Practical Suggestions to Help With Dyspraxic DS's Handwriting Please!

[OtterInaSkoda]

Can anyone help with some practical suggestions to help DS (Y4) with his writing? His teachers and I think he is dyspraxic, but we?re awaiting a formal diagnosis. He?s getting extra support at school and I have no complaints in that regard.

What I could really do with though are some practical ideas to help him with his homework. He is allowed to use the computer but at the mo that isn?t ideal as he can?t type. He can dictate to me, kind of, but that ends up being so stilted. I bought a typing tutor a while back but he hated it.

So, any tried and tested practical tools to help? Pens? Writing slopes? Ways to help his train of thought flow a little more easily?

[LissyGlitter]

oh, and I am dyspraxic and find it really useful to plan stuff out (in whatever is the PC term for what used to be called a brainstorm) before setting off on a piece of work. Especially in juniors I used to get myself so tied up in knots without a good plan!

[OtterInaSkoda]

lissy thank you for asking your dp ? models are right up ds?s street. I just need reminding sometimes of the things he actually does like that don?t seem like work, iykwim. I?d not thought about finding a club, though. I?ll pop into the model shop next time I?m in town and see if they know of any. I?m glad you mentioned planning. I?ve tried this before, in just the same way as I would if I was trying to write an essay, so it sounds as if I?m not doing that bad a job afterall . The thing that always bothers me isn?t how untidy ds?s writing is but how slow and stilted it is. I want him to be able to get his ideas out and onto paper and writing is such a barrier to that right now.

[carocaro]

What a very intersting thread, DS1 aged 7 is I think dyspraxic, we have seen a consultant who has referred him for som OT but the wait list if 16 weeks. He also has mild dyslexia, many things ring true from all the posts, for example, recently he learnt to ride a bike, he found his balance and centre of gravity and his reading ability was boosted as a result!

I will look into the squeezy ball thing too.

As for the Nuro place in Chester pie mentions, there are no costs on the site, can you tell me how much for the consultation?

Also is 7 a good age to learn to touch type?

Would a large, coloured keyboard help?

Thanks

[trickerg]

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/

That's the FREE touch typing program (dance mat typing) that I mentioned before on the BBC site. It's fab and we use it with Y2s.

Have a look - it's really fun!

[mumeeee]

DD3 now 17 used a writng slope she had a proper one for a little while, But then used a file which sloped and eemd to be just as good. she also used a yoro pen which can be bought from smiths. Her writng was much better with this. Her primary school used to try and get her to hold her pens and pencils properly. But she found this very dificult so they just let her cary on with her unusual grip and she was able to relax and just get on with writng.

[basildonbond]

Sorry I've not had time to read the whole thread but tbh the only thing which had helped dyspraxic ds2 is learning how to type. Once he got the hang of typing the amount of work he was able to produce increased exponentially

He's now in Y10 and his handwriting still looks like an inebriated spider has fallen into an ink pot (and it's still v slow and painful for him to write more than a few words at a time) but he can type at phenomenal speeds (>120 wpm).

The bbc dance mat programme is an ok start but to keep it going you need something a bit more in-depth - we used Mavis Beacon which was fine and he practised loads. Typing can transform your ds's work so it's really worth persevering

[mrz]

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