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Posted By: kikib ADHD and writing - 03/02/15 02:09 AM
My daughter is struggling with writing. She has adhd and I know this is common with adhd kids. She is able to tell me what she wants to say but when it comes to getting it from her brain to the paper, something gets lost. Does anyone have experience with this or any ideas how I can help her?
Thanks!
Posted By: Aufilia Re: ADHD and writing - 03/03/15 08:28 PM
How old is your daughter? I've used three tactics for things that must get done soon:
* Put together a customer organizer that leads her through several steps to get where she's doing. For example, brainstorm, pick some favorite ideas, write some isolated sentences about those things, organize the individual sentences, then copy the completed thingy onto the final assignment.
* Have her verbalize what she wants to write to me, I transcript her words onto paper for a "rough draft". Have her use that to write a "final draft" onto her assignment.
* Let her type it on the computer. It's easier for her to change her words and rearrange things in digital format.

For longer-term, we're playing with the writing curriculum "Writing With Ease" at home, which someone had recommended to me elsewhere. It is designed to be done over 4 years if you start with a 1st grader, or you can do it faster if you start older. DD is 9 and finished the first "year" in about 2 months. Since we've only just finished year 1, I can't say how well it will work in the long run.
Posted By: kikib Re: ADHD and writing - 03/03/15 08:44 PM
Thank you. She is 8 and in 2nd grade. I will look into "Writing With Ease".
Posted By: blackcat Re: ADHD and writing - 03/03/15 08:45 PM
DD is 9 and this has become a major issue since she is falling farther behind the grade level standards requiring stories, journal entries, reports, etc. We asked for a school eval and they denied any services because her scores on standardized achievement tests (which don't measure extended writing ability) are fine. She is able to use the giftedness to compensate on these tests. With DD, I think the problem is that she has poor executive functioning and she has no idea how to organize her thoughts.

If you have an ipad, you can try the app Inspiration Mind Maps which utilizes graphic organizers. There are other similar apps/programs.

Also, the ipad has built in dictation/speech-to-text. My concern with this is that if she uses it too much she will not learn to actually "write", but if the point of the assignment isn't mechanics, spelling, etc. it can be helpful. It allows them to edit what they have said and what appears on the screen.
Posted By: kikib Re: ADHD and writing - 03/03/15 08:52 PM
Thank you. She was trying to explain her thinking with a simple math problem last night. It was a mess. I knew the problem and the answer, and still had a hard time following her. We sat down together and she told me the steps and I wrote each one on a post-it note. I was hoping seeing the steps and being able to physically move them around would help. She was so angry I was making her redo something, I'm not sure if it helped or not.
Posted By: Cola Re: ADHD and writing - 03/03/15 09:54 PM
This is my son. Because his processing speed is in the average and he tests well they saw no issue. His processing speed was at 50% and everything else was in the high 90's. I see that as substantial. Of course he's failing his writing and language arts class and gets zeros on math tests because he can't show his work properly...but nope his teacher wasn't concerned.
Posted By: kikib Re: ADHD and writing - 03/03/15 10:43 PM
Thankfully my daughter's teacher is concerned. What's interesting is her processing speed was high. I hear a lot about low (or lower) processing speeds causing problems. Her working memory was her lowest score (high average). I've been told that could have something to do with her problems. It's all a little overwhelming. Nice to know we aren't alone smile
Posted By: polarbear Re: ADHD and writing - 03/03/15 11:03 PM
kikib, I'd suggest three things:

1) Does her output improve with scribing or typing? If it does, that might indicate there's either a visual or fine motor integration issue going on.

2) Do supports like sitting with her and scaffolding written assignments help, or graphic organizers, or repeating assignments help?

3) If #1 doesn't happen and #2 doesn't seem to help (output is still difficult, disorganized, etc), I'd consider a speech language eval. Kids with written expression challenges often benefit from working with an SLP on how to generate ideas, how to organize them etc. Another test that might help in addition to an SLP eval is the TOWL (Test of Written Language).

I'd also keep an open mind re considering that this might not be an ADHD-specific issue, but rather a challenge that is masked by the ADHD when she's not on meds - sometimes with 2e kids, multiple challenges exist and when they are young in particular, it's necessary to accommodated successfully for one first before realizing that another exists underneath. Hope that makes sense!

There might also be some clues in previous achievement testing if you had any to go along with her ability testing (WJ-III, WIAT, etc). If she had achievement testing and you have a report with subtest scores, look to see if there were high vs low scores or if the subtest scores were all relatively even.

Best wishes,

polarbear

ps - The reason I included "repeat" in #2 above is that in my children's elementary years the LA curriculum would bounce around from one type of assignment to another without ever truly repeating a skill. If her class is already set up with a logical writing curriculum where skills are reinforced, then you can ignore the "repeat" suggestion smile
Posted By: kikib Re: ADHD and writing - 03/03/15 11:42 PM
Scaffolding definitely helps and graphic organizers help. I'm not sure how much of that goes on in school. She also likes to finish as quickly as possible so making her sit and use tools like graphic organizers is difficult.

I haven't noticed much of an improvement with typing but when I write for her it helps. But I also ask her questions and kind of lead her. Not sure if that counts as scribing smile

She has taken the CogAT and Wisc-iv. We are looking into further testing to see if there are some learning disabilities we need to deal with.
Thanks for your response!
Posted By: KTPie Re: ADHD and writing - 03/04/15 12:08 PM
Everything that Polar Bear said. Something that worked for my DYS6, who has ADHD, is to do a "brain dump" before writing. We fold a blank piece of paper in half length-wise and then ask him to empty his little noggin. He will dump all his thoughts onto that paper so he can start fresh. On one side, he jots down words or images about what he's writing about, and the other side is for all the other random thoughts in his brain. He's also thinking about all of his projects-in-progress, or plans for the day, and he gets distracted by them. This way, they are right there for him after he's done. That's working for us with regard to the writing peice, although the child still loses multiple pencils in each sitting!

Hope this helps a bit!
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