Alternatives for students who experience
handwriting difficulties with a continuum
of considerations
Guidelines for the Process of Writing
SWISH
Dysgraphia
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__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Alternatives for students who experience handwriting
difficulties; continuum of considerations:
*Use pencil or pen
*Use pencil or pen, special grip, and a special paper. Word
processor/computer with spell check to improve writing.
*Computer with key guard and support for arm to improve accuracy.
*Computer with word prediction software to decrease needed
keystrokes.
*Single switch or other alternate way of accessing keyboard.
*Voice recognition software to operate computer without hands.
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Guidelines for the Process of Writing
Pre-writing
1. Choose a subject that interests you (if not assigned).
2. Make a list of possible topics.
3. Select a topic and narrow it.
4. Make a list of interesting details that you could use to
develop your topic. This may involve research.
5. Jot down any notes or ideas related to your topic.
6. Learn more about your topic if necessary.
Writing the First Draft
1. Begin to write.
2. Continue to write, without stopping to fuss over or correct
anything at this stage. Let your thoughts flow freely.
Rewriting or Revising
1. Read what you have written.
2. Did you stick to your topic?
3. Did you include everything you wanted?
4. Did you leave out unnecessary details?
5. Do you like what you written?
6. Is it interesting and lively? Do you need to add more
descriptive words?
7. Read aloud what you have written?
8. Do your ideas flow smoothly?
9. Are your ideas clearly expressed?
10. Is each word the right word?
11. Is your writing organized logically, with a beginning, a
middle, and an end?
12. Rewrite, or revise whatever necessary.
Proofreading
1. Read your rewritten, or revised first draft.
2. Check for correct capitalization.
3. Check spelling, use a word check or dictionary.
4. Check to see that all punctuation is correct.
5. Print a neat final copy. Follow your school's manuscript
procedures.
6. Read your final copy aloud to yourself.
Checklist for Writing Paragraphs
1. Is the paragraph a group of sentences dealing with one main idea?
2. Does the paragraph have a topic sentence that states the main idea?
3. Does the topic sentence make a general statement about what is to
follow?
4. Does the topic sentence control and limit the ideas that are discussed in
the rest of the paragraph?
5. Does the paragraph have unity. Does each sentence relate to the main
idea?
6. Is the paragraph long enough to explain the idea clearly?
7. If it is a narrative paragraph, are the events developed in chronological
order.
8. If it is a descriptive paragraph of a place or of an object, does it use
sensory details? Are details organized in a spatial order?
9. If it is a descriptive paragraph of a person, does it try to capture the
essence of the person? Does it appeal to the senses?
10. If it is an explanatory paragraph that gives in instruction, are the
instructions clear and precise? Are they organized in chronological
order?
11. If it is an explanatory paragraph that uses facts or statistics, are they
organized from the least important to the most important?
12. If it is an explanatory paragraph that uses examples, does it have one
well developed example or several brief but pertinent examples?
13. If it is an explanatory paragraph that uses an incident or anecdote, is it
drawn from first-hand experience?
14. If it is an explanatory paragraph that uses comparisons or contrasts, do
the comparisons involve similarities? Do the contrasts involve
differences?
15. If it is a persuasive paragraph, does it present reasons or arguments?
The Summary
The summary, unlike the paraphrase, cuts a selection down to about
one-third of its original length. Its purpose is to condense without losing the
basic meaning of the original. Being able to summarize material will be
particularly helpful in your research paper. In most cases, you will have to
condense material from your reading in order to prepare note cards.
The summary may not be new to you. Radio and television broadcasts
summarize important events of the day.
How to Write a Summary
1. Read the material
a. Read the selection carefully. There usually is a key sentence that
expresses the main point. Sometimes a topic sentence will summarize a
whole paragraph for you.
b. Note the important ideas, the order in which they occur, and the way the
writer has connected them. You may want to write these ideas briefly in your own words.
2. Write the Summary
a. Omit unnecessary details, examples, anecdotes, and repetitions. You may
want to retain some of the key words or technical language of the original, but the bulk of the summary should be in your own words.
b. Check your first draft to see that it includes all the important ideas of the
original. Any unnecessary or repetitious details should be omitted.
c. You may need to revise and rewrite. Your final summary should be about
one-third the length of the original. It should give all the essential
information in such a way that the reader can use it without referring to
the original.
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SWISH
This is a fun activity for those students who have a difficult time expressing
the wonderful thoughts they have inside. Working with a partner (adult and
student), the adult selects a topic known to the student. The student
randomly speaks words about the topic. The adult writes these words on a
piece of paper. Let's say five words have been written. Next, the student,
with assistance if necessary, places the word into a sentence. If car was a
word the student selected, the student will make a sentence using the word
car. Subsequently, all five words are in sentences. Next, the student
sequences the sentences into a paragraph.
This exercise may be practiced in stages where the student only practices
expressing five words at a time about a topic and attempts to increase the
number of words to ten. The goal is have the student freely expressing
words so that they have a starting point for writing.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
DYSGRAPHIA
"Dysgraphia" is a learning disability resulting from the difficulty in expressing
thoughts in writing and graphing. It generally refers to extremely poor
handwriting.
Each State has its own criteria which determine if a student has a learning
disability as it is defined by special education guidelines. When a student's
writing or graphing difficulties are severe enough to meet these criteria,
special education services are indicated. Problems arise because
"dysgraphia" has no clearly defined criteria. A student with any degree of
handwriting difficulty may be labeled "dysgraphic" by some educational
specialists, but may or may not need special education services.
Most learning disabled students experience difficulty with handwriting and
probably could be considered "dysgraphic". However, the term is seldom
used within public schools because of the lack of any generally recognized
or measurable criteria.
Underlying Causes
Students with dysgraphia often have sequencing problems. Studies indicate
that what usually appears to be a perceptual problem (reversing
letters/numbers, writing words backwards, writing letters out of order, and
very sloppy handwriting) usually seems to be directly related to
sequential/rational information processing. These students often have
difficulty with the sequence of letters and words as they write. As a result,
the student either needs to slow down in order to write accurately, or
experiences extreme difficulty with the "mechanics" of writing (spelling,
punctuation, etc.). They also tend to intermix letters and numbers in
formulas. Usually they have difficulty even when they do their work more
slowly. And by slowing down or getting "stuck" with the details of writing they
often lose the thoughts that they are trying to write about.
Students with an attention deficit disorder (especially with hyperactivity)
often experience rather significant difficulty with writing and formulas in
general and handwriting in particular. This is because ADHD students also
have difficulty organizing and sequencing detailed information. In addition,
ADHD students are often processing information at a very rapid rate and
simply don't have the fine-motor coordination needed to "keep up" with their
thoughts.
Some students can also experience writing difficulty because of a general
auditory or language processing weakness. Because of their difficulty learning and understanding language in general, they obviously have
difficulty with language expression. Recall that written language is the most
difficult form of language expression.
Although most students with dysgraphia do not have visual or perceptual
processing problems, some students with a visual processing weakness will
experience difficulty with writing speed and clarity simply because they aren't
able to fully process the visual information as they are placing it on the page.
SYMPTOMS
1. Students may exhibit strong verbal but particularly poor writing skills .
2. Random (or non-existent) punctuation. Spelling errors (sometimes same
word spelled differently); reversals; phonic approximations; syllable
omissions; errors in common suffixes. Clumsiness and disordering of
syntax; an impression of illiteracy. Misinterpretation of questions and questionnaire items. Disordered numbering and written number reversals.
3. Generally illegible writing (despite appropriate time and attention given the
task).
4. Inconsistencies : mixtures of print and cursive, upper and lower case, or irregular sizes, shapes, or slant of letters.
5. Unfinished words or letters, omitted words.
6. Inconsistent position on page with respect to lines and margins and
inconsistent spaces between words and letters.
7. Cramped or unusual grip, especially holding the writing instrument very
close to the paper, or holding thumb over two fingers and writing from the
wrist.
8. Talking to self while writing, or carefully watching the hand that is writing.
9. Slow or labored copying or writing - even if it is neat and legible.
STRATEGIES
1. Encourage students to outline their thoughts. It is important to get the main ideas down on paper without having to struggle with the details of spelling, punctuation, etc.
2. Have students draw a picture of a thought for each paragraph.
3. Have students dictate their ideas into a tape recorder and then listen and
write them down later.
4. Have them practice keyboarding skills. It may be difficult at first, but after
they have learned the pattern of the keys, typing will be faster and clearer
than handwriting.
5. Have a computer available for them to organize information and check
spelling. Even if their keyboarding skills aren't great, a computer can help
with the details.
6. Have them continue practicing handwriting. There will be times throughout
a student's life that they will need to be able to write things down and
maybe even share their handwriting with others. It will continue to improve
as long as the student keeps working at it.
7. Encourage student to talk aloud as they write. This may provide valuable
auditory feedback.
8. Allow more time for written tasks including note-taking, copying, and tests.
9. Outline the particular demands of the course assignments/continuous
assessment; exams, computer literacy etc. so that likely problems can be
foreseen.
10. Give and allow students to begin projects or assignments early.
11. Include time in the student's schedule for being a 'library assistant' or 'office assistant' that could also be used for catching up or getting ahead
on written work, or doing alternative activities related to the material being
learned.
12. Instead of having the student write a complete set of notes, provide a
partially completed outline so the student can fill in the details under
major headings (or provide the details and have the student provide the
headings).
13. Allow the student to dictate some assignments or tests (or parts thereof)
a 'scribe'. Train the 'scribe' to write what the student says verbatim and
then allow the student to make changes, without assistance from the
scribe.
14. Remove 'neatness' or 'spelling' (or both) as grading criteria for some
assignments, or design assignments to be evaluated on specific parts of
the writing process.
15. With the students, allow abbreviations in some writing (such as b/c for
because). Have the student develop a repertoire of abbreviations in a
notebook. These will come in handy in future note-taking situations.
16. Reduce copying aspects of work; for example, in Math, provide a
worksheet with the problems already on it instead of having the student
copy the problems.
17. Separate the writing into stages and then teach students to do the same.
Teach the stages of the writing process (brainstorming, drafting, editing,
and proofreading, etc.). Consider grading these stages even on some '
one-sitting' written exercises, so that points are awarded on a short
essay for brainstorming and a rough draft, as well as the final product.
18. On a computer, the student can produce a rough draft, copy it, and then
revise the copy, so that both the rough draft and final product can be
evaluated without extra typing.
19. Encourage the student to use a spellchecker and, if possible, have
someone else proofread his work, too. Speaking spellcheckers are
recommended, especially if the student may not be able to recognize the
correct word (headphones are usually included).
20. Allow the student to use cursive or manuscript, whichever is most legible.
21. Encourage primary students to use paper with the raised lines to keep
writing on the line.
22. Allow older students to use the line width of their choice. Keep in mind
that some students use small writing to disguise its messiness or
spelling.
23. Allow students to use paper or writing instruments of different colors.
24. Allow student to use graph paper for math, or to turn lined paper
sideways, to help with lining up columns of numbers.
25. Allow the student to use the writing instrument that is most comfortable
for them.
26. If copying is laborious, allow the student to make some editing marks
rather than recopying the whole thing.
27. Consider whether use of speech recognition software will be helpful. If
the student and teacher are willing to invest time and effort in 'training'
the software to the student's voice and learning to use it, the student can
be freed from the motor processes of writing or keyboarding.
28. Develop cooperative writing projects where different students can take on roles such as the 'brain stormer,' 'organizer of information,' 'writer,' proofreader,' and 'illustrator.'
29. Provide extra structure and use intermittent deadlines for long-term
assignments. Discuss with the student and parents the possibility of
enforcing the due dates by working after school with the teacher in the
event a deadline arrives and the work is not up-to-date.
30. Build handwriting instruction into the student's schedule. The details and
degree of independence will depend on the student's age and attitude,
but many students would like to have better handwriting.
31. Keep in mind that handwriting habits are entrenched early. Before
engaging in a battle over a student's grip or whether they should be
writing in cursive or print, consider whether enforcing a change in habits
will eventually make the writing task a lot easier for the student, or
whether this is a chance for the student to make his or her own choices.
Beware of overload, the student has other tasks and courses.
32. Teach alternative handwriting methods such as
Handwriting Without Tears
33. Writing just one key word or phrase for each paragraph, and then going
back later to fill in the details may be effective.
34. Multisensory techniques should be utilized for teaching both manuscript
and cursive writing. The techniques need to be practiced substantially so
that the letters are fairly automatic before the student is asked to use
these skills to communicate ideas.
35. Have the students use visual graphic organizers. For example, you can
create a mind map so that the main idea is placed in a circle in the center
of the page and supporting facts are written on lines coming out of the
main circle, similar to the arms of a spider or spokes on a wheel.
36. Do papers and assignments in a logical step-wise sequence. An easy
way to remember these steps is to think of the word POWER.
P - plan your paper
O - organize your thoughts and ideas
W - write your draft
E - edit your work
R - revise your work, producing a final draft
37. If a student becomes fatigued have them try the following:
* Shake hands fast, but not violently.
* Rub hands together and focus on the feeling of warmth.
* Rub hands on the carpet in circles (or, if wearing clothing with some
mild texture, rub hands on thighs, close to knees)
* Use the thumb of the dominant hand to click the top of a ballpoint pen
while holding it in that hand. Repeat using the index finger.
* Perform sitting pushups by placing each palm on the chair with fingers
facing forward. Students push down on their hands, lifting their body
slightly off the chair.
38. Allow student to tape record important assignments and/or take oral tests.
39. Prioritize certain task components during a complex activity. For
example, students can focus on using descriptive words in one
assignment, and in another, focus on using compound sentences.
40. Reinforce the positive aspects of student's efforts.
41. Be patient and encourage student to be patient with himself.
Strategies For Spelling Difficulties:
1. Encourage consistent use of spell checker to decrease the overall
demands of the writing task and encourage students to wait until the end
to worry about spelling.
2. Encourage use of an electronic resource such as the spell check
component in a Franklin Language MasterŽ to further decrease the
demands. If student has concurrent reading problems, a Language
MasterŽ with a speaking component is most helpful because it will
read/say the words.
3. Have the student look at each word, then close their eyes and visualize
how it looks, letter by letter.
4. Have the student spell each word out loud while looking at it, then look
away and spell it out loud again several times before writing it down.
5. Have the students break the spelling list down into manageable sections
of only 3 to 5 words. Then take a break after mastering each section.
6. Have a scrabble board and computer accessible for affected students.
