My son has terrible handwriting. He is in the 6th grade and writes very large. He also writes very very slowly. I too had trouble gettting help from the school because his grades are good and he tests above grade level on standardized tests. The school OT looked at him briefly and said he was slow, but within the normal limits. We live in Minnesota, and in Minnesota, the schools are not required to provide Occupational Therapy as a stand alone service= in other words, you can only get OT if you are getting other special services. His 504 is "accomodations", not special services.
I found out that you can get Occupational Therapy through your medical insurance. Ask your doctor for an OT referral/evaluation. My son's evaluation (much more extensive this time) showed he had the fine motor skills of a 6 year old! He now goes to OT twice a week- it is covered by insurance and I have a ten dollar copay each time.
At the beginning, everyone just said to me- oh, he has add, he can't concentrate. Writing takes a lot of concentration. I think for a lot of add kids that is true, but it is good to get an ot evaluation to rule out fine motor problems contributing to the situation.
DebEMT
They make a type of graph paper for students to use for math. I found it at Office Depot, I will look for it again on my next trip. I will post the information for everyone to see. We used graph paper to try and help him keep his numbers lined up. I think it helped him organized his math work. I give him lots of paper to do his math on. Our next step is work on making smaller and neater numbers for those tests and worksheets that provide so little room.
Since you created this graph paper for your son, start readjusting the size. Try adjusting the size every two weeks. That might be the right amount of time for him to readjust.
My son's handwriting was terrible and writing was pure torture for him. My theory was that his hand could not keep up with his brain. We have spent a lot of time working on it and it has improved but I still sense it is torture to do. the handwriting get bigger when he is tired or in a hurry.
We decided to try another approach and taught him to type. He had a asignment to watch a Forrest Gump and write a response. He typed 1.5 pages and provided a big insight in to how my son feel about drugs. This is from the kid that said he couldn't write.
The typing has been so successful that he has started writng a book. He has about 7-8 pages, but I think it is great he is even trying to do it.
My son is 9 - will be 10 in 3 weeks, and in the 4th grade. He is reading on an 8th grade level -- but his handwriting is HORRIBLE. We've been fighting with the school, trying to get him some help - since Kindergarten - but his grades were fine, so they wouldn't do anything.
As he gets older, his writing seems to get worse, rather than better -- and he is now flunking math - because the teacher can not read his writing. So the school is FINALLY going to do something to help. He's allowed to use his Quick Pad (like an AlphaSmart) for anything that involves writing -- but it won't work for math. Right now - until they figure something else out -- we have him using like a large graph paper -- squares on the paper -- and he writes one digit in each square. And the entire paper is divided into 4 by heavier lines (I created it on the computer) - and he uses one BIG square - for each problem (otherwise, he crowds them, which makes it even worse). It's a little better - but still very hard to read.
When I've asked him about it he says "My hand can't keep up with my brain - and my brain won't work as slow as my hand." So, I guess, for him anyway, it IS the ADHD.
Just my 2 cents worth, here.
Deb
There has been some research done that cutting with scissor helps with handwritting. And it's fun too...the child has to slow down and steady the hand to make nice cuts.
reruho,
Billy has permission to use a QuickPad to type his work in class - but the other students won't leave him alone about it - so he doesn't use it. I wish he would!! The teacher did finally get him to print on his last spelling test - and he actually got an A on it!!! But, as she said, it's hard because there are students she's always telling they HAVE to use cursive - but they keep printing -- and then to turn around and tell Billy he HAS to print - rather than cursive....
As far as the math paper, he's having enough trouble staying inside these squares. I don't see how I can possibly make them any smaller.
He has a LOT of trouble following the lines - whether writing numbers or letters. I'm not sure what else to do.
DebEMT
could he take his tests in the resource room so he can print and not get teased or put the teacher in that situation? I firmly believe spelling test need to graded on spelling not on the writing piece. We also struggled with this in elementary years. I didnt budge on that one. Spelling is for spelling.....period.....if you're grading handwriting, fine, but if you're grading their ability to spell, who cares if they do it orally (we've done that too) or use a magnet, just spell. It's way inportant our kids get the basics (like spelling) than have neat handwriting. We type everything as adults.The messy handwriting certainly seems to be trait for ADHD amoung other things. My DD has okay writing at school on meds, but it goes downhill in evenings and at end of school day. We wished we had known it was such a strong indicator of ADHD a couple years ago when we first started addressing her "issues". I've pointed out to school that perhaps handwriting quality shouln't carry as much weigth as other things. My daughter has awful handwriting. 10 years old and she still forgets to capitalize, punctuate, writes letters backwards and spells phonetically. I definitely feel it is due to her ADD. She doesn't focus on much so why would handwriting be any different?My son has sloppy handwritting. He tells me that in order to write neat, he has to write slow which will make him behind on school tasks. He's anal too in how he writes his letter. His a's has to look like a's. His t's need to be crossed properly. His r's cant look like n's. He will also erase the letters until the paper has a hole on it. I used to be his "eraser helper". He didnt erase throughly so I would do it for him. He has gotten a little speed now with some neatness. He used to sometimes write certain letters backwords, like the s or make his b a d. The teacher said that it was normal for all kids to do that because they are still learning. Your son is only 6. Give it some time....just tell him to take his time when writting. My son only just recently improved. Good luck!17 year old -really large messy printing. Doesn't like to write, prefers printing. He saw an OT when he was in grade 5- he was able to write and write neatly, but in the rush to get things down it becomes big and messy. I gave up after the OT, and realized that was the way it was going to be. Math teachers usually give him extra work space. He refused to get a lap top in gr. 8 so he could type but he's doing okay despite this.My child's handwriting improved enormously when we got the meds right, and I can't have him do homework after the meds wear off at night b/c his handwriting gets really bad again. So, yes, handwriting can be ADHD-related. Of course, poor handwriting also can be due to OT issues or other things.thanks ladies, this is pretty mutch what i suspected, i also have to make her re-do letters, cause you have no clue what it is, ether she is rushing, or just does not understand why it is so important to be able to read what they wrote. Plus i'm sure they teacher does not have time to make sure it is well written.both my kids have TERRIBLE handwriting. My oldest ADHD had OT for years and years, now she is 13 and does a lot of her work typing, when focus is good at this point, handwriting is great, otherwise.....terrible.
My younger daughter is 6 in Kindergarten (no diagnosis), also gets OT (because I learned from oldest and pushed HARD for it in pre K) and is improving by leaps and bounds. IMO ADHD DOES impact it a lot, lack of focus, poor handwriting....and as jacks8897 says, everyhitng is done in high gear, rush, rush, rush!
The work that Taylor does in school (while she's medicated) the handwriting is pretty good, however once the stim wears off her hand writing goes to the dogs. In my opinion at least for my DD I would say that yes the ADHD does affect it. She too is 6, half the time i'm making her erase the stuff she's written down for homework and re-do it, which she usually gets upset with me for, but at time the handwriting is so bad I know the homework is going to be marked wrong because the teacher can't tell if its a "A" or an "U".is this common with adhd kids? my 6 year old hand writting is so messy, big letters, small letters, can't follow the lines, sometimes backwards, but she is a very good reader though!My son is exactly opposite, he obsesses over making his letters perfect. He will actually erase a hole into the paper rewriting it to make them perfect, now on the other hand, he's still struggling with reading.
So I don't know that I would say that it is common. My oldest son is add and his handwriting is HORRIBLE. But hes left handed, so I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not.
Sorry I know I'm not much help.
haha thanks brtsqd3, maybe it's just the child, some struggle with one or the other or both, we just have to keep working on it i guess!lol. your welcome. i could be completely wrong. but thats just how my kids are :) so who knows. hopefully others will chime in and give a better idea. :)
My sons handwriting/printing were pretty bad in Kindergarten thru 2nd grade. He has OT once a week and that has helped tremendously. He did the big letters/small letters and still sometimes will write either very LARGE or very small. But he has make great strides. He use to use a grip on his pencil as alot of ADHD kids dont hold the pencil correctly. He is also learning to type which is a god send. He is now in 4th grade and as they progress in school, most teachers expect more typing . He actually has technology as a special.
When he wants to , though and takes his time, Ryans writing can be awesome. I think alot of it is ...they rush rush rush!
My 6yo son has terrible handwriting normally. They have progressively improved throughout the first grade but it is still light years away fromm where it should be but reads on a 3rd grade level. I just keep on working with him on it. On meds it is really much neater but off meds or when he gets tired his handwriting regresses a lot. Keep ur chin up u r def not alone ;)