Poor Handriting - How Can I Help My Child?
by Jodie Lynn, www.ParentToParent.com

Q: My son is eight and still has poor handwriting. He just cannot seem to control his pencil. Maybe he is in too big of a hurry at school? How can we help him to get better at handwriting before he begins to get remarks from his teacher and his classmates again this year?

My daughter is a senior in college majoring in microbiology. In second grade, she couldn't write the spelling words as many times as she was supposed to and her hand hurt after just a short period of writing. She also had hours of homework while other students completed the work in class. I had her tested for ADHD and other learning disabilities. We took her to a pediatric neurologist who diagnosed her with Disgraphia. He also had it but said it had never hurt his learning abilities. In short, this is a processing difficulty between the brain and fingertips. Modifications by the school included giving short answers instead of writing the full sentence, sometimes less math problems if she understood the process, and using the computer. I let her use instant messaging since that improved her keyboarding skills rapidly. I also kept a lot of fine motor activities for her to do: beading, embroidery, drawing, even coloring books. Her handwriting became a non-issue because we found ways around it. Where the Disgraphia had been inhibiting her learning because it was such a problem, it became a creative challenge. She's had many wonderful teachers that allowed her to manage the disability and focus on what she could do. As a teacher, I recognize handwriting is a communication skill. While it is important, there are ways to get around it. - Yvonda in OK

One time, upon picking my youngest daughter up from school, her teacher told me, in front of my daughter, she that she was considering holding her back because her handwriting was unreadable. I was absolutely shocked as this child was doing multiplication, division and negative numbers and reading on at least a fifth grade level. I couldn't even respond. However, my daughter looked up at this teacher and matter-of-factly told her that when she grew up she planned on becoming a doctor and her secretary would be doing all her correspondence and so it really didn't matter that her handwriting was messy. My daughter is presently pursuing a doctorate in chemical engineering on a scholarship. Oh, and by the way, we still have a hard time reading her handwriting. I am so grateful for e-mails! - Jackie in New Jersey

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From Jodie: Most 8-year-old boys do not have perfect handwriting and are almost always in a hurry to get done the quickest. Some of the things to do at home would be some of the suggestions above but also to work with puzzles, putting together model cars and Lego's. Let your little guy do these at his own leisure, do not pressure him and allow him to put it away when he gets frustrated. These will help to develop the fine motor skills in the fingers, improving his manual dexterity. Ask the teacher for additional ideas. If after working on these activities and a few months go by and there is still no improvement, ask your school or pediatrician for help in a combination of various tests. Keep the communication open with his teacher and make sure everyone works together for his success. His self-esteem is vulnerable so keep upbeat and ask everyone else to do so as well.

Can you help?

Q: If the soccer coach asks the same kids to demonstrate different techniques over and over each day, how does this prove to be fair? My 10-year-old son is never picked and he is just as good as the others. What should I say? My husband says to keep my mouth shut. Why is that such a good idea?

Q: For parent/teacher conferences, should kids go along? What are the advantages or disadvantages? I am a teacher and to be honest, I don't think parents should bring their kids to the conferences. Thoughts?

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