How old would you assume the child who wrote this was?

[AloyNoraWarrior]

My DS is 9 in Y4. He’s very upset as he said some children in his class have been laughing at his writing. I know he is behind because his school report last term said working towards expectations for every subject. But I’m thinking it must be bad if other children are noticing.

He does have ASD and we are waiting for an ADHD assessment. Last year I asked his teacher if could be assessed for dyslexia because he writes his name incorrectly, but they said they don’t assess children for dyslexia anymore.

I was just wondering how his writing compares to other children his age as I’m not sure what level it should be at. The photo represents his best effort. The second line of the poem is ‘when I am a pest’

He’s right-handed and he’s short-sighted and wears glasses.

This is so kind of you to share. It sounds like your son is doing amazing.

@AloyNoraWarrior I feel for you. As others have said, your son's emotional intelligence is way up there and that poem is just beautiful. My heart swelled reading it.

Re the dyslexia thing, I'd push back on the school. I don't agree they should just be able to say they don't do it anymore, however if you can afford private then please do, if only to boost your son's confidence.

I would also raise with the school the fact that these kids are effectively bullying him. This isn't ok

I read that as "when I am upset". Ds is dyspraxic and could not write like that at 9.

Firstly, that's a gorgeous poem and is such a lovely thing to keep.
Secondly - every word is legible. It can be read with little effort. I work in a hospital. I'm used to Doctors writing. He's doing better than over 90% of the doctors I know, so I think he doing fine!!

I wouldn’t worry, my DB is in his 30’s and still writes like this! Beautiful poem though ❤️

I would have said 10. He's very articulate. My handwriting was abysmal at school - okay, it still is - but I was very able. I hope the assessments help clarify things. He sounds like a sweet boy. The teacher should deal with teasing about his work, that's not on.

Schools push handwriting because unless they can write in a cursive script, have clear ascenders and descenders, and conventionally formed letters then their writing cannot be assessed at meeting the expected standard.

I've known adults with writing like that.

The reason I was thinking dyslexia is because he frequently spells his name wrong and it’s only 4 letters. He does a lot of b/d p/q mixing up.

I’m not sure about his fine motor skills but his gross motor skills are really good. He’s very strong and physically able, rode a bike from a young age, he’s an excellent climber.

The first thing I thought to ask you was "is your son left handed?" he writes very much like a schoofriend of mine who was never taught how to write as a left hander and used to write with her hand all twisted. It was bad sitting to her left as on a continuous table she needed room for her paper her pen and half her body.

The handwriting is a bit scribbly - very much like my son's at that age and his didn't improve over the years. He's now nearly 20 and doing a degree that involves computers so all typing thankfully.

Don't worry about his handwriting. It's readable and that's all that counts.

The poem brought tears to my eyes!
How lovely.
I can't answer your question but I wanted to tell you that my DS has ADHD and "dyspraxic tendencies", diagnosed at 7. He had very poor handwriting due to poor fine motor skills. The good news is that he was entitled to a scribe for exams and then when he was older typed all his college assignments. In the adult world he very rarely needs to write anything as it's all typed.
Not saying this will be the same for your DS. I think your DS handwriting is better than my DS at that age.

I'm pregnant and I'm currently sat crying at this hoping that one of my kids brings it home for me one day.

I think the writing (content, style etc) is ahead of the handwriting, which might be very important in primary but is less important in secondary.

That said op if you know he is behind, focus on getting him the help.

I don’t have a child of that so I have no idea, but that poem is beautiful. What a lovely boy!

Did he write that at home or school? Writing on lined paper is much easier for kids - especially when some letters like "p" go below the line and others are on the line.

I'd say that the content was good but the handwriting was behind. Some kids his age have joined up writing better than adults. Do you ever get a chance to see work on walls? That's how I knew that my ds needed support and practice with handwriting.

His school gave handwriting support in y5 in preparation for SATS as joined up writing is expected. His writing improved in y5/6 but went back to a scrawl in secondary who don't seem to mind as along as they can read it. He is dyslexic and dyspraxic so finds handwriting hard but ime secondary seem to only care if it can be read by an examiner or teacher.

Actually just read my post and wanted to say the content is mature, extremely sweet and very good.

My dc is the same age and year group and I think that looks fine. My dc took to cursive easily but a lot of kids in their class write similarly to your ds.

How on earth can he get the help he needs if they refuse to assess! That's crazy! I'd be focusing far more on that than his writing style.

Also that poem is beautiful. Your poor DS is being bullied and the school need to address that asap.

Looks OK to me. How rude they are! Children can be rude and nasty. Tell him to tell them to fuck off.

I work in primary across all age groups. Good spelling and punctuation, just a bit untidy. Rather that way round. Handwriting can be improved with lots of fine motor exercise.

I would assume around age 7. I have to say though my brother is 42, highly intelligent and still writes like this!
Do they use technology to help support your son with his work? For example I’ve had children use a chromebook to type up their work and/or to dictate their answers to. Dance mat typing is great to help them improve their typing skills:

www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zf2f9j6/articles/z3c6tfr

I regularly assess children in school for dyslexia so I would push for this if you feel it’s a possibility. It could be that the demands of class and following strict routines are just absolutely exhausting for him that by the time his written work comes he has lost focus. What are the school doing to support his ASD and possibly ADHD? He should have a visual timetable, work folders with clear expectations, breaks if required, proprioceptive activities eg weight bearing which would all help his focus and effort.

The writing is not something to get hung up on it’s legible and I have had many older children who’s writing u couldn’t decipher. I would be chasing the school to see what they can do to help him improve his focus. Input from the educational psychologist should have happened so if not I would be asking why.

Apologies for the typos my daughter is climbing on me 🤣

I’m probably completely missing the point of this thread but that poem is absolutely beautiful 🥺.

As a comparison, here’s an example of my DS’s handwriting. He’s nearly 17 and currently sitting his GCSEs. In fairness he has an EHCP for ASD and struggles with fine motor skills, but, as others have said, it sounds like a bullying + unsupportive school problem. Some children find writing easier than others. Neither of my boys have good handwriting (only one has SEN). My DD’s handwriting, on the other hand, is very clear and legible. Advice from PPs on getting checked for dyslexia etc. Sounds sensible.

This.

File that away and treasure that forever.

This looks just fine to me.

All children develop at different paces. Please don’t make the mistake of comparing to other children.

Your DC is doing just fine.

This poem brightened my otherwise shitty day.

Thank you for that and kisses to little man 💐