Is poor writing a common problem amongst as kids?

[othermother]

Just been to parents' evening at school for my ds (5) (verbal dx of aspergers/HFA) and she said he is unbelievably bright, his general knowledge is amazing, his knowledge of history and geography, his numeracy etc, but he cannot record things as his handwriting is so poor.
I just wondered if lack of handwriting skills is a common feature of as.

She also said that he has only one friend at school, but he is stressed by this kid constantly being around him, so much so that she has separated them now. She said there aren't any other kids that try to play with him

I'm going in tomorrow morning to speak further with her (she's also the school senco) as she really wants to help him. Also she wants to talk with me about his upcoming classroom observation by the paed.

My ds (11) has dx of aspergers. He had quite a lot of extra help at primary school with hand-writing, including a bout of Occupational Therapy and the use of a little keyboard called an Alpha smart in years 4/5/6. I think that gross and fine motor skills problems are fairly common with ASD.

Thanks for your reply mumsyof1. I did suggest a keyboard to his teacher as he's pretty nifty on the computer, and she said he could possibly do more work on the computer at school. I just wasn't sure if this was as related or not.

Cheers

Difficulty with handwriting is incredibly common in children with AS, and the teacher/Senco needs to know that. You could ask your paed to do an OT referral (though we are still waiting god knows how long afterwards for an appt to come through). A book called 200 tips for parenting a child with AS by Brenda Boyd has some what looks like helpful advice on helping with handwriting.

Hi

Yes, it is common. My DS is still waiting final assessment but has been referred to OT as he has hypotonia/hyperomobility which make writing hard. He does ok with it but this masks how hard he finds it. I don't think teachers (even SENCOs) always appreciate this so a referral to the OT might help - that's what I'm hoping anyway!

Thanks everyone - this is all very helpful for tomorrow's meeting.

dd asd aged 5.4 cannot even hold a crayon, she can just about manage a scribble and does not even know what a letter is never mind write one.

Dd1 5.6 (AS) has good hand writing (apart from a few letters back to front) but she has been writing since she was 2, she also draws very detailed pictures so her pencil control is good. Sometimes her writing is a bit scruffy as she finds it hard to concentrate on what she is writing, she has just started writing joined up (as they are doing it at school) which i think will confuse her.

My sister who has AS (she is 53!) always had poor-ish handwriting. I think it is connected to poor co-ordination and motor planning. She is very intelligent but can't spell either. She was also quite musical (able to sight read etc) but can't sing a note in tune.