Writing Difficulty-Dysgraphia

Writing With LD & ADHD: Countering the Perfect Storm

by | Sep 7, 2011 |

In a recent post,  we discussed the perfect storm of ADHD/LD and writing.  I noted that at the heart of ADHD and LD issues are deficits in active working memory.

Open-ended writing can be dreadfully difficult to school-struggling children because of these issues with active working memory. They find the task  of writing to be overwhelming on all levels. Typically, schools will recommend occupational therapy to address the issue.   While OT is a valid approach to start with, it really addresses the lowest level of the process—the fine-motor/motor-planning aspects of writing.

Highly structured methods that target the mastery of one skill at a time would be recommended.  With structured approaches you start at the smallest possible sentence level, such as two-word sentences. Children are trained to see that every sentence has at least a triangle  (noun) and a  square (verb).

Dogs run

Kids would practice mastering two-word sentences such as this. When they have this skill down, they would move on to other skills, adding other elements to the sentence, such as an article (circle) and adjective (diamond):

The lively dogs run.

These visual anchors help children who are not intuitive with their writing. This level of sentence would be practiced in many different ways and with some variation. From there, more complex sentences would be introduced.

Once sentences are mastered, then the child is to work on the concept of a paragraph, with a topic sentence and four or five supporting sentences.

This is a highly sequential, skill-mastery approach to writing development. Such an approach is contrary to the more popular “open-ended” approaches that are the  norm in  many classrooms. It may not be quite as glitzy or as much fun, but it is an approach that  the struggling school population can understand.

Practicing such simple sentences as “Dogs run” or “People walk,” and building on them in a scaffold-like approach, gives struggling children with  ADHD, LD  or dyslexia a greater sense of  confidence and skill mastery.

ADHD, LD & Writing: A Perfect Storm

by | Aug 26, 2011 | ,

To stimulate me out of the late summer doldrums, I looked to this news of the day feature that came across my e-mail inbox:

“Writing problems common in kids with ADHD,” said the news header. As the start of the article noted, ‘Kids with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are more likely to have writing problems such as poor spelling and grammar than their peers, suggests a new study.”    (reut.rs/oLagaR)

Very often the only treatment that I hear being suggested to address these issues is for the child to receive occupational therapy. While OT’s do very nice work with kids, writing is a complex process, with the occupational therapy  only scratching the surface, working primarily at the fine-motor level of functioning.

There is much more underlying the writing problems than fine-motor difficulty. Children with ADHD and related learning disabilities almost always have trouble with active working memory.   Often, there are related issues with usage of language.

Open-ended writing (e.g., write about your weekend), the favored approach to writing in most classrooms, places a great “load” on active working memory. Think about how much you have to hold in your mind when doing a simple writing activity such as “write about your weekend.”

The answer that I have seen work best with struggling children is to teach them in highly structured ways, one baby step mastered at a time. These approaches are very similar to the way reading is taught with the Orton-Gillingham methods work with reading and are in direct contrast to the popular approaches of open-ended writing.

 (For a good example of structured approaches to writing, see Landmark College’s writing program, From Talking to Writing: Strategies for Scaffolding Expository Expression, bit.ly/nKots7.)

Screeching on the Violin

by | May 6, 2011 |

Once a pon a time their was a boy who had no friends so he was always alon But then one day  every thing change His mom gave him a violin to play it sounded horabel so he said he said I am never playing this agin so then one Day he went in the store and heard a guy play the vialin it sonded awesome so he said to his mom that’s how I want to play well then you need to pratis and then he did and he was so good at it.

This is a story written by a 10 year old boy named Grant. It is written to a psychological test card that shows a boy looking at a violin. How the character manages the violin and resolves playing the violin in the story created by the child, often reveals the child’s underlying feelings about achievement and self-worth. This story is written exactly as Grant wrote it.
 
After working with the Grant, I was struck how much the story was a true x-ray of how he was feeling. While Grant intuitively understands he is not measuring up, he is still optimistic, as the story suggests. In reality, others around Grant are easily reading chapter books, while he is struggling at much lower reading levels. Grant is also struggling with writing, and he is starting to feel the pressure of teachers and parents talking about meeting "The Common Core State Standards," something that Grant has no idea what that means, but is nonetheless increasing his anxiety.
 
Grant is also starting to sense that others are snickering at him and he is feeling increasingly embarrassed.
 
Grant needs to learn how to write in structured, systematic ways, so that he can begin to understand how to write a sentence and use basic punctuation. Insisting that Grant respond to open-ended writing prompts will likely leave him feeling frustrated and unable to know how to proceed. 
 
The appropriate work for Grant will take a great deal of time and focused practice at the sentence level.  Once Grant can master the writing of simple sentences, he can move on to sentences that are more complex. Perhaps, then, he can start to work on a simple paragraph and practice writing paragraphs for while, before moving on to more involved essays.
 
Grant also is in need of connection and to believe in himself more.
 
So, if your child is metaphorically screeching on the violin, try and find people who understand the nature of the remedial work needed and who can reach the child at both the skill level and the emotional level.  This is what happens with good learning therapy. 
 
After a while there may be less screeching and better sounds coming from the "violin."
 
(Adapted from "School Struggles," Richard Selznick, Ph.D.  Sentient Publications 2012)

First Grade Writing Demands Overwhelming

by | Jul 13, 2009 |

This week I met James, age 7 and a half.   In my assessment of James, I found him to be extremely bright, with excellent higher level reasoning skills and a lively spontaneous personality.  His reading skills were developing nicely, matching his strong cognitive abilities.  Yet, James had a very rough first grade year.  Openly stating how much he disliked school, James was becoming discouraged.  What was the problem?

In a nutshell, James found writing to be an excruciating process and one that he had to face every morning.

For many kids (often the boys) there is a mismatch between their cognitive abilities and their ability to get the words out of their pencil and on to the page.

Open ended writing (e.g., “write about your weekend”) is particularly challenging for these kids.   Getting started on the writing is particularly challenging.

This was indeed the case for James.

Dr. Mel Levine in his many books on learning issues points out how demanding the writing process is for kids (and adults).  I have heard Dr. Levine say in conferences that writing is the single most difficult process of schooling.  Think about it. If you were asked to write about your weekend, consider the many things that would occur for you to complete the task. Some of these would include:

· Visualizing your weekend
· Deciding what aspect of the weekend to discuss (major vs. minor detail)
· Word retrieval
· Word choice
· Spelling
· Fine motor
· Active working memory (concurrently holding information in your mind to act on it)

For young James it was all too much.   James would like school much more if could approach writing in more digestible bites.  He wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed.

Practicing simple sentences (e.g., “Dogs run.”  “People walk) and building on these sentences in a scaffold-like approach would give James a sense of confidence. 

I recommend that you get a hold of Diana Hanbury King’s,  Writing Skills to learn more about the structured, step-by-step approach to writing development.
 

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