DD9 (nearly 10) forms many letters wrong and has an inconsistent pencil grip. The school agrees that these cause problems in reading her handwriting, and has led to quantifiable drops in test scores. However, the school's line on our IEP meeting was that DD has 5 years of bad habits under her belt and it's too late to reteach her. And besides, since it's not nearly as bad as other kids, they won't try. Her IEP accommodations include simply that teachers will prompt DD to fix her pencil grip.
I don't believe that it can't be fixed. I think that with enough practice, it can be fixed. Handwriting can change. I cross 'z's, for instance, a habit I started only once I started taking algebra.
I'm looking for tips. DD is sort of on board with this plan for the summer.
Specifically, she forms letters turning many letters starting on an 'o' base backwards. That it, she makes a zero clockwise, such that when writing fast it looks like a 6. It also makes her printing very awkward because she keeps having to change directions in her writing.
On pencil grip, she will use the conventional tripod grip when relaxed, but when even slightly frustrated, she'll put her middle finger on top of the pencil. This then changes her handwriting midstream, and I suspect leads to more letter reversals (truely reversed, not just formed using the wrong directions). This has been the pattern for more than a year, though she seems to be using the wrong grip more readily than this time last year. She will do this despite using a pencil grip that aparently can't be used this way. She does it wrong regardless.
She's has diagnoses of dyslexia and dysgraphia. The dysgraphia does not appear to be of the fine motor form that leads to floating text or other formation problems. We see no other fine motor issues, and she's broadly coordinated and strong. She is working to learn to type and is working on cursive, but she still needs to be able to write by hand (both as a life skill and as something that isn't included in the IEP)
Tips to help fix this?
