Mel Levine's Myth of Laziness and A Mind at a Time are both great books. He discuss this exact problem in his books. Before reading them, I never could understand why my daughter could spell really well in the context of a spelling test but couldn't when writing. It is really fascinating how much work goes into what appears to be the simple task of writing.
Handwriting is a huge issue for my daughter. I have her type as much as possible. She also dictates to me as well.
I wouldn't worry about it. My ADHD 16 year old had struggles in grade school with the same thing. Now, he test in extremely high levels on national, state, local, and classroom tests.
twirly1
[QUOTE=twirly1]I wouldn't worry about it. My ADHD 16 year old had struggles in grade school with the same thing. Now, he test in extremely high levels on national, state, local, and classroom tests.
twirly1
[/QUOTE]
Did you do anything to promote it? Obviously 2nd grade is young, but the teacher is telling me that his verbal answers are very advanced, but his written responses are on grade level.
Thanks for all the great responses so far, and keep the ideas coming! I'm finding everyone's insights so helpful, and I look forward to checking out the materials that were mentioned.I have found that using dragon speak software helped emensely in this department. Worth checking out.The 2nd grade teacher told me that my child is having trouble getting ideas down on paper. She said this is common for ADHD kids. He holds his pencil right, has decent handwriting, is a good speller, does well with dictation -- all these things have led to the conclusion that it's not an issue of writing mechanics or a fine motor issue. It's strictly an issue of translating thoughts from his head to paper. She said that he can give awesome verbal answers, but then his written answers are usually only adequate. She told me about accommodations I can pursue for him, but I'd rather try to help him develop this skill before I resort to accommodations. Does anyone have any suggestions? We're talking about needing to read something and then write about 7-8 sentences to answer a question. Have him speak his words into a voice recorder and then play it back as he writes. Many kids with adhd are auditory learners.
[QUOTE=Aaron'smom]My oldest who is 13 told me years ago that he hates writing because he can't write as fast as his brain is going. [/QUOTE]
This is exactly why it is hard for some ADD kids to write answers. My twin daughters are ADD inattentative - and one in particular finds writing her answers and thoughts down positively torturous. I do encourage her to do it herself, but if she becomes overwhelmed or gets tired I will allow her to dictate answers to me and I will write them down. Her teacher is aware of this struggle and doesn't make a fuss when some of her homework is turned in with my handwriting.
The problems lies with what Aaron'smom mentioned. They cant write as fast as their brains are working. They are so easily distracted and their thoughts change course so quickly that by the time their little hands are writing the second sentence (or even finish the first) their thought is gone and they can't remember what they were going to write. It is VERY frustrating and I have watched it reduce my daughter to tears more than once.
I would recommend that you GET the accomodations (i.e. 504 plan). You don't have to use them, but they will be there if/when your child needs them. They can really help when it comes to testing (WASL, etc) and may really be beneficial to your child. ((hugs)) I feel your pain!
My oldest who is 13 told me years ago that he hates writing because he can't write as fast as his brain is going. I can only suggest that maybe he dictate the answer (for homework) to you and then write it down himself. That way he doesn't have to keep up with his brain. Typing is good alternative to writing because they can type faster than write.This is my son exactly. He is also in 2nd grade. He also has writig that can not be read. We are also working on this. His teacher suggested letting him pick out his own cool journal, spiral notebook and pen or pencil. Then at night have them write about something they like and why... favorite foods, favorite games, favorite place to go and so on. She said this can help alot over time. We have just started doing this in the past week, so I couldn't tell you if it is working or not but it's worth a try.
BTW, my son always scores high on test and never misses a word on his spelling test.