Not wanting to draw or write....

[Barmymummy]

DS (4.2) has ASD traits.

I am really struggling to encourage him to do any drawing or writing!! He really just doesn't seem at all motivated to even want to try it. Through trial and error I have discovered that he can write his name just about but very wobbly and taking up a whole page of A4!! He can hold the pen quite well so thats not a problem. He can't/won't draw anything except for a tall tower (a tall spiky looking picture). He also won't do any colouring-in. He loves using scissors however and is happy to chop up to his hearts content. It just seems that all my mates kids will sit and colour, write their name and draw.

I know a lot of boys lack the desire to write/draw but is this more an ASD thing or a very active physical boy who prefers to be outside or am I getting my knickers in a bit of a twist over nothing?!

Just wondered what your experiences are like with your dc's writing/drawing and is this likely to cause problems when he starts school in Jan? Thanks

Ds is only just coming out of this now, at nearly 11. He has never enjoyed drawing, rarely done colouring in and on those odd occasions when he did it was really untidy and you could tell he hated it. I first drew attention to his handwriting problems in Y2 but it's been consistently ignored all the way through two primary schools, despite teachers acknowledging that it was often too illegible to read.

We deregistered to HE in October because his AS needs weren't being met, and with the consistency he now has he's enjoying drawing and painting for the first time. The handwriting is more of a problem - it's legible but only if you really concentrate and he can't write for long - we let him work at the computer most of the time as he finds that more productive.

Sorry, can't offer anything to reassure you, this is just our experience. I just hope you get a sympathetic teacher when he starts school who will take your concerns seriously.

My daughter who has GDD was very reluctant to write and draw and I found 'hand writing without tears' was a big encouragement to her. It is a set of wooden pieces that you can make into letters and pictures and then copy onto a little chalk board.

I know this seems silly but-

how is he at rpe school or wherever he attends?

DS3 is 6 with ASD and writes well at school, do you think I can get him to write anything at home? Not a chance! It'slinked to his perception of everything in its place.... the palce for writing is at school.

Drawing just never happened, or nto yet anyway.

With a decent education (ie since he transferred to hsi SNU) he's done well despite, and so it's not something I worry about too much now, as long as it is OK at school.

DS1 otoh has AS and is happy to draw and write at home,mainly diaries and lists. I am hovering over de reg him for HE as I don't think school is helping him attain his potential.

Ds ( nearly 10) is similar he loves repetitive chopping with scissors ( actually he could spend ages producing confetti ) and sticking. He is just learning to colour in now and draw . I think there were several reasons - ( he has poor fine motor control and hurts his hands holding a crayon too hard but that is ds) but I think he could not imagine how it should look. I think he also has trouble interpreting and recognising simple line drawings - the images to colour and recognising them as unfinished. At7 the OT got him colouring in by giving him templates - a finished picture to copy. ( you can get colouring books with a finished picture opposite each page but there are usually more expensive). Once he could see what it was supposed to look like he ( slowly) got it. He needed a lot of guidance. I think it was the leap in understanding an image represents a real object that was difficult. From there he started to draw his own ( very early art) pictures.
As for school - it may be wise to prime the teacher.

Thanks for all your replies

He is pretty much the same at play school tbh. He comes home with lots of paintings (paint daubed in a random fashion) and on the very odd occasion he comes out with a drawing it is again a very fast random scrawl. He does like sticking but again its totally random and tends to just stick stuff in the same place or on top of each other.

He just lacks the imagination to even know where to start I think...when he has watched mister maker or get squiggling he will try to copy what they do as though thats the only thing there is to do. Know what I mean??

He is fortunate that he has a very 'arty' school teacher coming up in January so hopefully she can get him going on something.

As for the handwriting its hard to tell whether its messy due to very little practice or fine motor control probs.

Thanks for all your replies though

I wouldn't worry about the imagination yet tbh- in order to utilise that he needs the fundamental skills of control etc. And confidence; that matters!

Encourage the copying thing to improve both; Mr Maker sells cheap art sets in Asda, poundland have some often and there arewebsites like this for ideas. Work with what he can do for the best chances of the rest developing I think.

Thanks Lily, you are right about confidence, he is always saying he can't do it which is so frustrating because he won't even try!!

Will get cracking

He is VERY young to be worried about writing. Many countries don't even start children with formal 'mark making' until much later. Our system seems to be obsessed with early writing and reading in this country!

He is doing well if he can actually write his name - no matter how big and shaky.

Things can change so quickly at this age. Within two months he could be much keener to sit and colour. But even if he isn't by Christmas and he starts school, he will probably switch on to it when he sees others doing it.

I don't want to sound dismissive as I know how it is to worry about these things, but I'm sure he will be absolutely fine.

Just keep on providing him with the opportunities but don't push.

they do it when ready. ds2 didn't pick up a pencil or pen until he was gone 9. His writing at 14 is still appalling (he has dyspraxia) but his typing skills are fine.

hi my ds 5 really dislikes drawing,colouring and writing he keeps saying "its boring" he got that saying off peppa pig and its used frequently when hes asked to do something he doesnt like.

Most of the boy's in dd1's class at school (4-5 year olds) don't like writting, colouring etc. I wouldn't be worried too much at this age, i think its more a boy thing rather than an ASD thing. Dd1(as) was writing her name at 2.5 yet her sister (3.5 ASD) shows no interest at all other than scribble.

I wouldn't worry about colouring- it actually hampers kids' drawing abilities IMO. I agree with previous posters about not worrying about it too much; and it is very daunting to be given a blank piece of paper and told to draw, especially when ASD is involved (lack of imagination etc).

You could try structuring drawing/art activities; I think the most important thing is not to turn him off art activities, so if he likes cutting and sticking, use this and have fun making collages etc.

On activity I used with children with ASD is to chop a photo in half (eg a face, or an animal) and get them to draw the other half/missing bit. This develops their pen control/fine motor, and also their imaginative skills if you can push them a bit further to 'imagine' what the animal's tail/person's eye might look like etc.

I really wouldn't force him to do anything he doesn't want to though- just engaging in an activity and having fun is really important, and you don't want to reinforce any feeling he may have that writing and drawing is a chore and to be avoided at all costs

my ds also loves making things thanks to mr maker, online is fab for watching small clips.

ds just started P1, he is 5, really not keen to write and draw, but at least he will try, last year he wouldn't hold a pencil, he said "you do it" if we asked.

etch a sketch etc might be worth trying?

brokenspacebar, my ds says that, there is hope yet, his nearly 4.

Got some big handle grips to go on pencils, but no interest yet.

at his final portage session, she brought some scissors from elc which had a spring back action to reopen the scissors after cutting, that went down well in the session so will be getting those's and trying.

DS1 is 8, probably dyspraxic with mild AS traits. He was exactly the same at your son's age and still hates writing. He will now draw fantasy figures - very quick and scrawly, one after the other - but rarely colours them in. He did enjoy a 'How To Draw Pokemon' book that he got for Christmas - when your son is older it might be a good idea to encourage him to draw things he is interested in (and the ability to draw Pokemon is quite a social asset in DS's class too!) His pencil control is developing, but slowly - he can now colour in fairly neatly, though he doesn't ever choose to do it!

He LOVES making things, however, and we encourage this when ever we can, though he needs a lot of help with sellotape, cutting etc.

My ds is 3.9, mild asd, he will not write or draw or do painting or colouring in, when i coach him to try he does it for 2 or 3 mins then gets fed up and walk off, but i don't think it is much to do with his asd at the moment but more to do with his young age.

My ds1 who is 16 y, and nt , didn't really enjoy writing or drawing at that age neither.

Give your ds a bit longer and he might just get that arty click soon or later

Thank you all so much for your really fab replies

Seems Mr Maker is quite popular then! My daughter was a very late starter in the Art dept and loves it now but the point was that she had the interest in wanting to write etc whereas he doesn't.

Will definately copy some projects Mr Maker does - he seems to want to do that which is great, thanks again everyone

I was speaking to dd's teacher today, mentioned her rather messy writing (dd is 8), and always been more keen, than ds has been, to draw/write. Teacher said that some children don't get the hang of writing until they are 9, and then it all clicks, not sure what her reasoning is, but she was very relaxed about it ( and she has a dd with sn) - she was very reassuring.

Barmy Mr Maker " minute makes" (take way more than a minute by us ordinary mortals) are a good starting point. It might be worth watching a couple, and having the things to hand before your ds sees them - very annoying when he says he is nipping out to his craft shop for googly eyes and you don't have any, ditto with air drying clay!

Our first one was a bug in a box - tea bag box with a lid, finger from rubber glove, some tissue paper, it might still be online, ds loved that - took it to show his nursery teachers.