12 year old with terrible handwriting

[manonmoonah]

Hello,

Just wondered if anyone had any tips or advice. DS12 is about to start high school, but has always had abysmal handwriting. When he was younger I wasn't too worried, as i assumed it would improve as he got older and wrote more, but it just hasn't happened. It can be difficult to understand what he has written at times, and I'm worried what this will mean for him in high school. I imagine the teachers in high school may be less inclined (or have less time) to persevere to read his work if it is untidy.

I have spoken to him about it countless times over the years, and tried to help him improve it with no success. He says he just can't make it neater.

I just wondered if anyone was aware of any resources for this kind of thing, or methods to help him improve it. TIA!

My eldest is exactly the same. He struggled at school but it turned out he is autistic (diagnosis aged 18). The school might be able to help with a laptop for lessons and exams??

bubblehandwriting.wordpress.com/

Direct him towards training to be a doctor, he will fit right in. 😂

How are his other fine motor skills? If he struggles with cutting out neatly, colouring within the lines (probably wouldn’t want to do this!), etc, then he may need support to develop these skills.

However, it could also be laziness - DS was referred to a handwriting group in Y7 (which he flatly refused to go to!) but eventually improved his handwriting himself during GCSES/Alevels as he wanted examiners to be able to read his answers!

My DD is the same. It's improved slightly but she can't join without it being unreadable. I suspect slight dyspraxia issues as she has other coordination problems but nothing I feel like I need to make a big deal out of.

Her dad also has terrible handwriting so maybe it's just hereditary!

My child had awful handwriting. We tried all sorts of things but in the end got an occupational therapist to assess him. The result was that he needed to see a behavioural optometrist. With a long series of sessions and exercises it got somewhat better but he now uses a laptop to do school work and exams.

DS1 has dysgraphia.
Writing (and copying) has always been hard work.
Primary were adamant it was going to be a massive issue.
Secondary, while I'm sure would prefer more readable writing, just shrug their shoulders and say most of it is ok.
His mate (with only marginally worse, imo) writing has had a laptop suggested for GCSE's next summer.

watching with interest! I have invested in a load of the "ergonomic" pens and pencils for handwriting from Amazon (because it's summer my child has not yet used them) in hope that they help a bit. I believe it's because he presses too hard among other things but am also interested to find out if he has dysgraphia or similar. He seems to write much better on a laptop / keyboard so wondering if school will make an exception.

Does it make a difference whether he joins or not?

Nope. Secondary not bothered.
It's a balance between speed and legibility. I only join 3/4 of my letters as an adult.

@DoublePeonies I meant to the legibility of his writing. I know secondary doesn't care, but primary schools do ,and in certain cases writing joined actually makes some children's handwriting worse.

My DS had terrible writing.
He has hyper mobility in a lot of joints so writing is difficult and exhausting for him.
He learnt to touch type in primary school and it has made a huge difference. All of his efforts used to go in to the physical act of writing but now he can just think about what he wants to say.

Not a DC but my DH has terrible handwriting.....he finds it impossible to write joined up and even still his handwriting looks like a child's. It takes him ages to write anything. He has Asperger's though so not sure if it's connected? It hadn't really affected him at all, still did well at school and went to University. Although he does work in IT and does as little handwriting as possible.

@TheNoonBell I thought the same thing about being a doctor!

This was just my thoughts too 🤣

@bigTillyMint His fine motor skills aren't great. He's never been one for drawing or colouring in. He doesn't enjoy art or writing stories. He is intelligent, but far prefers numeracy. I'm worried that regardless of knowing answers he will lose marks as it won't be clear what he has written. Hopefully a laptop will be an option when it comes to exam time in 4 years, but what about all his course work up until then?!

I get compliments on my own handwriting, and although his dad's isn't particularly neat, it is legible. I definitely think there is an element of laziness. I just can't believe he couldn't improve it if he tried harder

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to reply. I've never heard of a behavioural optometrist or dysgraphia - will look into these.

He doesn't join his writing. A huge part of the problem is that his letters aren't consistent, and it's not always clear when one word ends and another begins. For example, an 'n' and an 'h' may look the same as the heights of the letters are all over the place.

@SpinningOutWaitingForYa Thanks for the bubble writing resource. I have downloaded it and will give it a try!

Weak core muscles can be a factor here, I don't know exactly how. But a weak core can lead to sloppy posture which means the muscles in the arm and hand are straining more than they should. The hand gets fatigued much faster and I suppose that leads to a lack of precision and weak fine motor muscles. I don't know the physiology of it all but i know core muscle work can improve handwriting.

@GameOfJones @shellyleppard weak core is usually associated with autism so the above theory would explain the link between ND and poor handwriting also.

Ds2’s handwriting isn’t great, I find it hard to read but his teachers have never commented.

He was taught cursive writing which I don’t think has helped.

He’s just sat his GCSEs so I don’t think it’s going to change a great deal now.

My DS is the same. Diagnosed with Hypermobility in year 5 after years of trying every pen known to man and then it totally made sense with lots of other things he has struggled with. Tying shoe laces for example.

He was given a laptop in primary and this has continued into Secondary school. Much better for him and the teachers!

Talk to the SENCO at school. If you think he might need a laptop for exams later on then it should be established as his normal way of working as early as possible. Of course, it’s also good to try to identify the cause of the issue.

At my DCs school those with poor handwriting, to the extent it would make marking difficult, are taught to type and given laptops to use in lessons and exams. Talk to the school and see what they can offer.

Teacher here with awful handwriting. I recommend triangular shaped pens to pupils whose handwriting is difficult to read. They help.me

All the above autism, dyslexia, adhd etc

But don't worry most work in high school is on the computer these days

Plus all the smartest people in the world have terrible handwriting. Yet to meet a doctor with good handwriting