Teen Aspergers and handwriting

[Night Elf]

Anyone else with a teen who struggles with writing by hand? My ds15 hates it. On Friday, I had him writing the titles of his Math chapters on a piece of paper for a test (to find information for an open book test) and after a dozen or so words, he dropped the pencil, flexed his hand and grimaced. I mean, really? I remember asking about it either on the general board or high school board and was told I should just have him type. His lettering is so-so. I can read it but it isn't the neatest printing. Is this something that others worry about or am I just being silly?

 

He doesn't like the idea of learning to touch type. I have a typing program but he only did it a few times and said his fingers hurt because they are trying to move in a way that he isn't comfortable. I tried explaining that it gets better as his hands get trained. Should I push it?

[Trilliums]

I would push the typing, gently.

 

Start with just 5 minutes a day and he will eventually build better stamina. The kids used this free website:

http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/tutor/keyboarding.php?lang=EN

You used to be able to make an accoutn and it saved your progress, but I am not seeing that option now.

 

My 15 yo son also only prints (no cursive) but it has become much neater--having an outside class helped with the neatness. Being able to type has been great for his longer assignments.

 

My 13 yo recently learned italics cursive using Getty Dubay and writing seems less physically taxing for him now.

[AngieW in Texas]

My 18yo Aspie has no problems with handwriting. She is an artist.

 

My 16yo Aspie has fine motor delays that are never going away. She has a lot of difficulty with buttons and working ziplock baggies (controlling the pressure appropriately). Her handwriting is legible, but that's about all I can say about it. All her letters are the same size whether capital or not. The letters float up and down between the lines, so placement doesn't tell you when something is capital or not.

 

She learned to touch type with an old-fashioned typing book because the computer programs all required speed and accuracy that she couldn't match.

 

I got the typing book from Timberdoodle.

[Laurie]

Has he ever tried writing with an ergonomic pen like this?

http://www.penagain.com/howitworks.html

[Night Elf]

I used to have a typing book that I tried using when he was younger. I am not sure if I have it anymore but that might be a good idea. He started using Typing Tutor and only practiced when I asked him to do it. His school work is often time consuming and asking him to practice typing seemed like a chore. He didn't complain about the timing aspect but it was something I thought about.

 

Those Penagain pens look interesting. I wonder if he'll try something so drastically different. It can't hurt to buy some. I did try some large pencils but he didn't care for how they felt. I tried giving him different types of pens. He didn't find one better than another. I didn't try a proper ball point pen though, only the cheaper stick pens. That might be worth a try as well.

 

He bears down really hard. He does math on a dry erase board and the tip of the markers never stay sharp. We discard them because they are flat before they run out of ink.

 

I thought about asking him to write a small bit every day but I'm worried that will send him over the edge. We've discussed the fact that he may be required to write in college and/or at a job. He doesn't like to even talk about college because he feels that high school is such a struggle that the idea of extending academic work is a stress for him. But that's another topic.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Night Elf]

I got the typing book from Timberdoodle.

 

Can you tell me the name? I can't find a book at Timberdoodle. I can't remember the name of what I had but it stood up and the pages flipped over the top. It had large print on the practice pages. The books I see on Amazon seem busy and have small print.

 

Ooh, I just found the one I used to have. It's called Keyboarding Skills by EPS.

Edited February 19, 2012 by Night Elf

[AngieW in Texas]

I'll have to see if I can find it, but I know I bought it from Timberdoodle (can't find it there now) and I'm pretty sure it was published by EPS.

[Jasda]

I had my kiddo learn to type at a very early age as his handwriting was hard to read. He had no problem picking it up and now types most things. When he does write, it's in manuscript.