Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Another handwriting question -speed

I posted for the first time about ds's handwriting problems. At the time, he was not writing very legibly, was not writing on the lines, and had poor spacing beteween and within words. We had him evaluated by an OT, and his fine motor skills were very low as was his visual-motor speed.

We got him a 504 plan at school that included OT at school, and we started taking him to see a private OT. His writing is much improved. It's definitely more legible, he writes on the lines and spaces appropriately. It's not beautiful, but it's passable at this point. However, he still has trouble with speed. We have cut back to every other week for the private OT. He got a C in writing the first grading period this year, and a B the second. Last year he didn't get the same kind of grades, but he was probably at the equivalent of a D. He still needs work to improve his writing, but the bottleneck at handwriting has at least widened.

The school OT has never been very enthusiastic about working with him. I'm sure she has students who are much more disabled to work with, but I don't think she has many as smart as he is. The school OT would like discontinue his services at school.

My questions are: Should we agree to discontinue his services? Is speed something OT's can work on?

Speed has always been one of my 10 year old son's biggest problems. He could write legibly if he had twice as much time as the average kid and if he didn't have to write very much. His hands got tired quickly. His visual motor integration was always a few years behind. He didn't get OT for this in kindergarten because he was reading at a 5th grade level and beyond grade level in math and our state does not require OT unless a child is failing. This is one of the reasons we have to homeschool. Our insurance only paid for six one-hour sessions with an OT and I told her that I was worried about his speed issues and I wanted him to be able to write quickly enough and legibly enough to do the math portion of timed tests and also fill in the bubble quickly, but she wanted to work on his sensory and physical issues first and there just wasn't time to work on speed.

He learned to type but I still want him to be able to do take notes quickly and legibly so that he can take notes in college when he needs to.

I have had him working on about 10 words a week (in cursive) from the Sitton high frequency word list and he can write those words more quickly than words he has not practiced. I let him use a combination of print capitals and the rest of the letters in cursive because it is faster for him and more legible. We figure out what works best for him and try not to worry about what teachers might think, especially the ones who think coloring in the lines is more important than learning.

I would not want my child working with an OT who was less than enthusiastic about working with him. My son only had six sessions but she had a positive influence on him.

This might be something you will have to help him with at home. My son works on handwriting speed while listening to music. He also does Guitar Hero and Rock Band and I think this has helped with some speed issues.

My son has motor dyspraxia and I think it just takes him more time to get those words into his motor memory but I think by the time he starts college he will not have to depend on a computer to type his notes--although he would certainly like to do everything on the computer if he could.

Hi Keet. As an OT I can say that I agree wholeheartedly with Lori - you don't want an OT who is not enthusiastic about working with your son. Chances are if the OT wants to discharge him from services it's because she a)feels his skills are good enough, b) doesn't have time on her schedule and needs to discharge some to make room for others she perceives as needier, c)doesn't know what else to do with him to treat or resolve the issue or d)all of the above. In any case, forcing her to continue working with him when she wants to discharge him is not likely to be good for him. He's not likely to make progress and probably won't have fun in OT.

Now, as far as "does OT work on handwriting speed" - the answer to that depends on the OT. Some interventions are better than others, so it depends on what the OT is trained in and uses in treatment. My experience is that speed of handwriting it typically linked to praxis or motor planning issues. It's the mechanics of handwriting including the formation of the letters and spacing, organization, etc that don't come easily and automatically which slows down handwriting. Handwriting becomes fast when the process is automatic and fluid. In order to build fluidity in handwriting you need to address the underlying neurological skills of timing, sequencing, visual-motor integration and bilateral coordination.

Activities like Lori suggests are good ones for addressing those issues - video games, especially ones like Guitar Hero that require timing and rhythm; musical instruments; practice with music (Handriting Without Tears has songs as do some other programs); sports activities, especially those with repetitive movements such as ping-pong or basketball (dribbling, shooting drills). You could also check out Interctive Metronome at www.interactivemetronome.com and see if there is a provider near you. I use IM in treatment and it almost always increases ease and speed of handwriting - it addresses those underlying skills of timing and sequencing. It doesn't increase legibility, though!

Hope that helps. I'd be happy to answer any other questions you might have about IM or OT.

My son also has this problem. He tells me that his hand can't keep up with his brain and gets very frustrated. He hasn't learned cursive yet so that may help some. The harder he tries to write fast, the worse his legibility is. I've never really considered a problem for OT but maybe it is. Something for me to think about.

I have a friend who has been an executive secretary forever and she offered to teach him shorthand. It would solve his problem as long as it's not something that had to be turned in.

Keet - that is wonderful news!

Personally, I believe that the more he writes, the faster he will get, but that very few gifted children will every really be fast enough handwriters to get their ideas out. If you haven't started teaching Keyboarding, then I would encourage you to do so. Since keyboard skill is a 'all roots, no stalk' activity in the begining, I would encourage you to be 'relaxedly persistient.' Since the OT seems to think that the handwriting can't be helped, perhaps you can ask for 'work around' accomidation instead that will cut down on the amount or speed required of his written production. I am thinking that you can maybe do this in a way that acts like 'curriculum compacting.'

Again - a B is a very good grade. Congradulations!
Grinity

I don't want you to think I'm not thrilled with the B in writing. It really shows how much his handwriting was handicapping him. Since he missed so much development time while struggling with the handwriting, I'm delighted he's been able to come so far in such a short amount of time. All the agony has been worth it.

Currently, ds's 504 plan allows accomodations such as extra time, lined paper, and help with notes. In addition, his teacher this year has reduced some of the assignments for him (she said she can tell if he understands a concept - such as appropriate use of commas - in 3 sentences so he doesn't have to rewrite the 10 the rest of the class must do). I think his teacher this year has been incredibly accomodating.


His other scores were mostly average, with a few things above average or superior. How are those things measured and addressed? Would an OT do that or someone else? When ds had his OT eval about a year ago, his visual-motor speed was in the poor range (2%) and manual dexterity was below average (age equivalent 5:6-5:7 - he was 7yrs6mo at the time). His other scores were mostly average, with a few things above average or superior. How are those things measured and addressed? Would an OT do that or someone else?

With the poor visual motor scores, it would stand to reason that he would have difficulty with writing speed. We are going though a similar situation with DD7. She is now receiving Vision Therapy through a behavioral Optometrist as well as OT.

You can find a Behavioral Optometrist in your area at www.covd.org. It cam be costly but for dd7 it has proven to be a large piece of the puzzle.

Good Luck

IMHO, handwriting is an extremely complex task for us all. It involves so many aspects of function and therefore many areas where problems or glitches can occur. Assessment involves looking not only at the specific task of handwriting - outcome and process - but also the underlying skills. Can an OT assess that? Yes, if you find an OT who is trained and interested in handwriting skills. A psychologist assesses handwriting skills as well but may or may not provide insight as to how to improve the specific task of handwriting.
You might also find someone who specializes more in learning disorders or education related services who provides similar services. Some of the IM providers on the website have degrees in education, psychology, nursing, speech therapy and other fields besides OT.

Intervention for a "handwriting problem" is different from one child to another as the underlying problems will likely be different. Accommodation is just as important as intervention. It is also entirely possible that there is no *problem* except that your child thinks faster than they can write and that it will all even out in the future as he gets better at writing. There is definitely a maturation and developmental aspect to handwriting.