Handwriting Fatigue? (ie hates writing)

[Diana B]

My 7.5 yr old HATES to write. He CAN do it - and when focused it's not too bad for a 7.5 yr old boy. But it's a struggle every.single.day to get him to do his copywork. And it's not just copywork, it's anything that requires a pencil (other than math!). Pretty much it's all a struggle.

 

I'm not sure if it might just be a discipline issue (he doesn't like it so he throws a fit?) or if he really truly just gets tired and he's not ready for that much. How do I know the difference?

 

How much should I expect out of him daily, weekly? Maybe my expectations are just too high for him? He usually does 2 lines of copywork 2-3 days per week. This all the writing he is required to do. Other than math, everything else is done orally.

[LeslieAnneLevine]

I would try taking his weekly amount of copywork and spread it out over five days (and not increase it no matter how tempting).

ETA: I meant to not increase it if you switch to five days. I'd split the longest line between two days before I'd increase the current amount of writing...for now, anyway.

 

If that's not feasible, I might reduce it from two lines to just one, making it a less tiring task, but one that is still done with consistency. There is lots of time to gradually increase the amount as he gets older.

 

Writing fatigue is an issue around here too. I don't give copywork but my son takes a correspondence course for French that has some writing in it. I always spread the pages that require writing full sentences over 2-3 days and give a page with matching or circling with it so the lessons still take about the same amount of time to complete and send in, but are more manageable for him.

Edited January 29, 2011 by LeslieAnneLevine

[DawnL]

My son is also 7 and also hates writing. I don't have him do copywork, but he always has to write something in the natural course of his schoolwork. And yes, he sometimes throws a fit to try to get out of it.

 

Part of my son's issue is his hand gets tired. Part of it is that he expects it to be perfect and then flips out when it's not. I just keep telling him I don't want it to look as good as mine. I want it to look as good as his.

 

I don't think you are expecting too much. I don't ask for my son to do a lot, either. But I do insist he do the writing, no matter the fit. I know he won't also be throwing fits about writing.

[Trish]

My 9-year-old still has trouble writing. I try to do as much orally as possible. I can't wait until he can type!

[PeterPan]

When my dd was little (5, 6, 7-ish) I watched the posts about pencil-phobic boys and chuckled because it sounded like my pencil-phobic girl. Years later, as the problem DIDN'T go away but actually got worse, we finally went to an OT (Occupational Therapist) to get some answers. In your case, you mentioned focus. ADD=attention deficit with no hyperactivity. It would play out as the mind wandering, impulsivity, working memory deficits, etc., but no hyperactivity. So when I read your post I actually see two flags to consider some evaluations. To me, having btdt and come to the other side, I don't think this handwriting fatigue thing is normal, not to the extent people let it go. I wanted my dd to be able to write a half page or page without her hand killing her. Turns out there were physical, FIXABLE causes.

 

In our case the OT found some muscle tone and strength problems. If your core is weak, you slouch and all the weight goes onto your wrist, causing the pain. She gave us all kinds of things to do for core, shoulder, arm, and finger strength. She showed us how dd needed to sit and why (to shift the weight so it wasn't all on her wrist). She showed us things we could do immediately to stop the pain once it started. We took up horseriding which involved lifting the saddle, grooming the horse, etc., lots of shoulder and finger work there as well as the core strength from riding. KarenAnne has posts on this too. In one summer her dd went from pain with writing to able to write pages and pages! Now her dd got to ride more than mine. Nevertheless, we saw dramatic benefit and plan to do it again this summer.

 

You asked if it's merely that he's not ready. I haven't taught a 7 yo boy, but when my dd was 7.5 it had nothing to do with readiness and DIDN'T go away by waiting. Homeschooling allows you to see all these things intimately. We start off with these dreams and assumptions about what kids do, and we get whomped with the reality of who they are. I did go through a stage where I thought xyz that I saw was a character problem, bad attitude, etc., and I grant that can happen. However, now that we've been doing some things to solve the physical problems (lots of work on strength to help her hand not hurt so much, sensory input to help the attention and focusing, vision therapy to help the eyes which btw would affect that copywork), it's like working with another child. *I* have concluded that kids desperately want to please, and that when it's not working they act out.

[rwilliams]

When my dd was little (5, 6, 7-ish) I watched the posts about pencil-phobic boys and chuckled because it sounded like my pencil-phobic girl. Years later, as the problem DIDN'T go away but actually got worse, we finally went to an OT (Occupational Therapist) to get some answers. In your case, you mentioned focus. ADD=attention deficit with no hyperactivity. It would play out as the mind wandering, impulsivity, working memory deficits, etc., but no hyperactivity. So when I read your post I actually see two flags to consider some evaluations. To me, having btdt and come to the other side, I don't think this handwriting fatigue thing is normal, not to the extent people let it go. I wanted my dd to be able to write a half page or page without her hand killing her. Turns out there were physical, FIXABLE causes.

 

In our case the OT found some muscle tone and strength problems. If your core is weak, you slouch and all the weight goes onto your wrist, causing the pain. She gave us all kinds of things to do for core, shoulder, arm, and finger strength. She showed us how dd needed to sit and why (to shift the weight so it wasn't all on her wrist). She showed us things we could do immediately to stop the pain once it started. We took up horseriding which involved lifting the saddle, grooming the horse, etc., lots of shoulder and finger work there as well as the core strength from riding. KarenAnne has posts on this too. In one summer her dd went from pain with writing to able to write pages and pages! Now her dd got to ride more than mine. Nevertheless, we saw dramatic benefit and plan to do it again this summer.

 

You asked if it's merely that he's not ready. I haven't taught a 7 yo boy, but when my dd was 7.5 it had nothing to do with readiness and DIDN'T go away by waiting. Homeschooling allows you to see all these things intimately. We start off with these dreams and assumptions about what kids do, and we get whomped with the reality of who they are. I did go through a stage where I thought xyz that I saw was a character problem, bad attitude, etc., and I grant that can happen. However, now that we've been doing some things to solve the physical problems (lots of work on strength to help her hand not hurt so much, sensory input to help the attention and focusing, vision therapy to help the eyes which btw would affect that copywork), it's like working with another child. *I* have concluded that kids desperately want to please, and that when it's not working they act out.

 

 

I am an ot assistant and this is true. I would assume your son has legitimate issues with writing versus treating it as a discipline issue. I would also agree that addressing the underlying issues will help your son to write effectively. The first area to look at is stability. This can come from the chair/table positioning. It also comes from a sufficient trunk strength/stability.

[PeterPan]

Yup it's strength that leads to stability, but it goes even beyond positioning and things we might think of to do at home. In our case there was an issue with "weightshifting" which is neurological, a sensory problem. So you get an OT who does sensory integration (good for the ADD btw), and it helps them be ABLE to do the things you're asking them too. See no matter how much I told my dd "Put your hand here, turn your paper like this" it made NO DIFFERENCE. Things only changed once we started working on her as a whole. We have exercises we do specifically for weight-shifting, and now, after several months of that, she is slowly beginning to use her other arm properly for support. I was marveling at it just yesterday.

 

Our tendence in homeschooling is to take something and say Oh, I can do that! Well I'm telling you an evaluation is a good thing, because they find the other things going on, the other pieces of the puzzle that make the thing as a whole work. Otherwise you're just grasping at straws, finding things don't work, and then either frustrated or giving up.

[happypamama]

I don't know if it's all discipline or all truly difficult, or a combination, or what, but with my DD, who hates to write, we do limit how much she has to write in a day. Right now we've put copywork on hold in favor of doing a page from the HWOT cursive book every day, but when we go back to copywork, it'll just be a couple of lines a day, most likely. If I have her do a lot of writing in math one day, I might not have her do a written narration for history; if she writes a history narration, math might be all oral. It seems to help her to know that she's not going to have page after page of writing to do every day. (And actually, she's gotten less annoyed about lots of writing recently and seems to accept that she has to do what she has to do, so that's promising.)

[Diana B]

Thanks for all the suggestions. He hasn't actually told me that writing hurts, but he does a lot of slouching and laying his head down on the table during school time in general. (But part of that may be not catching him at his prime alertness - we have a weird schedule!)

 

I have a Pediatric OT friend, I'll have to drop her a line. I spoke to her a lot when we were trying to correct his pencil grip, but I didn't think about this issue! :)

 

I like the idea of saying "Here are 5-6 lines to be done by the end of the week." That way he can do more when he's feeling up to it but it's not so much that it's overwhelming. I may also add in the cursive I've been debating on (and he asked for over the summer). If it's something he's interested in, he might be more willing to do it and I can get a better indication as to whether copywork is just boring to him (and therefore a discipline issue) or if it's more than that.

 

Thanks again for the help!

[grace'smom]

Yup it's strength that leads to stability, but it goes even beyond positioning and things we might think of to do at home. In our case there was an issue with "weightshifting" which is neurological, a sensory problem. So you get an OT who does sensory integration (good for the ADD btw), and it helps them be ABLE to do the things you're asking them too. See no matter how much I told my dd "Put your hand here, turn your paper like this" it made NO DIFFERENCE. Things only changed once we started working on her as a whole. We have exercises we do specifically for weight-shifting, and now, after several months of that, she is slowly beginning to use her other arm properly for support. I was marveling at it just yesterday.

 

Our tendence in homeschooling is to take something and say Oh, I can do that! Well I'm telling you an evaluation is a good thing, because they find the other things going on, the other pieces of the puzzle that make the thing as a whole work. Otherwise you're just grasping at straws, finding things don't work, and then either frustrated or giving up.

 

Can you tell us more about what weightshifting is?

[PeterPan]

Thanks for all the suggestions. He hasn't actually told me that writing hurts, but he does a lot of slouching and laying his head down on the table during school time in general. (But part of that may be not catching him at his prime alertness - we have a weird schedule!)

 

I have a Pediatric OT friend, I'll have to drop her a line. I spoke to her a lot when we were trying to correct his pencil grip, but I didn't think about this issue! :)

 

I like the idea of saying "Here are 5-6 lines to be done by the end of the week." That way he can do more when he's feeling up to it but it's not so much that it's overwhelming. I may also add in the cursive I've been debating on (and he asked for over the summer). If it's something he's interested in, he might be more willing to do it and I can get a better indication as to whether copywork is just boring to him (and therefore a discipline issue) or if it's more than that.

 

Thanks again for the help!

 

Then I wouldn't just talk to her. I'd take him over to her and let her look at him. She can tell you a lot more that way.

[PeterPan]

Can you tell us more about what weightshifting is?

 

Here's a link that might help you... http://www.pediatrictherapies.com/resources/index/index.html

 

WHAT IS SENSORY INTEGRATION?

 

Sensory integration refers to our nervous system′s ability to take in sensory information and organize it for use. It is the ability of our brain and body to take in sensory messages and effortlessly organize them into behavioral, social, emotional, motor, or physiological responses that are appropriate to an outside stimulus or environmental demand. For some children and even adults, sensory messages are not efficiently organized and a disruption in motor skill development, functional abilities, and/or behavior can be the result.

 

Most of us are aware of the five typical senses - touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing. But there are two additional senses, often referred to as "hidden" senses that are critical to adaptive functioning. One of these important senses is our vestibular sense. This sense is important in terms of its influence over muscle tone, balance, moving and remaining upright against gravity, coordinating both sides of our body together, and coordinating our head and eye movements. The other important sense is our proprioceptive sense. Through receptors in our muscles, tendons, and joints this sense tells us where our body parts are in space and the direction, speed, and force of our movements. When we have trouble interpreting or processing the information that comes into our bodies through one or more of these sensory systems and motor or other behaviors result that are disruptive to our daily function, we call this sensory integration dysfunction or sensory processing disorder.

 

Through this integration of sensory input, all the many components of the nervous system work together so that one can interact with his/her environment and produce adaptive responses. An adaptive response is an action produced successfully by an individual in response to a sensory stimulus or environmental demand. A toddler learning to walk sees a toy on the floor, is able to slow down, shift his weight, step over the toy and continue on his way without falling. This ability to shift his weight and step over the toy without falling is the adaptive response. He sees the toy with his visual system and begins to adjust the speed and force of his walking. That′s his proprioceptive system kicking into gear and helping him to begin adjusting his position. His vestibular system is also at work helping him keep his balance as he looks down at the toy and shifts his weight throwing his center of gravity off-balance. He might even trip over the toy, but catch himself. This won′t upset him emotionally because a similar experience occurred earlier that day and he remembers how to handle it motorically and emotionally. These adaptive responses indicate that he is integrating sensory information efficiently. This ability to generate adaptive responses also means that he is laying the foundation for future sensory integration to take place.

 

Sensory integration dysfunction was first theorized by A. Jean Ayres in the mid-1900s. Dr. Ayres was an occupational therapist, neuroscientist, and educational psychologist who was the leader in developing sensory integration theory and treatment. This theory holds 3 main assumptions:

 

1. In order to learn we must take in and process sensation from movement and our environment, then use it to plan and organize adaptive behavior.

2. If we don′t process sensation efficiently we will most likely have difficulty with learning, behavior, social and emotional development, and/or motor performance.

3. By enhancing sensation through meaningful activity while achieving an adaptive response, we will improve the central nervous system′s ability to process sensation, thus improve learning, behavior, social and emotional development, and motor performance.

 

 

So what is sensory integration therapy and what does it look like? The primary goal of sensory integration therapy is to improve underlying neurological processes rather than teach specific skills. In this way it is believed that adaptive responses will lead to generalizing developmental abilities rather than teach splinter skills. The child should always be an active participant with his/her interests incorporated into the therapy sessions. For that reason, activities should be child-directed and intrinsically motivating which is why this therapy approach is presented within the context of play. This does not mean that the child dictates every moment of the therapy session, but that they lead and are guided towards activities that will have been motivated by them. Intervention is always individualized to meet the developmental needs of each child with activities selected that are purposeful and provide the "just-right" challenge in a way that will lead to an adaptive response. The child′s family, school personnel, and other caregivers should always be actively involved in the treatment process for carryover across environments.

[Diana B]

Then I wouldn't just talk to her. I'd take him over to her and let her look at him. She can tell you a lot more that way.

 

It's not quite that easy, as we've moved. But I'm going to send her an email and get her recommendations. We can make the couple hour drive if necessary. Thanks!

[PeterPan]

Just as a suggestion, I'd look for someone who does Sensory Integration. That way you'll get that side of it too. Maybe your friend does SI? Not all OT's do. If he has tone or other issues (which is to me what you're describing), you're going to need the SI.