About Trudy Lynne Hopkins Expertise My expertise lies in the area of ADD, ADHD, and learning disabilties or processing disorders such as Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, Dyscalculia,
Auditory Processing Disorder, etc. I am also experienced with behavioral and personality disorders such as Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Bipolar Disorder.
Experience I am presently a Spec Ed Intervention Specialist in an urban middle school. When my children were young I founded and directed a large preschool. For 13 years I directed a learning center and small school for learning disabled students as a LD specialist/consultant.
I am certified as an academic language therapist for the Alphabetic Phonics dyslexia therapy program, with over 15,000 hours of experience in
one/one and small group training. The therapy program has enabled illiterate students to learn to read at grade level or beyond, many of them have become honor students in their schools and gone on to college. Having raised a dyslexic daughter and personally struggled with some learning disabilities and ADD, I can bring in depth understanding and experience to the subject.
Question My 13 year old son started having trouble with reading in 1st grade. Now in 7th grade his reading has greatly improved but, now his handwriting is a big problem. He is very intelligent but, the handwriting issue is putting a great strain on his school work. His teachers say that they know he would be getting good grades if it were not for his bad handwriting and lack of motivation when asked to write anything. I just read one of your answers where you suggested Alphabet Phonics etc. I would like any further suggestions you may have on motivating and helping my son beat this battle and be the successful student and person I know he can be.
Thank you, Coleen
Answer Hi, Coleen.
As you may already know, Dysgraphia is a processing dysfunction between the brain and the fine motor system.
Handwriting is a very complex writing skill, much more complex for the brain than the process of reading. Poor writing abilities can negatively affect all academic areas. Let me first describe the nature of the disorder, which better allows one to understand what is needed to remediate it.
I have it myself, to a mild degree, as compared to the severity my daughter and many of my students experience.
I can tell you personally how stressful it is to the nervous system. As more writing is done, the tension builds, first in the hand - note the "strangle hold" on the pen/pencil many poor writers exhibit as they ineffectively attempt to manipulate it. Tension continues to build in the forearm - note the pressure exerted as dysgraphic students typically "engrave" the letters into the page. Tension will spread to the shoulders and back. At this point there is a general feeling of restlessness and agitation. Numerous errors are needing correction; repeated erasures interrupt any attempt at fluent thought processes, while delaying progress. Extensive time is needed to complete work. At this point, the body is tense, the emotions are affected, coping skills are diminishing and frustration and
defeat take their toll. This is the result of stress on the nervous system.
The first law for intervention/remediating dysgraphia is:
1) Less equals more. The idea that practice makes perfect, that extensive practice will correct this problem is just
not true. Due to the nature of the dysfunction, REDUCTION OF WRITING is the first rule.
2)Students need systematic, cumulative teaching of writing concepts and skills. Begin with simple, with gradual move to complex. Explicit, direct instruction is needed.
3) Multisensory instruction is vital, a combination of
AVK, auditory verbalization + visual models + kinesthetic or muscle movement.
Begin with incorporating the large, gross muscles such as the upper arm to establish letter formation through the technique called "skywriting." Hang a large markerboard for daily practice of large cursive models. Then graduate to use a writing frame on large-size computer paper to utilize the forearm rather than the wrist. Mastery at this level precedes practice with the wrist on smaller lined paper, and aids the brain in strengthening the fine motor system by first engaging the gross motor system to build retention, stronger processing, and eventual speed.
4) Once fluency of writing is established, which usually requires about 6 months, 4 days per week, about 30 minutes per day - then move to dictated sentences.
5) Diagramming sentences to identify parts of speech will help in formulating complete and complex sentences. Subject/Predicate, nouns, verbs, adjectives, prepositions and prep phrases, adverbs - in that order. Refer to a 3rd-4th grade grammar text, check the video "Grammar Rock," research the internet for lesson plans on teaching Parts of Speech, etc.
6) copying meaningful context quotations and doing reflective writing, keeping a journal, etc.
Finally, after remediating the Dysgraphia to the point of independent ability to complete written tasks and function successfully, THEN move to a laptop for future reduction of written work. Students will not always be able to use a computer in classes, on the job, etc - writing is still a necessity.
Keyboarding, once a student can type well, often frees the mind for creative writing and improves retention. Research shows that students will write more, for longer periods of time, take greater risks with writing, and manage editing better.
I have used the Alphabetic Phonics Program, which has a handwriting intervention component, with amazing success over the years. It incorporates all of these techniques. You can contact the Academic Language Therapists Association, ALTA, to find a therapist nearest you. Best wishes! -teachertrudy
