Can you take a look at my son's handwriting?

[Mama2Many4]

He is 7 years old and his handwriting has not improved even though I've been consistently working with him since he was 3. Does his handwriting look like the average 7 year old? Or should I have him evaluated for a handwriting delay? Please keep in mind that he is high functioning autistic if that makes any difference with regards to his handwriting. Thanks for any help. This is a source of many tears daily in our home.

 

Sharp, fork and has is my handwriting, sloppy and fast. :blush:

 

[kathkath]

It looks like he's rushing. It also looks like a LOT of writing to be expected from a 7yo boy. Is there a way to teach the same concepts w/o as much writing? I would cut down the quantity and focus on quality.

[Marie in Oh]

it is sloppy, but I can read it. I would say keep working on it. It is hard. We ride our ds all the time because his handwriting is sloppy. Very few boys are willing to put the time it takes to do it nicely. Can he do better or is that his best. I think if that is what he produces if he is trying to get an assignment finished but if prodded can slow down and do better, then I would say just keep up the practice. If that is his absoulte best, then, well I would consider thining about an eval.

[BatmansWife]

Well, I'm certainly not an expert......but to me, it doesn't seem that bad. My youngest just turned 7 and although her handwriting is fairly neat, she spells phonetically (and gets that even wrong) and runs everything together (I am really trying to get her to space but she just won't). In comparison, I'd say your son is doing pretty good. I'm sure it will get neater as he gets a little older.

 

Here's a sample of a little note my dh7 wrote to me during church last Sunday:

 

hawmeNemiNisintiLisovR.

 

 

:w00t: Can you figure that out???

 

 

 

 

 

 

Translastion:

How many minutes until it's over?

 

:lol:

 

:blushing:

[Guest]

My dd is an Aspie and her writing looked FAR worse than this at age seven in most circumstances, unless she was working with Handwriting Without Tears and focusing ONLY on the letter formation process. Your son certainly spells far better than dd did at his age (or indeed at a much later age).

 

Writing issues seem to go hand in hand with most kids on the spectrum. Has your son seen an OT? Ours was not able to help dd with writing, but she did test her hand strength and gave me a lot of information about dd's problems with fine motor skills in general. I also found that dd has a problem with sensory information from her fingers being sent to her brain -- things like pressure and movement do not register properly. This is relatively rare and I don't say it to suggest you look into this, but rather to say that an OT can be a very helpful source of information about how your child's body and mind work together.

 

We did most of our work orally for many, many years. I kept dd on basic handwriting programs or copywork rather than have her try to mix skills of formulating sentences, spelling, remembering punctuation and spacing, and forming her letters all at the same time. She would write on her own and it was illegible, but I never interfered with that.

 

Many people who homeschool kids on the spectrum keep written work to an absolute minimum, and stay for many, many years in the very early stages of letter formation -- it takes much longer for these kids to have it become automatic and controlled -- and copywork. A number of moms on the boards swear by using a whiteboard with dry erase markers rather than having their kids use pencil and paper. Some teach their kids to type at young ages. I took dictation from dd for many years. In all these ways, kids get the same kind of practice in organizing and articulating their thoughts, thinking in sentences and paragraphs, narrating, outlining, and spelling, but without the extreme frustration that paperwork tends to produce in them when they're young.

 

In almost all of these kids, at around age twelve or so, a huge leap occurs as some kind of brain maturation happens. DD, at fourteen, still has some problems with spelling and remembering punctuation as she drafts, but she can write beautifully now and sustain her writing over many pages.

 

There's a great chapter on handwriting and writing in general in the Eides' book The Mislabeled Child. The information there is useful for any parent of a child with writing problems. Another useful chapter on writing can be found in Jeffrey Freed's Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World. I've used a number of his suggestions over the years.

[Mama2Many4]

I'd certainly be willing to cut down on some of his writing, but that was his spelling, and I don't want to take away from the lesson KWIM? Maybe I could have him type his answers on the computer instead?:confused:

[kathkath]

Well, I'm certainly not an expert......but to me, it doesn't seem that bad. My youngest just turned 7 and although her handwriting is fairly neat, she spells phonetically (and gets that even wrong) and runs everything together (I am really trying to get her to space but she just won't). In comparison, I'd say your son is doing pretty good. I'm sure it will get neater as he gets a little older.

 

Here's a sample of a little note my dh7 wrote to me during church last Sunday:

 

hawmeNemiNisintiLisovR.

 

 

:w00t: Can you figure that out???

 

 

 

 

 

 

Translastion:

How many minutes until it's over?

 

:lol:

 

:blushing:

 

 

How many minutes til it is over??? :lol:

[BatmansWife]

It also looks like a LOT of writing to be expected from a 7yo boy. Is there a way to teach the same concepts w/o as much writing? I would cut down the quantity and focus on quality.

 

Yes, I forgot to say this too. It does look like a lot of writing for this age (especially a boy.....and most especially a boy with high functioning autism).

 

If that is his absoulte best, then, well I would consider thining about an eval.

 

:confused: :confused:

[my2boysteacher]

Wow, my boys would never have been able to write that much at age 7. My oldest still has terrible handwriting, but I have eased off him after listening to SWB's lecture. She said little boys often don't have the coordination to write lengthy passages, and if writing brings tears you should stop immediately.

If you gave him a very short sentence such as, 'The boy hit the ball' and told him to use his best handwriting, would it look any better?

Maybe he could spell some of his spelling words out loud for you instead of writing them all down?

[Mama2Many4]

Well, I'm certainly not an expert......but to me, it doesn't seem that bad. My youngest just turned 7 and although her handwriting is fairly neat, she spells phonetically (and gets that even wrong) and runs everything together (I am really trying to get her to space but she just won't). In comparison, I'd say your son is doing pretty good. I'm sure it will get neater as he gets a little older.

 

Here's a sample of a little note my dh7 wrote to me during church last Sunday:

 

hawmeNemiNisintiLisovR.

 

 

:w00t: Can you figure that out???

 

Well, being that he's the first to make it to this stage of learning, I didn't have anything to compare it to. Thanks for the laugh. Kids are sweet! :lol:

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Translastion:

How many minutes until it's over?

 

:lol:

 

:blushing:

 

Well, being that he's the first to make it to this stage of learning, I didn't have anything to compare it to. Thanks for the laugh. Kids are sweet!:lol:

[BatmansWife]

If that is his absoulte best, then, well I would consider thining about an eval.

 

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Oh Marie!!! :lol: Okay....I think I figured this one out:

 

thinking about an evaluation

 

See how expertly I deciphered that? Seems like I'm doing that every single day around here (at home).......takes me 10 minutes to read even tiny notes. :001_smile:

[Mama2Many4]

My dd is an Aspie and her writing looked FAR worse than this at age seven in most circumstances, unless she was working with Handwriting Without Tears and focusing ONLY on the letter formation process. Your son certainly spells far better than dd did at his age (or indeed at a much later age).

 

Writing issues seem to go hand in hand with most kids on the spectrum. Has your son seen an OT? Ours was not able to help dd with writing, but she did test her hand strength and gave me a lot of information about dd's problems with fine motor skills in general. I also found that dd has a problem with sensory information from her fingers being sent to her brain -- things like pressure and movement do not register properly. This is relatively rare and I don't say it to suggest you look into this, but rather to say that an OT can be a very helpful source of information about how your child's body and mind work together.

 

We did most of our work orally for many, many years. I kept dd on basic handwriting programs or copywork rather than have her try to mix skills of formulating sentences, spelling, remembering punctuation and spacing, and forming her letters all at the same time. She would write on her own and it was illegible, but I never interfered with that.

 

Many people who homeschool kids on the spectrum keep written work to an absolute minimum, and stay for many, many years in the very early stages of letter formation -- it takes much longer for these kids to have it become automatic and controlled -- and copywork. A number of moms on the boards swear by using a whiteboard with dry erase markers rather than having their kids use pencil and paper. Some teach their kids to type at young ages. I took dictation from dd for many years. In all these ways, kids get the same kind of practice in organizing and articulating their thoughts, thinking in sentences and paragraphs, narrating, outlining, and spelling, but without the extreme frustration that paperwork tends to produce in them when they're young.

 

In almost all of these kids, at around age twelve or so, a huge leap occurs as some kind of brain maturation happens. DD, at fourteen, still has some problems with spelling and remembering punctuation as she drafts, but she can write beautifully now and sustain her writing over many pages.

 

There's a great chapter on handwriting and writing in general in the Eides' book The Mislabeled Child. The information there is useful for any parent of a child with writing problems. Another useful chapter on writing can be found in Jeffrey Freed's Right-Brained Children in a Left-Brained World. I've used a number of his suggestions over the years.

 

Thank you so much for all of the suggestions. It's hard teaching a SN child when all I know is how I learned. Which is not necessarily to say that it was the right way. My DH often thinks that if I do the writing for him, he will not learn the skills for himself. But I'll do some more research on it and prove to my DH that he will learn the skills. Thanks so much!

[BatmansWife]

And don't forget about letter magnets or letter tiles. He could do half of his spelling using the tiles. It would be more fun for him too.

[Mama2Many4]

Wow, my boys would never have been able to write that much at age 7. My oldest still has terrible handwriting, but I have eased off him after listening to SWB's lecture. She said little boys often don't have the coordination to write lengthy passages, and if writing brings tears you should stop immediately.

If you gave him a very short sentence such as, 'The boy hit the ball' and told him to use his best handwriting, would it look any better?

Maybe he could spell some of his spelling words out loud for you instead of writing them all down?

 

Goodness! Maybe I'm not tweaking enough to suit our needs. I guess I thought all kids were pretty much writing this much, or what the workbooks suggest. I'm certainly going to lighten up on his writing then. This has been such an eye opener for me.

[Mama2Many4]

I'm amazed at how much writing he is managing (just comparing him with my own son). My son is 8 and he is only just getting to a point where he can tolerate writing a little bit more. For years, besides focused handwriting practice he didn't do much writing. I couldn't get him to!

 

It is messy, but I have truly seen worse.

 

I'll have to scan some of my son's writing to show you. Let me see what I can dig up.

 

This does make me feel so much better! I thought his writing wasn't up to par, but seeing how no 7 year old writes perfectly this is really easing my worries. I won't press him to write perfectly anymore. :blushing:

[Mom2J112903]

My son will be 7 and his handwritting is similar to your son's. J is in OT twice a week for fine and gross motor delays, which includes of course his handwritting.

 

It would not hurt to seek out an OT and have him evaluated, especially since he is a spectrum child. He could have SPD which OT and SI therapies will *greatly* help.

[TKDmom]

My 7yo would throw a fit if I tried to get him to do that much writing. Some days, even doing a whole page of math is too much for him. :glare: I will usually scribe for him, once he starts complaining about his hand hurting.

 

But, having said that, I think his handwriting looks fine. I'd scribe for him after he wrote a few words if it's consistently producing tears.

 

I'll try to post a sample of my ds's copywork, so you can compare. My dd's handwriting was about the same when she was 7. It's improved significantly over the last 2 years, and now I have to look closely to be able to tell the difference between my handwriting and hers.

Edited October 19, 2010 by bonniebeth4

[LinRTX]

Well if is any consolation, it doesn't look much worse than my 17yo girl. She can do better but refuses to slow down. But she does type everything.

 

I made my oldest type everything for his outside classes. I told him the handwriting was so bad no one could read it and it would bring his grade way down.

 

Linda

[jenn1129]

my 8 year old has atrocious handwriting. He doesn't make a lot of his letters the right away, but mostly he just rushes to get it done. I have just started telling him that i'll grade it when i can read it. if i can't read it (you have to decide on what you're willing to accept) then he redoes the work.

 

it has helped us and my guess is that if your son is just being lazy, he'll improve because he won't want to redo his work. OTOH, if something is truly wrong you'll know it soon.

 

Good luck!

 

Jennifer

[Mama2Many4]

My 7yo would throw a fit if I tried to get him to do that much writing. Some days, even doing a whole page of math is too much for him. :glare: I will usually scribe for him, once he starts complaining about his hand hurting.

 

But, having said that, I think his handwriting looks fine. I'd scribe for him after he wrote a few words if it's consistently producing tears.

 

I'll try to post a sample of my ds's copywork, so you can compare. My dd's handwriting was about the same when she was 7. It's improved significantly over the last 2 years, and now I have to look closely to be able to tell the difference between my handwriting and hers.

 

Yes, their handwriting is very similar. Although I do think that your son's is a *tad* neater. I guess we as mothers would like perfection huh? ;)

[Guest]

And don't forget about letter magnets or letter tiles. He could do half of his spelling using the tiles. It would be more fun for him too.

 

This is a great idea! I forgot that DD used to write messages to me with magnetic letters. We also did some spelling using Scrabble tiles.

 

You can also work on grammar and sentence structure using words (tailored to your dd's sense of humor or particular interests) you print out and cut up -- include verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs and take turns making fun sentences. MadLibs are also great since you only have to write single words at a time.

[Angjune]

Please don't worry about your son's handwriting. When my son was that age, his writing was similar. His first grade teacher was not concerned and just said that some kids take longer with their fine motor skills. She knew my son comprehended everything in class so didn't worry about it. His handwriting improved with age. On the other hand, my daughter's handwriting was much better at a younger age. My son is 16 now and a perfectly normal, very bright teenager.

[TKDmom]

Yes, their handwriting is very similar. Although I do think that your son's is a *tad* neater. I guess we as mothers would like perfection huh? ;)

 

:D I can find a sloppier copywork page if you'd like... There are plenty. The more words, the sloppier he gets. I think his hand starts hurting as soon as he sees how much he has to do. This one is on the neater side of average. I might have been coaching him on letter formation as he wrote it. I had pulled out a sloppier one (which I remember him doing while I was out of the room), but it was a worksheet from WWE, and I didn't want to worry about copyrights.

[Mom2J112903]

I can say that if J's handwritting is the same as it is now, and similar to what people have posted, he will *not* "graduate" from OT in Jan/Feb. Letter formation is not there, therefore a child still needs help.

 

I am on a laptop and do not have a way to scan his handwritting in, otherwise I would. I would not allow my child to have handwritting like I have seen other children produce. Just a personal pet peeve of mine I guess and the OTs we have talked to agree with our convictions.

[CatherineG]

My husband is a second grade teacher, and I occasionally grade a worksheet here and there to help him out. I have seen handwriting just like this on some of their papers.

 

My (typically developing) brother is 26 years old and a graduate of MIT. His handwriting is much worse than your son's. In fact, when he first took his SAT II in English or writing or whatever it was, he received a terrible score. We think it's because the graders couldn't read his handwriting; he retook it (with much parental admonishment to write neatly) and did much better. He's currently doing a PhD and I do feel a little sorry for his future students. If OT will help, it's probably worth pursuing, but please know that bad handwriting, even as an adult, not a complete impediment to success.

[NanceXToo]

Goodness! Maybe I'm not tweaking enough to suit our needs. I guess I thought all kids were pretty much writing this much, or what the workbooks suggest. I'm certainly going to lighten up on his writing then. This has been such an eye opener for me.

 

That's good. :) I can't remember what my daughter's handwriting looked like at 7 and my son isn't at the writing stage yet, but I DO agree that that seems like too much writing for a 7 y/o!

[mytwomonkeys]

I'd certainly be willing to cut down on some of his writing, but that was his spelling, and I don't want to take away from the lesson KWIM? Maybe I could have him type his answers on the computer instead?:confused:

 

 

use a white board or have him spell aloud while you write, or use letter tiles. that's what i'd do.

[FO4UR]

It seems to me like his writing would be fairly decent if those letters just sat on the line...

 

Less is more. Scale back the amount of writing he does until he can write what he's assigned neatly & happily (even if it's only a few letters) and work back up gradually from there.

[whitestavern]

My 8yo ds had pretty bad manuscript handwriting at 7 so I taught him cursive. It is the most beautiful cursive...really, he's better than his sister, who's 10. Heck, he probably writes better cursive than I do. I do not know why this is. He says he enjoys it more, too. The only print he still does is his spelling test because he says it's too hard for his brain to figure out how to spell a word and write it in cursive at the same time :001_smile:

[Mama2Many4]

My husband is a second grade teacher, and I occasionally grade a worksheet here and there to help him out. I have seen handwriting just like this on some of their papers.

 

My (typically developing) brother is 26 years old and a graduate of MIT. His handwriting is much worse than your son's. In fact, when he first took his SAT II in English or writing or whatever it was, he received a terrible score. We think it's because the graders couldn't read his handwriting; he retook it (with much parental admonishment to write neatly) and did much better. He's currently doing a PhD and I do feel a little sorry for his future students. If OT will help, it's probably worth pursuing, but please know that bad handwriting, even as an adult, not a complete impediment to success.

 

Thanks for posting! Since you've had the chance to view the writing of many 7 year old children, it helps because I have nothing to compare it to.

[Tree House Academy]

It looks to me like you need to work mainly on spacing in sentences. I can read the single words he is writing, but I am struggling to read the sentences. It looks like it all runs together. I still have my son use pinky spaces when he starts to backslide in his spacings.

 

My son is 7 and is "typical functioning" with no ADHD or other diagnosis. His handwriting is what I would call "mediocre." My older son's was much better at this age.

 

 

Writing on White Board

 

 

And writing on wide ruled paper

 

Edited October 19, 2010 by Tree House Academy

[Hedgehogs4]

Could you have him do his spelling orally? Honestly, his writing doesn't look much different than my ds at 7 when he was in a rush or had a lot to write. He is now 9 and two things have helped:

 

1. less writing and more focus on quality. one sentence of copywork at a time, a good handwriting curriculum and only 10 minutes of it a day...

 

2. time and age, but also this year we started Getty Dubay italic to take him into cursive. He likes the look of it, he works carefully with his textbook, and it is beginning to transfer to his other work.

 

finally!

 

so give it time and don't fret...i wouldn't have him evaluated just yet.

[Mama2Many4]

It looks to me like you need to work mainly on spacing in sentences. I can read the single words he is writing, but I am struggling to read the sentences. It looks like it all runs together. I still have my son use pinky spaces when he starts to backslide in his spacings.

 

My son is 7 and is "typical functioning" with no ADHD or other diagnosis. His handwriting is what I would call "mediocre." My older son's was much better at this age.

 

 

Thanks for the tip! I'll have to have him use his pinky and see if that helps. I've tried having him count two dashes in between words but maybe the pinky thing will be easier.

[Mom2J112903]

J used a "spaceman" in K at Catholic school-they were actually little spacemen, about the size of the pinky. WAY too cute and I have yet to find one for him :-( He is a lefty, so it makes using *anything* for spacing interesting.

[Dmmetler]

Here's a pattern for Spacemen (about 3/4 of the way down)

 

http://www.sewwhat4ucorp.com/teacherresources2004.htm

 

My DD has a little foam dinosaur glued to a craft stick to "walk between" her words :).

[BatmansWife]

J used a "spaceman" in K at Catholic school-they were actually little spacemen, about the size of the pinky. WAY too cute and I have yet to find one for him :-( He is a lefty, so it makes using *anything* for spacing interesting.

 

Here's a pattern for Spacemen (about 3/4 of the way down)

 

http://www.sewwhat4ucorp.com/teacherresources2004.htm

 

My DD has a little foam dinosaur glued to a craft stick to "walk between" her words :).

 

This is such a great idea. It's definitely something I need for my dd. She would love it. I just googled about it and found these:

 

http://www.reallygoodstuff.com/product/spaceman+deluxe+student+set.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=Search

 

They are so cute, but I don't want to spend that much money on 30 spacers. I've read the you can make your own out of either wooden clothespins or wide popsicle sticks. Now I have a fun project to work on this week. Thanks for the great idea!

[Trish]

That's better than my 9-year-old's manuscript writing (he is now on to cursive, which is an improvement). Still, I have him skip writing-intensive exercises, or, do them aloud, or modify them so he doesn't have to re-write any sentences.

 

We have daily handwriting practice, but I don't want to get his thought processes in other subjects slowed down by the mechanics of writing if I can help it.

[Mama2Many4]

These are all such great ideas! I just printed out some of those spacemen and glued them to some wide Popsicle craft sticks we had. Can't wait to have them use them!

[happyWImom]

My ds will be 7 in December, and he hates writing. He still writes a combination of upper & lower case, even though I am trying to break him of it (uppercase in the middle of a word).

 

I am now having him write less during his assignments, but I'm making sure that what little he does write is neater. It's getting somewhat better. I know part of it is, he doesn't want to take the time, and the other part is that he holds his pencil incorrectly some of the time. The bad news there is that I am a lefty, and he's a righty, so I never noticed he was holding it wrong! Dh noticed, and we're trying to correct it.

[Coffeetime]

If you gave him a very short sentence such as, 'The boy hit the ball' and told him to use his best handwriting, would it look any better?

Maybe he could spell some of his spelling words out loud for you instead of writing them all down?

:iagree:

This exactly. I would cut down on his writing and focus on quality. You might try giving him short copywork sentences and talking him through his letter formations. (eg. "Capitol L- straight line down from the top line to the bottom line, short line across the bottom." When you see his letters hovering above the bottom line, remind him that they need to rest on the bottom line etc.) Doing this helped my kids learn to pay attention to how they write.

[BatmansWife]

More about the spacemen.....I found some other cute clip art that would work well for printing and glueing on the craft sticks.

 

http://www.arthursclipart.org/space/space/astronaut.gif

 

and

 

http://www.eslkidstuff.com/images/spacemanncc.gif

[Abigail4476]

hawmeNemiNisintiLisovR.

 

Haha!!!! That's GREAT!!! I love it. :lol::lol:

[brownie]

Sorry I haven't had time to read the other posts but the HFA part caught my attention. Yes it makes a difference! Has he been assessed for OT? DS is mild Asp and still qualified for 16 sessions of OT in 2nd grade when I finally insisted something was wrong with how miserable handwriting made him. The teacher said it was legible...don't worry but I could tell it was tiring him. His handwriting is better than your son's but even today (2 years later) his printing is lacking. On the other hand, when he learned cursive it was beautiful!!! I mentioned this the other day to his 'autism dr' and was told he sees that all the time! So do some strengthening or get some therapy and then teach him cursive...I hope you'll be surprised! Brownie

[Snickerdoodle]

The only thing I would say is that I would insist on all lower case letters in the spelling. Don't let him randomly use capitals because it is a hard habit to break. (such as: Part 9 line 4, the capital B or any of the words in Part 8)

 

Ask me how I know. :D

[Embassy]

I would also cut down on the writing. Save most writing for actual handwriting practice. Once he is more successful there then you can add writing into other subjects. Let him use the computer to type his answers. Maybe you can start teaching him to type.

 

When my oldest son was in first grade I backtracked and bought some preschool handwriting books that focused on mazes and fun tracing. This gave him lots of practice in non-threatening ways. By the end of his first grade year he had caught up to grade level in handwriting. Now nearly 2 years later his handwriting looks neat.

[Tutu]

I realize that this is his spelling lesson and that he was using a workbook, but otherwise, do you regularly have him use paper with a dotted midline? If so, does using the primary ruled paper help him at all? The legibility of my ds's (10) writing greatly varies, depending on the type of paper he uses.

 

Patty

[Mama2Many4]

Sorry I haven't had time to read the other posts but the HFA part caught my attention. Yes it makes a difference! Has he been assessed for OT? DS is mild Asp and still qualified for 16 sessions of OT in 2nd grade when I finally insisted something was wrong with how miserable handwriting made him. The teacher said it was legible...don't worry but I could tell it was tiring him. His handwriting is better than your son's but even today (2 years later) his printing is lacking. On the other hand, when he learned cursive it was beautiful!!! I mentioned this the other day to his 'autism dr' and was told he sees that all the time! So do some strengthening or get some therapy and then teach him cursive...I hope you'll be surprised! Brownie

 

He was diagnosed at the age of 3 and I suppose it wouldn't hurt to bring him back through for another little checkup to see how he's doing. He is very high functioning, so never needed OT for speech or anything but maybe now that he's getting older he could use some help with some things. Thanks for the recommendation.

[Mama2Many4]

I realize that this is his spelling lesson and that he was using a workbook, but otherwise, do you regularly have him use paper with a dotted midline? If so, does using the primary ruled paper help him at all? The legibility of my ds's (10) writing greatly varies, depending on the type of paper he uses.

 

Patty

 

His actual handwriting lessons are done using Startwrite lessons that I make up and on the primary lines. That's pretty much his handwriting all the time.

[merry gardens]

I love the spaceman idea! This is an interesting thread to read. I agree with the others that your son's writing seems okay for his age. I just want to add a couple of thoughts.

:D I can find a sloppier copywork page if you'd like... There are plenty. The more words, the sloppier he gets. I think his hand starts hurting as soon as he sees how much he has to do. This ....

I overlooked my son's complaints about his hand hurting for a long time. I thought he was just complaining because he didn't want to do the work. This year I decided to focus on helping my children write neater. We switched to some pens and pencils I found recommended on the special needs board here and some others recommended on an OT website. My son who used to complain all the time about his hand hurting stopped complaining. His hand really did used to hurt, and switching to some different writing instruments made a difference.

 

We're also doing a writing program called Callirobics. It works with shapes and strokes rather than letters to improve rhythm and overall appearance of writing.

 

I don't think your son's writing is "that bad" but if you're concerned you could look into some of the specialty writing products and programs that they sell on this OT website. http://www.therapro.com/Callirobics-Handwriting-Exercises-to-Music-P4556.aspx

[*Jessica*]

That is a lot of writing for a seven year old! (I see many other posters have mentioned this, but I felt it was important enough to reiterate.)

 

My son turned 7 yesterday. I've included a sample of his copywork below.

 

I realized afterwards that he missed an "n" in penguin.

 

Aside from his daily copywork, which is usually about the amount of words shown above, he writes for math and history or science. He is miserable if I have him do more writing than that.