[Mrspit66]

My 7-yr old son is having a really rough time with writing. In short, it is terrible. Last year, his kindergarten teacher gave me "Handwriting Without Tears" and I haven't used it yet because it teaches the old style block printing, but the school is teaching the new D'Nealian. I was afraid it would confuse my son. Of course, I will discuss this with my son's teachers, but I just wondered if any of you out there had used "Handwriting Without Tears" and if it caused any confusion. Of course, their web site says it won't, but . . .

Dr. Art, if you're out there, what do you think??

Thanks for your input,
Cathy

[Dr. Art]

If your child has had a history of maltreatment (neglect, for example) during the first few years, then there could be a sensory-integraton issue here and he should be evaluated by an Occupational therapist who is SIPT certified.

On the other hand, boys are about one year behind girls, developmentally, which is why men have bad handwriting and women don't. Writing is taught in schools when girls are ready and many boys are not. I held my son back a year in preschool so that he was one of the oldest in school once he started...his handwriting is beautiful.

Do consider the SI evaluation. Your health insurance should cover the evaluation.

regards,

[lucyjoy]

My son had some occupational therapy on his hands that helped. He also had a special grip for his pencil that forced his fingers to the right place on the pencil. He is almost 7 and still tends to write sloppy, but if I point it out, he fixes it.

[Mrspit66]

Yes, my son does have a history of severe neglect as an infant. That's why he was removed from bio mom. He has been evaluated by an SIPT OT and she says he needs help. We're just waiting on the Medicaid approval. His handwriting is so poor, it's barely legible. I can read it (sometimes) because I'm used to it. But it is really interfering with his ability to progress in school, and that's why I'm considering the Handwriting Without Tears approach. I may need to have another meeting with the school, though, to see what else we can do for him.

Again, anybody out there tried the Handwriting Without Tears?

I very much appreciate all your input and suggestions!
Cathy

[Stormy]

My son is almost 5 and actually has an Autism Spectrim disorder with servere delays in sensory processing. He began with a terrific OT this summer and one of the things she has worked on with him is Handwriting without Tears. We loved it, he loved it, and it worked. It has been about 6 months of working with her and working on the handwriting. He now is writing and doing a great job with it. He wasn't able to do any activity with a pen or pencil. Scribbling caused him to shut down or melt down. Afterall, if he is writing better, but in a different style, that's progress.

I also have some suggestions from the been there done that chapter. Have you had your child evaluated by the school for Occupational Therapy assistance in the school? You can do so by writing a letter expressing your concerns and that you would like to begin the process to have your child evaluated for the handwriting delays and any other delays you feel may be at hand. Ok, so now you have entered the world of IEP's (if you haven't entered that world before) If you already have an IEP for your child you can write a letter to the principal asking for an IEP meeting to discuss your desire to have an OT eval and sensory integration evaluation (a good assesment is the sensory integration praxis test) So, now, why should you do all this? Because if the teacher has identified a problem that she feels you should work on with a Handwriting W/O tears book and you are waiting for OT, then there is a need. And better to work on that need now, when your child is young, then run the risk of him falling further behind.

And as always, good luck

[Mrspit66]

Stormy, does your son's school teach D'Nealian printing, the new printing? If so, how do you deal with the two different handwriting methods? And yes, I do believe at the very least a conference with the teacher is required, if not another IEP meeting.

Thanks again!
Cathy

[rindava]

and so are many at our school district....It really depends on how bad of a delay your child has..

Usually if you have the time you will get a higher quality of occupational therapy by taking the child yourself to one outside of school (unless you live in a top notch school district) Also, don't let the school bill for OT services if you are taking him outside of school..... This may interfere with the services and he will not be able to get them (at least this is true in most states)

Most people and kids develope their own style of writing....Handwriting without Tears isn't even really block style, it just is a good jumping off point and helps the kids exercise those hand muscles, etc...

Also, schools don't tend to give OT services to children with mild delays, but you can usually get them when taking the child directly to a private practice, and medicaid will pick this up usually--maybe not special SI therapy, but regular OT and speech

[Stormy]

I honestly have no idea what "D'Nealian" is. At our level, we are just happy for him to finally be writing, (This is a very recent occurance). He does, however, do things like mix cases. He writes the last letters of his name in upper case. But to be honest, at this point we just encourage the improvement and hope that he will refine the details as the process improves. the school is, I think, on that same page. They have him copy his name or other words over already written words and then copy in a line. But when he writes on his own it is always different. But our son has some very unique issues. He is delayed in fine motor skills and motor planning, but many years ahead in visual perception. So the action of writing is his difficulty, but if he is able to maintain the action he will copy exactly. I imagine for other children they would have other issues and strengths that come into play.

[Mrspit66]

Originally posted by rindava
Also, don't let the school bill for OT services if you are taking him outside of school..... This may interfere with the services and he will not be able to get them (at least this is true in most states)

My 7-yr old is operating at about the 4-5 yr old level. He is currently getting OT and PT through school once a week. I just don't think this is enough for him. I just assumed if what he was getting through school wasn't enough that Medicaid would cover it. As I said earlier, we are awaiting approval for an outside OT that specializes in sensory integration. I had never considered that because he gets OT at school they might deny him. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Again, thanks for your input!
Cathy

[kamamsm]

I soooo know what you are going through!! We began homeschooling 2nd grade. My daughter had trouble in school with writing- always bad grades. So I began to teach her the old fashioned way( not d'Nealian) & totally messed her up! Her handwriting was illegible for years. It was a big headache. Then I found itallics. I let her teach herself ( she was in 6th) and her writing is beautiful now. I don't know if this can help you because you ps but at least know you have folks who understand.