09 years Ayan (child with Autism and SPD) hates studies, specially when it comes to writing. He would hardly write for a minute or so and then retaliate either by shouting/crying out loud or runaway.
Its been an year he is into Occupational Therapy treatment for daily basis. He is still slow in writing as compared to the other children of his age. But he is able to write within the line with same sizes of alphabets, with clear strokes of alphabetes.
Some typical questions Ayans mom faced in these years are ...
Why doesn't he like writing ?
Why does he hold pencil in odd ways?
What might be the reason he never like to hold pencil or chalk?
Why does he hates writing so much?
Why doesn't he enjoys drawing and coloring? children of his age love drawing and coloring...
Why is he so lazy about writing?
His hands seems ok and fine then why he doesn't like writing?
and many more...
Though Handwriting seems to be a simple activity; it requires smooth coordination of multiple functions which can be listed as:
Gross motor development
Motor planning and execution
Initial core control
Bilateral coordination
Eye hand coordination
Crossing midline
Imitation of movements
Ability to learn novel motor movements
Fine motor development
Separation of the two sides of the hands
Thumb isolation and use as a stability point
Thumb dexterity and strength
Finger isolation
Development of dominant hand and assisting hand
Manipulation of objects and dexterity of the hand with objects
Grasp strength
Oculomotor control
Visual attention
Figure ground perception
Form constancy
Visual discrimination
Spatial relationship
Visual motor integration
Direction following
Attention and focus
Directional concepts
Memory
Sequencing
Awareness of left right concepts in books and texts
Tactile sensory awareness
Discrimination of sensation
Visual motor skills development
Pretty exhaustive... huh! Let this list be therapist's headache to go through...
As a non-medical person how can we identify if its a genuine problem or just laziness???
Here are some typical signs of handwriting problems in early school-age children
Swapping hands while drawing or handwriting during the first year of school – most children prefer using one hand for drawing before they reach school, but some children have started school when this happens.
Writing slowly or struggling to draw letters correctly – your child might need some help developing motor skills to make smooth, careful movements.
Gripping a pencil differently from the way they were taught or gripping the pencil weakly – this can slow down your child’s handwriting and make it hard for them to complete work in a reasonable time.
Lacking interest in or avoiding drawing and handwriting – this might happen if your child isn’t confident about drawing or their writing isn’t as advanced as their classmates’ writing.
Writing in an untidy way – this might look like reversed letters, letters not correctly closed, inconsistent letter size, letters that don’t sit on the line and inconsistent spacing between letters and words.
Not following the teacher’s instructions while learning to write – this might be because your child has trouble concentrating, paying attention or understanding instructions.
If you notice these signs, it’s possible that your child can’t clearly see the board, their own writing or the print in books. Or your child might have additional learning needs that affect handwriting development.
Stay tuned to read more about it...
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