A new, small study came out the other day linking autism with bad handwriting. To be honest, I intended to ignore the study, since it seemed on the one hand to be rediscovering the wheel (bad handwriting and autism go together? surely you jest!) and on the other hand it didn't seem terribly important even if true.
But I see that a number of major media outlets including the Washington Post have picked up the story... so I thought it might be a good idea to at least nod in its general direction.
Yes, kids with autism typically have bad handwriting. There are a number of reasons for this, most notably the fact that autism means "pervasive developmental delay," which means "delays in all areas, including fine motor coordination." In other words, kids with autism have fine motor delays which makes pencil-handling tougher. Kids with autism may also have a hard time grasping the concept and purpose of letter-making.
Generally speaking, handwriting issues are addressed in the youngest years through occupational therapy. After a few years, though, if the issues haven't been overcome (and in autism they rarely are), schools give up altogether and teach kids to use the keyboard. And that's usually much more successful!
Bottom line, of all the issues for kids with autism to worry about, I'd place handwriting near the end of the list. If you think about it, in today's world we very, very rarely use handwriting to communicate with anyone except ourselves. We may jot down to-do lists or lecture notes (though we're as likely to use a handheld or laptop even then). We sign checks and address envelopes. And that's... about it!
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Handwriting and the Child with Autism: Don't Sweat It
From Lisa Jo Rudy, About.com GuideNovember 12, 2009
Explore Autism Spectrum Disorders
One, it’s not only fine motor skills and over all delay with hand writing, it also involves visual processing and hand/ finger strength muscle tone. You also have to give notice to those with wonderful hand writing with also drawing of those with autism. Two, I disagree with schools ‘giving up all together and going to a key board’ and I am wondering where you get that info from? Your own experience? Schools just don’t often fork over a key board any more than they do 1:1 Para’s. It’s at the parents persistence in using them.
This is a great topic, even if you choose to ignore it since for instance my child has great issues in all the 5 area’s of this study that was looked at, and it closes the door to make suggestions as to what we do to help those things that could help others.
My 1st grade son has struggled with handwriting. He has come along way over the last year. A big improvement happened when we had him switch over to a fat pencil (maybe you remember when you learned how to write in school). Hard to find in stores both worthwhile; the school actually had them too when we asked (before his school was giving him #2 pencils).
Oddly enough, handwriting is my 6 year old’s strong area. She still can’t speak in sentances, but she sure can write her name beautifully and draw some lovely pictures! It probably not the most practical senario but her love of art and letters has been helpful for teaching other skills. I guess it’s all about working with the strengths and not sweating the weak areas.
“Since the implementation of the SIDS “Back to Sleep” campaign, therapists are seeing increasing numbers of kindergarten-aged children who are unable to hold a pencil.”
Susan Syron, Pediatric Physical Therapist
“There are indications of a rapidly growing population of infants who show developmental abnormalities as a result of prolonged exposure to the supine position.”
Dr. Ralph Pelligra regarding the impact of the Back to Sleep Campaign
Handwriting is a huge struggle for Adam. I chuckled (how come I always do that when I read magazine articles) when I read in Today’s Parent that “scribbles” are a sign of cognitive delay. The article was written to help parents identify children with LD’s.
While it may be true on that clinical level, I don’t care. I have saved every marking, every piece of art, every attempt, and particularly cherish Adam’s first drawing of “mommy” when he was six years old!
Yet today we have computers. And we have to use them. Adam is allowed to use his own private laptop and printer in his classroom. Instead of “writing” in his notebook, he prints out his pages and glues them in, thus creating his own notebook — no different than the other kids.
He practices handwriting, but its not the be-all and end-all. Everyone has to find the other ways and use them or else our kids are missing out.
I LOVE finding solutions to every so-called “problem.”
My husband has benn saying for years our son’s hand writting and spelling problems do not concern him in this age of technology. I somewhat agree. My son is in second grade and has Aspergers syndrome. He is in a regular school with special Ed. While he doesn’t seem to grasp any need for spelling , punctuation or even spaces between words , he loves to write. His imagination is incredible and I am sure his best chance at success. Do I fret over the spelling and handwriting(his school certainly does), or ignore it and concentrate on his strengths.
I will go ahead and spell check now, actually maybe not.
Some of you may like to see the web-site of someone with Asperger’s and the accompanying handwriting problems who went on to become a handwriting improvement specialist –
http://www.HandwritingThatWorks.com —
and who went on to work with a software company that produces handwriting instruction/remediation software for the iPhone —
http://bit.ly/BetterLetters.com
some schools in los angeles county are using a program called http://www.fonts4teachers.com for autistic children with promising results….