ASSESING DIFFICULTIES OF WRITING IN CHILDREN AND HOW TO HELP THEM ACHIEVE BETTER HANDWRITING

Posted on 21/12/2021

Children are taught at a very young age how to read and write. It is the most basic skill they develop after they learn to sit, crawl and walk. By the age of 3, children are enrolled in nursery or preschool for further development of education in children. The preschool teachers develop the scholastic and co-scholastic areas in a child.
During this age, children generally face a lot of tough challenges in academics. Some of the mild yet restorative difficulties are vision-related difficulties, letter placing difficulties, speed-related difficulties, etc. These forms of disabilities can be treated through thorough practice and training atan early age itself. Different forms of practice books, tracing practice, using timer settings for training speed with good handwriting, eyesight correction through specs, etc are some of the ways to help these simple difficulties.
If the child is not able to develop a good writing skill even after such practices. There is a chance that the child might have cognitive disabilities. Cognitive disabilities are difficulties that are faced by a person due to certain limitations in brain functioning. There are many indicators of such disabilities. Some of the indicators that help in understanding disabilities are:
 Confusion
 Short or long-term memory loss
 Identity confusion
 Impaired judgment
 Unusual holding of objects
 Difficulty in writing and copying
 Frequent spelling mistakes
 Genetic and neurodevelopmental disorders such as Down syndrome, Autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, etc.

These indicators help us to assess the permanent difficulties of a child and help their overall development with special techniques. These students may also face difficulties in writing, this condition can be called asdysgraphia. Dysgraphia is a learning disability that is characterized by writing, it is a neurological disorder that both children and adults may experience. There is no exact cause it may occur as disability itself or may be a symptom of other disabilities, some may experience such disorders due to past traumatic experiences. The symptoms of dysgraphia are:
o Incorrect spelling and capitalization
o Combination of cursive and block letters
o Insufficient character size and spacing
o Difficult to copy words
o Slow or painstaking writing
o Difficult to visualize words before writing
o Abnormal body or hand posture when writing
o Hold the pen or pencil firmly and cause hand cramps
o Look at your hand while you write
o say aloud when writing
o Omit letters and words in sentences

Those who face such difficulties will have a lack of confidence, trouble in concentrating, impulsive behavior, anxiety, etc. Due to these insecurities, they may be lazy, lethargic, and stubborn. They should be taken care of intensively and constantly be a support system for them. To train them and to help their overall development one should work hard in their tactics and use special methods to mould them. Some of disabled students can restore their dysgraphia through various practices but some can’t due to their permanent loss of sensory and motor skills.
Those who can treat their condition can be helped and supported through various methods:
Occupational therapy: It is therapy for people with physical, sensory, or cognitive problems. This therapy helps in breaking several barriers related to a person’s emotional, physical and social needs. Some therapy activities that help dysgraphia are:
o Finding a new way to hold a pencil or pen for smooth and easy writing
o Modeling clay to different shapes and letters
o Creating mazes to trace various lines
o Connecting dot puzzles
o Tracing letters on different surfaces with different objects and people with permanent challenges can be moulded to change their attitudes towards their disabilities in various ways. Certain strategies that help children to overcome their disabilities are:
o A designated note and exam assistant
o Oral exams instead of written ones
o Use of computers and other disability-friendly technologies
o Allotment of extra time in exams
o Print-outs and digital copies of notes and other education materials

Though handwriting is an important life skill not all attain good handwriting. This inability should never be a reason for a child’s morale to go down. Teachers, parents, and all others in the surrounding must help such children to achieve their dreams.