My nearly 8 year old can barely write

[ClareVH]

My DD is nearly 8 years old. When she was at nursery, she showed great promise. She could write her name, count, read a few words, we were very happy with her progress. She stood out as being bright, a quick learner and we had no concerns whatsoever.

However, since moving to primary school, she has really struggled. She has friends and is very popular, but academically she has hardly made any progress in the 3 years she's been there.

It's a well-resourced private school with small class sizes and lots of extra help. She was getting 4 hours a week private tuition that the school provided for free to help her. She did make some progress, but not much. She is at least 2 years behind her peers.

The problems are that she cannot hold a pen properly. And her handwriting is atrocious. Most of her letters and numbers are backwards. It is very difficult to read what she has written. Her Maths is OK, but again probably 2 years behind her peers.

The school advised that we take her for an assessment, which we did, but it was inconclusive. I have mentioned Dyslexia a few times, but neither the school nor the educational psychologist agree. They did, however, suggest she has some OT for her pencil grip, but the quote I got was $2k, which we don't have as my business has just closed down and my husband's hours and therefore salary has just been cut.

Any ideas what could be wrong? I would really appreciate any help. Thanks.

You said $2K are you in the US?

Sounds like dyspraxia. My 8yo has it.

Bad writing - improved in last 12 months
Falls over constantly
Clumsy
Struggles with sports or anything needing coordination
Lack of common sense
Can only follow one instruction at a time
Lives in a bit of a dreamworld
Some sensory issues

You can do OT stuff at home to improve motor skills. My main concern from school side is the concentration and focus on her case.

Toomanycats99, she has all of those things except the sensory issues.

Sounds like it may possibly be that then although obviously I am not a medical
Professional! You can buy theraputty for strengthening hands although it comes in specific colours (so you may need advice) according to resistance I think it is . My daughter has yellow.

School went back to reception / y1 handwriting basics with her in y3 and that seemed to really work.

I try and just give one instruction at a time and word it very clearly otherwise we get nowhere.

@Tinty my daughter is also the expert at falling over a flat pavement.

When she was younger she also had the ability to fall over whilst sitting on a chair or even the floor!

Our 10 yr old son has ADHD and has never developed the ability to write neatly - also very clumsy, also letters and numbers back to front. He's now touch typing (allowed to use laptop in class) and much happier.

My dd used these books to help her with her writing at the same age. She became very aware that her writing and drawing was in no way comparable to that of her classmates. I was somewhat skeptic but it really worked for her.

www.everydaykids.com.au/products/colour-dotted-thirds-exercise-book-24mm

I recognise a lot of what you say in my own dd. I would have described her as ahead when she started school and in the first year but as soon as writing was important and necessary she floundered. Like you I went through every pencil grip invented! She couldn’t focus on what she needed to learn in a lesson because all of her attention went on writing the date or whatever so the learning time was getting lost every lesson and she fell further and further behind.

Also try Typing club online free learn to type

Good for her fingers and they have to concentrate to get it right

@Toomanycats99

Yes it has to be seen to be believed .

OP like PP have said she definitely sounds dyslexic/dyspraxic from the descriptions you have given us.

Primary age is very difficult for them because everything is about writing my DS definitely improved with everything when he could do most of his work on a laptop. He still can’t spell and his handwriting is atrocious but as PP have said as an adult you almost never need to write anything.

Can your DD read or does she struggle with that too, my DS struggled with reading but I read to him all the time until he was about 14 and he still reads every night for pleasure at 23, it just takes him a really long time to read a book.

What's the point of making children write a schedule that is already displayed online? Talk about pointless busy work.

Anyway. She has poor hand strength looking at her lettering, she needs a better grip and to exert more pressure. I would start by buying or making a little wrist weight, just a little fabric tube with dried beans in, sewed and put around her wrist to increase the weight there when writing, or a weighted pencil would help. Buy a selection of pencil grips or chunky pencils and have her try them and select the one she "likes" best.

Make sure her work is purposeful. If it's draining and effortful to write, it needs to have a clear purpose. It would be a reasonable adjustment to not make her write task lists down, just follow them. Otherwise she'll spend the whole time on the pointless aspect of the task and never get to the bit where she's actually learning anything. This is a nice safe strategy for kids who are starting to internalise the message that they are rubbish at work. They spend ages writing the date and title and never have to expose that they can't do the work. Her embellishments of her work suggest she's doing this.

Give her the chance to dictate her answers or use a keyboard sometimes. She needs lots of writing practise but where the writing forms a direct barrier to her being able to express what she has understood, this is counter productive.

I would be inclined to get an Opthalmology opinion regarding her visual perception (NOT her visual acuity). You are getting a lot of orientation problems there, I'd bet there's a visual perception issue as well as poor finger dexterity and wrist strength.

she really is the most clumsy person I have ever met

Sounds like dyspraxia - my DD has it and your description sounds exactly like her. She needs an OT assessment for that.

I would also try a sloped board, e sure paper is angled away from her at 45 degrees when she writes, and ensure her wrist is DOWN when she writes and that she has the fingers of her other hand holding the paper still as she writes. There's no postural stability in that writing sample.

Dyspraxia and dyslexia are sometimes both present. If the problem is her hand, that would not affect her reading.

Ah, Toomanycats is probably right. I don't know much about dyspraxia.

Fine Motor Skills
Things to remember:
Upright working surfaces promote fine motor skills. Examples of these are: vertical
chalkboards; easels for painting; flannel boards; lite bright; magnet boards (or
fridge); windows and mirrors; white boards, etc. Children can also make sticker
pictures; do rubber ink-stamping; use reuseable stickers to make pictures; complete
puzzles with thick knobs; use magna-doodle and etch-a-sketch as well. The benefits
for these include: having the child's wrist positioned to develop good thumb
movements; they help develop good fine motor muscles; the child is using the arm
and shoulder muscles.
Fine Motor Activities
Moulding and rolling play dough into balls - using the palms of the
hands facing each other and with fingers curled slightly towards the palm.
Rolling play dough into tiny balls (peas) using only the finger tips.
Using pegs or toothpicks to make designs in play dough.
Cutting play dough with a plastic knife or with a pizza wheel by holding
the implement in a diagonal volar grasp.
Tearing newspaper into strips and then crumpling them into balls. Use
to stuff scarecrow or other art creation.
Scrunching up 1 sheet of newspaper in one hand. This is a super
strength builder.
Using a plant sprayer to spray plants, (indoors, outdoors) to spray snow
(mix food colouring with water so that the snow can be painted), or melt
"monsters". (Draw monster pictures with markers and the colours will run
when sprayed.)
Primary
Picking up objects using large tweezers such as those found in the
"Bedbugs" game. This can be adapted by picking up Cheerios, small cubes,
small marshmallows, pennies, etc., in counting games.
Shaking dice by cupping the hands together, forming an empty air space
between the palms.
Using small-sized screwdrivers like those found in an erector set.
Lacing and sewing activities such as stringing beads, Cheerios,
macaroni, etc.
Using eye droppers to "pick up" coloured water for colour mixing or
to make artistic designs on paper.
Rolling small balls out of tissue paper, then gluing the balls onto
construction paper to form pictures or designs.
Turning over cards, coins, checkers, or buttons, without bringing them to
the edge of the table.
Making pictures using stickers or self-sticking paper reinforcements.
Playing games with the "puppet fingers" -the thumb, index, and middle
fingers. At circle time have each child's puppet fingers tell about what
happened over the weekend, or use them in songs and finger plays.
Place a variety of forms (eg. blocks, felt, paper, string, yarn, cereal,
cotton) on outlines
Match shapes, colour, or pictures to a page and paste them within the
outlines
Primary
Self-Care Skills
Buttoning
Lacing
Tying
Fastening Snaps
Zipping
Carrying
Using a screwdriver
Locking and unlocking a door
Winding a clock
Opening and closing jars
Rolling out dough or other simple cooking activities
Washing plastic dishes
Primary
Sweeping the floor
Dressing
Scissor Activities
When scissors are held correctly, and when they fit a child's hand well, cutting
activities will exercise the very same muscles which are needed to manipulate a pencil
in a mature tripod grasp. The correct scissor position is with the thumb and middle
finger in the handles of the scissors, the index finger on the outside of the handle to
stabilize, with fingers four and five curled into the palm.
Cutting junk mail, particularly the kind of paper used in magazine
subscription cards.
Making fringe on the edge of a piece of construction paper.
Cutting play dough or clay with scissors.
Cutting straws or shredded paper.
Cutting
Use a thick black line to guide cutting the following:
A fringe from a piece of paper
Cut off corners of a piece of paper
Cut along curved lines
Cut lines with a variety of angles
Cut figures with curves and angles
Sensory Activities
The following activities ought to be done frequently to increase postural muscle
strength and endurance. These activities also strengthen the child's awareness of
his/her hands.
Wheelbarrow walking, crab walking
Clapping games (loud/quiet, on knees together, etc.)
Catching (clapping) bubbles between hands
Pulling off pieces of thera-putty with individual fingers and thumb
Drawing in a tactile medium such as wet sand, salt, rice, or "goop".
Make "goop" by adding water to cornstarch until you have a mixture similar
in consistency to toothpaste. The "drag" of this mixture provides feedback to
the muscle and joint receptors, thus facilitating visual motor control.
Picking out small objects like pegs, beads, coins, etc., from a tray of salt,
sand, rice, or putty. Try it with eyes closed too. This helps develop sensory
awareness in the hands.
Midline Crossing
Establishment of hand dominance is still developing at this point. The following
activities will facilitate midline crossing:
Encourage reaching across the body for materials with each hand. It
may be necessary to engage the other hand in an activity to prevent
switching hands at midline.
Refrain specifically from discouraging a child from using the left hand
for any activity. Allow for the natural development of hand dominance by
presenting activities at midline, and allowing the child to choose freely.
Start making the child aware of the left and right sides of his body
through spontaneous comments like, "kick the ball with your right leg." Play
imitation posture games like "Simon Says" with across the body movements.
When painting at easel, encourage the child to paint a continuous line
across the entire paper- also from diagonal to diagonal.

Please make sure you always let her know that she is experiencing a processing issue and that you completely recognise how smart she is - the issue is a barrier but it doesn’t mean she isn’t clever. Draw out her strengths and find ways to make them work for her.

There are lots of role models who have succeeded with processing difficulties such as dyslexia - perhaps look at some with her? It breaks my heart to see how many wonderful, clever people believed themselves to be stupid because of their experiences as children.

https://www.tamesidehospital.nhs.uk/Documents/ISCAN%20leaflets/OT%20Leaflet%20Explanation%20to%20handwriting%20difficulties.pdf

http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sitesplus/documents/861/Advice%20for%20first%20school.pdf

My son has pretty severe learning difficulties, he is 9 in June and his writing looks like that .. how is her understanding etc? I would say there is an issue she needs help with .

As well as all the other advice re dyslexia/dyspraxia when was her last eye test?

I'm dyslexic but I also have astigmatism so the letters look different. For me, without my glasses, a capital letter 'i' looks like an hour glass.

You might also consider Irlen syndrome.

Write from the Start has some great starter activities for perception/fine motor

www.waterstones.com/book/write-from-the-start/ion-teodorescu/lois-addy/9781855032453

Also agree that Nessy Learning is a good programme that you could use from home. Long term I would suggest looking at other schools,

Can she follow a set of instructions op? What’s her memory like? If you read her a story can she tell it back to you?

My 7 year old DS is the same. He's sharp as a tack and can TELL you everything and has a fantastic imagination but ask him write it down and he clams up. His handwriting is poor (but improving) spelling is poor and he also reverses letters (especially b/d/p/q) I think hes dyslexic but apparently too young to test.

We are using the extra time at home to really work on the things he struggles with.

What’s her memory like? If you read her a story can she tell it back to you?

She has great recall. If you ask her what she did at school today, she will tell you. She can recall an entire science lesson, for example,

In my family we have a wide variety of conditions dyspraxia or DAMP ( deficits in attention and motor perception) are the two that spring to mind.
If it is DAMP the advice is not to persist with writing, but to move to typing for everything.