A number of students struggle with handwriting and related fine motor coordination skills. There are two very distinct levels of challenge with handwriting.
(1) Dysgraphia
The term “dysgraphia” simply means disordered (or poor) handwriting. Students with dysgraphia may have slow, laborious handwriting, poor handwriting quality, and awkward ways of gripping the pencil. These students can benefit from learning new ways to hold the pencil, using pencil grips, and practicing their penmanship.
Over the past few years, some have used the term “dysgraphia” to indicate problems with written expression. This is not the meaning of this term. If a student has significant trouble with written expression, she is typically diagnosed with a specific learning disorder with impairment in written expression.
(2) Developmental Coordination Disorder hampering Fine Motor Skills (DCD, FM)
Students with this specific disorder have trouble with handwriting plus they struggle with underlying fine motor coordination skills on developmental tests administered by developmental and learning specialists.
For example, on the Beery Developmental Visual-Motor Tests, the student with DCD, FM will typically have below-average to above-average scores on the Visual-Motor Integration test, and he or she will usually score average to above average on the Visual Perception test. In contrast, her Fine Motor Coordination scores will be below average to poor or even very poor. Similar patterns are typical on other measures of visual-motor abilities.
Unlike students with dysgraphia, the student with this level of difficulty will not be able to improve their handwriting skills by practicing penmanship, using a special pencil grip, or learning new ways to hold the pencil. Developmental Coordination Disorder is a specific medical diagnosis, and students with this diagnosis require accommodations for their fine motor deficits.
A Note about Students with ADHD
For students with ADHD, these struggles have been thought to be the result of impulsivity and hyperactivity in the past. Although occasional poor handwriting may occur because of rushing, recent research has shown that consistent fine motor coordination deficits are a separate and distinct challenge in individuals with ADHD that deserve evaluation and support.
Manage Expectations
It is important to understand that expecting a student with handwriting and fine motor coordination deficits to complete handwritten tasks quickly and easily sets her up for constant failure and frustration: there is nothing she can do to improve this. It is like asking someone who is blind to read without brail.
When given extra time, the student with DCD, FM may exhibit better handwriting but it comes at the expense of the amount of time, physical, and mental effort required to make that happen.
These struggling students learn much less from handwritten assignments because they must focus more on handwriting mechanics than on the content. In other words, after spending more time on an assignment than their peers, these students understand the material less. As a result, belief in their ability to learn suffers.
When handwriting and fine motor coordination are the primary barrier to learning or demonstrating knowledge, then accommodations must be considered.
Furthermore, because there is no specific research-proven method for improving fine motor coordination deficits, it is critical to consider age-appropriate accommodations aimed at reducing the impact of poor handwriting quality and slower handwriting rate.
Reduce the Impact of Slower Handwriting Rate
Parents and educators are encouraged to consider ways to reduce the impact of the child/teen’s slower handwriting rate.
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Allow the student more time for handwritten tasks including copying, note-taking, and test items that require handwriting.
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Allow him to begin writing projects or assignments early.
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Include time in the student’s schedule for catching up or getting ahead on written work, or doing alternative activities related to the material being learned.
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Have the student prepare notebook assignment papers with required headings (Name, Date, etc.) in advance so that he does not lose time doing so in the classroom. An innovative approach might include allowing the student to use pre-printed labels that include her name and all other necessary information.
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When the demand for taking notes increases, the student would benefit from being provided copies of teachers’ lectures. He should continue taking notes in class to practice this skill, but he would benefit from obtaining copies of notes from either the teacher or another student who can successfully record the pertinent information.
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Some students can benefit from taking notes on the computer using a program like Microsoft OneNote that records the lecture as they are taking notes. This allows a student to listen to only the part of the lecture she missed. See my post about notetaking tools for more information.
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Instead of having the student write a complete set of notes, it might be helpful to provide a partially completed outline so she can fill in the details under major headings (or provide the details and have her write the headings).
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If he is expected to write answers in complete sentences that reflect the question asked, have the student do this for half of the questions to show that he can complete the assigned task. Then, allow him to answer the rest of the questions in phrases or words.
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For multiple-step handwriting activities, prioritize the most important parts of the activity. For example, when learning vocabulary words, requires that he write the word, the definition, and sentences using the word, it may be best for the student with fine-motor deficits to write one sentence using each of the vocabulary words and then highlight the important phrases and words in his vocabulary book rather than copying each definition.
Reduce the Impact of Poor Handwriting Quality
The student’s parents and educators are encouraged to consider accommodations adaptive for handwriting quality by changing the grading criteria used for written work.
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Don’t count off for handwriting quality when the student is required to use handwriting on daily work, quizzes, tests, and standardized tests.
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Don’t count off for spelling errors associated with handwriting and fine motor deficits. Students with these difficulties are often so focused on handwriting that they will leave out letters and struggle to remember spelling rules in the moment.
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Grade long-term writing assignments on individual parts of the writing process (grammar usage, sentence structure, paragraph structure, narrative organization, etc) rather than handwriting.
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Allow the student to use cursive or manuscript, considering which is easiest for him. 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 him, or whether this is a chance for the student to make his or her own choices.
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Allow the student to use the most comfortable writing instrument he can find. Many students have difficulty writing with ballpoint pens, preferring pencils or pens which have more friction in contact with the paper. Let him find a ‘favorite pen’ or pencil (and then get more than one like that).
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When developing cooperative writing projects where different students can take on different roles, pair him with another student who can complete the handwriting while allowing him to provide his knowledge verbally and in other creative ways.
Change the Format and the Tools Used
The student’s parents and educators are encouraged to consider changing the format and tools used for written work.
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Allow the student to dictate lengthy writing assignments to a parent or teacher. This individual should type what the student says verbatim and then allow him to make changes, without the transcriber’s assistance.
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In the long run, using the computer for most of his written work is recommended. Because the fine motor skills required for typing are quite different from those skills necessary for handwriting, using the computer can result in improvement in the quality and quantity of the student’s written output. Check out my post about using assistive technology for more information.
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Using a computer, the student can make 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.
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As students with fine motor coordination deficits get older, the use of speech recognition software may be helpful. If the student and her parent are willing to invest time and effort into ‘training’ the software to her voice and learning to use it, she can be freed from the motor processes of writing or keyboarding. Dragon Speech Recognition and Texthelp Read and Write offer this type of technology for students.
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For students in Texas public schools, parents and educators are encouraged to determine whether basic transcribing or complex transcribing would best accommodate their needs on the STAAR tests. Parents are encouraged to go to the Texas Education Agency Accommodation Resources page for more information.
Offer Alternative Assignments
Consider offering the student an alternative project such as an oral report or visual project. It can be helpful to establish a rubric to define what you want her to include so that her completed work can be evaluated based on specific requirements.
For example, if the original assignment was to write a 3-page descriptive essay on one aspect of the American Revolution you might want the oral or visual assignment to include a description of why that aspect was important, the names of four people involved and descriptions of their accomplishments, and four important events with descriptive details (who, what, where, etc.).
Monitor and Address Written Expression Challenges
Because of their challenges with handwriting, several students don’t like to write and their ability to express themselves in writing can suffer significantly when compared to their strong verbal and reasoning abilities. These students can benefit from learning about the structure of the English language as it relates to written expression. For more information, consider supplementing instruction with structuring tools and strategies.
Need More Help?
Many students with executive functioning challenges, learning disorders, and ADHD have co-existing handwriting and fine motor deficits. Dr. Davenport administers a brief battery of tests including tests of verbal cognition, visual-motor integration, visual perception, fine motor coordination, and written language to determine the true nature of a student’s struggles. Based on his findings, he then recommends specific ways to support her needs.
If you need an evaluation or help to apply any of these concepts, please email us or call 817.421.8780 to make an appointment.
© 2011-2020, Monte W. Davenport, Ph.D.
