Originally Posted by Trinity
Zia'sMom asked:
What are some practical ways to address the handwriting issue? Has anyone successfully convinced the school to let the child type?

What are people's experiences with a child who is ready to work 2 or 3 years ahead of their age in elementary school, but not ready to do the physical amount of handwriting, or penciling, that a child 2 or 3 years older is expected to do?

Thanks,
Trin

I have to chime in here, speaking with my Occupational Therapist hat on. My own GT son does not have handwriting problems - but I work with so many kids who struggle with handwriting. For many of these kids the issue with handwriting lies in underlying impairments that fall in the areas of visual-spatial perception, body awareness, praxis skills, visual-motor integration and other areas of development. While accommodation is appropriate for an older child, my opinion is that a 4 or 5 year old who is not developing handwriting skills, at an age appropriate level, needs to have intervention to remediate this skill as much as possible.

For a GT kid, this means looking at the asynchrony and identifying whether there really even IS a handwriting issue. If the child is age appropriate in handwriting but advanced in many other areas, then accommodate the need for the child to create stories or poems or whatever he wants to do that requires handwriting. Provide a scribe, use keyboarding if they are more efficient at getting their thoughts down, use a recording device for them to dictate, use a dictate computer program, or whatever else works so the child can create without being frustrated.

BUT, if the child is assessed and shows handwriting that is below what is expected for the average child that age, then I personally think that you need to look at intervention. The sooner the better. See a qualified OT for assessment, preferably one that specializes in handwriting and/or sensory integration treatment. Sometimes you can locate an educational specialist who also understands handwriting. There are ways to facilitate skills and decrease anxiety about handwriting.

Just my 2 cents!