you wrote seems like it might be a better fit...

Dysgraphia is a lot more recognized than it used to be, so there's mor out there. 

It's usually easy to tell if a child is drawing letters. For one thing it's a more laborious and painstaking process. For kids with otherwise good fine motors skills, the letters might look "too good" rather than if they'd been created more fluidly. Not all kids with dysgraphia have poor fine motor or drawing skills. Kids who draw letters often look super focused on their work as opposed to doing it as a kind of multitasking activity. They're clearly thinking on how the letter will look rather than taking in material about the sound it makes or words that start with the letter.


Often kids who draw create them in a disordered manner- remeber your own primary grades when teachers did directionality exercises where you made endless circles starting at the top and going clockwise to prepare you mind-hand connection to make "o". Each letter has a "recipe" for the manner in which it is made- kids who don't follow that tend to be those who are dysgraphic. DS always formed his letters bottom up and clockwise- ugh. Directionality ties into reading English whic h is formatted and decoded left to right/top to bottom. 

Dysgraphia tends to travel with other issues that impact learning. Most dyslexics are dysgraphia, but not necessarily the other way around. It's almost universal among those on spectrum, but not the other way around. Anxiety nearly always plays into it. ADHD can as well. DS has a friend with mild CP (I've known this kid since they were 4; DS helped him get a job where he works last month- funny how that works)

This is a good, IMHO, piece on appropriate ways to accommodate the challenges of dysgraphia as well as some steps to intervene to improve the skill. There are some links at the bootom to more in depth articles.


www.ldonline.org/article/6202/

You'll hear a lot about Handwriting Without Tears. It is probably the best handwriting curricula for any kid with dysgraphia or fine motor issues. One nice thing is that a lot of Sped teachers have the materials already. They're also parent-friendly, so this can be something you do at home if your school claims they "don't focus on handwriting".


www.hwtears.com/hwt

Sensible Pencil is another one, but it seems better for kids who are more globally impaired.

[marissa]

How do you handle it OT wise? We've been dismissed but from this description Matt and Chris draw their letters.

[auntie]

Handwriting program to help the graphomotor skills develop and take over as the writing becomes more fluent. If there is underlying anxiety or perfectionism driving the behavior- that would need addressing as well. CBT and meds were useful here.

Most of DS's team feels OT is fairly pointless by 10, and suggest keyboards if needed. I know kids who have scribes because they struggle with keyboards as well.