Pen Again ergonomic pen/pencil for 8 year old with messy writing and poor pencil grip. Opinions please!

[screamingabdab]

Hi, my 8 year old son is doing well in all other respects at school (his reading is very good), but his writing is messy, and he has got into a bad habit of holding his pen incorrectly. I gather that this is relatively common in boys, and would take a wait and see approach , except it is beginning to frustrate him.

He finds writing slow and laborious, and says it hurts his hand. At school he is getting a bit frustrated and is becoming avoidant of writing (it is affecting his written maths as well). His progress seems to have stalled. The teacher is also a bit concerned and is going to do a bit of extra writing practice with him.

I am working on the premise that it it is a motor problem at the moment, and we are doing a few minutes of writing practice a day at home.

Now to my question. We have some Pen Again ergonomic pencils, which help to hold the pencil correctly and reduce the need to grip so hard. Wondering if any parents/teachers/OT's out there had used them, and what you think about them?

Any other advice gratefully received.

Many thanks

Ta

I'm a secondary teacher and I used to really sruggle with my handwriting so I know how it feels.

Its really important to focus on the quality of what is being written rather than the writing itself. I've found that my pupils with this probelm really benefit from typing up their work. They feel better about it because it looks neat and they can have pride in the content. As a teacher it allows me to focus on other areas grammar, punctuation etc which can easily be overlooked. Once they feel better about the work they are doing they are in better position to work on the handwriting.

My DH has what I loving call apocolypic handwring; he writes in block capitals and always has done. His normal handwriting is illegible. Whe he was a school he got a clip round the ear for telling his teacher that when he grew up there would be a machine to write for him ! He's now got a PHD and a great job - the wring hasn't limited him in anyway

littleoldme - that is good to know about your DH, it is a worry to me that DS1 will be held back in the areas he's good at because of his writing issues. He is very bright but he can't get the ideas down on paper in a way anyone can understand. As an aside DH is now a parent governor of the primary school (he said he didn't want DS2&3 to have the same difficulties with the school, and it's better to attack from within!) and apparently it often gets mention RE new policies that they are aware that they let DS1 down

I think I'll watch this thread til I've talked to a couple of his teachers.

littleoldme I went to bed early so missed this yesterday. It's interesting, because it makes me wonder if it's me worrying too much about the handwriting per se (of course there's no alternative for him at school at the moment). Your post made me think: I've got a friend who's handwriting is very poor (he sometimes mixes capitals and lowercase), and he has a PHD in Chemistry from Oxford Uni!

So would you suggest I encourage him to learn to touch type at this stage (he is 8, in year 3 )? I think there are quite fun programmes for kids for the computer

Hi there - have only recently found mn and have found this thread really interesting.

DS, now in Y6, also has terrible handwriting even though he is in the top group for all subjects. At school he has been in handwriting clubs in several years - they haven't made a significant difference
At the last parents evening his teacher now states that the poor writing is partly due to trying to join up letters that shouldn't be eg the letter q even though he has been forced to join up all letters by all the other teachers! Don't know if this is a common theory.
School has also suggested using a computer for his SATS to help improve his scores so screaming it may be useful for your Ds to be able to type well. It's a bit late for my DS as his typing is quite slow - this has improved recently as he has just found the joys of MSN with hus school mates. TBH would prefer DS to write rather than type.

Glad to hear secondary school do not seem to be as worried as primary school

screamingabdab I know you asked littleoldme, but I'll stick my oar in anyway! DS has now got a statement for his special needs - like a lot of children on this thread, he was fine academically in that he was in the top group for every subject but his handwriting and other (social)issues led us to ask the school to apply for a statement which they did. The statement has meant that for some subjects, ds is allowed to use a laptop provided by the school in class and the family computer for homework.

This would have been pointless a year ago as ds's typing skills were not very good and using a laptop would not have speeded up his written work at all! So at the same time as pushing the school to apply for a statement, ds also started on one of those free touch typing courses - I think it was a BBC one that is for kids. As a result, when the school got the money for a laptop, ds was ready to get the most out of it so I would definitely recommend that your ds try to build up on his touch typing. We are fortunate in that ds's school has agreed to use some of the extra resources provided by the statement to give ds some intensive 1:1 handwriting help from next term onwards and I do think it is important to encourage our children to work on their handwriting but at the same time try other options to help rebuild their confidence.

In my LA it would be highly unlikely that a child would get a statement for handwriting I'm afraid (or ASD if I'm honest) As SENCO I've just used some of the budget to buy laptops for 2 of the children who have great difficulty with writing and it certainly helping one of them in their classwork. His mum came to see me as she was concerned it would be a problem in later life if he couldn't write. I asked her when was the last time she wrote anything important by hand...

screamingabdab, I would really recommend looking on the Special Direct website (specialdirect.com) that someone has already recommended. They have a box set of different types of pencil grip on there (different types suit different children, so it's really the only way to find the one that best suits the needs of your child, albeit most of the grips will ultimately be wasted...). You'll find it under pencil grips - called "Get a Grip!". It does cost £25 though. Some of the grips are very good for really ensuring there is no way your child's fingers can slip into the wrong position (eg stop the thumb wrapping round the pencil). Special Direct also sell the Handiwriter that Bottyspotton recommends, and this is a good option if the main or only problem is that your ds's pencil slopes forward in his hand instead of backwards.

My ds1 is extremely hypermobile (and hypotonic), and his tendency is to have the pencil sloping forwards a bit, in a bid to gain a bit of extra stability for his joints. By the way, does your ds have difficulty doing up trouser buttons? I don't know many people with hand and wrist hypermobility and low tone who don't find it exceptionally hard to keep a sufficient grip on their trousers to both pull the material together and get the button through the hole!

I think not being able to write legibly at all would be a serious handicap actually, which is why at present we are actively resisting moving ds onto a computer for all his school work in favour of giving the writing a big push. I suspect that ds's handwriting skills, poor as they are, would disappear if he didn't have to use them, and then he would seriously lose out. I don't write anything long and important any more, but make notes on lots of stuff at work, and certainly for anything academic, plus all the small things like shopping lists, fridge type notes to family etc. I don't think a computer wold work ideally for the sort of ad hoc writing that most of us are able to do without thinking.

nooka I'm not suggesting that children not write at all only that long pieces of writing such as essays have more chance of completion using a laptop rather than a pen or pencil. I have also bought the yoropens for the child I mentioned to use at school and home as he finds this beneficial. The other child (has a statement) and will require speech recognition software in the future but at the moment we are encouraging her to improve her keyboard skills.

Sorry, that wasn't aimed at anyone in particular, more the general thread that perhaps writing is no longer needed at all. I think it is a key life skill. One to be augmented by typing of course, I just wonder how many schools rather than give the intense support at a young age that might make a difference suggest typing instead (as has been our experience).

Speech recognition stuff is excellent btw - my brother who is dyslexic has found it has made an amazing difference (having chosen a career where writing reports is a key activity). I am sure at some point in the future that will be the route for my ds too, I just want him to have some basic handwriting skills as well. My experience of not writing for a long time and then sitting written exams is that it is a skill you can easily lose.

Just catching up as I have been out.

Thanks for all your responses.

cupatea I was told by DSs year2 teacher said that his joined up writing was neater, because doing joined up encourages you to make the letters the right size and position, so they join up with each other

sis I had a quick look at the typing course on the CBBC website - looks good and I might try it myself as well !

I do think that DS needs a bit of a confidence boost and that's the priority at the moment, and being able to type might help - we had a standoff today about writing an Easter card!

Your school sounds great!

nooka I am so torn - DSs writing is not illegible, it can be quite good, but it is ponderously slow and effortful for him, and he finds it so difficult compared to everything else. I feel with the right practice, and the right pen, it might improve.

asteamedpoater I will have a look at the grips! I have ordered some triangular grips, and was wondering whether I would be able to persuade DS to use the Handiwriter, as the sloping forward thing IS the main problem.

Have orderd a yoro pencil and a pelikan griffix (throwing money at the problem !!)

going away for a couple of days

I've been away so just catching up.

I'd encourage you to teach him to type. It will boost his confidence no end and allow him to focus on what he's writing more.

I don't deny that handwriting can be an issue in schools but as an adult there are so many ways around it. let me know how you get along.

If he can learn to write legibly using his current pen grip I wouldn't worry about him using the ''incorrect''manner of writing.

I'm dyspraxic and I don't hold the pen as others do. My writing isn't the neatest but it's legible and for me it's like being left handed, it may not be the norm, but it's how I can write and I can't, and don't care to, change it.

Hi I'm a childrens OT. All the advice you've been given here is great, the difficulty comes in knowing which advice is right for your child. An OT should be able to tell why handwriting is a problem and tell you what exercises/pen grips/slope boards etc will help. You can be referred through your GP or school can refer although this may not be acceptable in all areas. School nurse referral is another option. There are a number of reasons handwriting can be a problem and loads of products and exercises designed to help and i would recommend getting the right advice to save yourself a lot of money and frustration.
Hope that helps.

Hi,
Just to add what I found very helpful with improving my Dd's grip (more than special pens etc).

The OT recommendd using chalk - specifically chalk that was broken into little pieces (half an inch approx). They are so small that you have to hold them with the tips of your fingers and it gets the grip right. You may want to try it out for a few minutes daily.

We saw results within a month - and she had very bad grip and also has hypotonia.

Hello again everyone!

littleoldme We had a look at the typing course that's on the CBBC website and DS1 seems quite keen (for now!). I've said I'd like to learn with him as I regret not learning to type when I was younger

thunderduck It's interesting you say that, because I have wondered about it. If he could write fast and get out what he wants to say, I wouldn't stress about the grip, but my instinct is that the mechanical problem is holding him back - hopefully I'll get him assessed, and we'll see. Thanks for the advice though.

otali definitely going to pursue this - I wonder if my GP will be a better bet than the school at the moment. Things seem to be a bit chaotic on the extra help front at the moment at his school, and DSs problem is quite mild compared to lots of the other kids, so I wouldn't want to take any resources away from anyone else.

sweetgrapes that's interesting - and really great that it helped your DD so quickly. Will try this week .

(otali - is using chalk something you do for kids with this problem?)

Just to say, I got hold of the pencils, and so far, the Yoro and the triangular pencil grips seem to be helping.

DS 1 has been doing a few minutes practice a day, and has not freaked out once!

I shall talk to his teacher when we get back to school, and try and make sure he uses them there