THE IMPORTANCE OF DIRECT INSTRUCTION IN HANDWRITING

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THE IMPORTANCE OF DIRECT INSTRUCTION IN
HANDWRITING
The Ins and Outs of Dysgraphia

• Sylvia Rendón, Ph.D. and Deb Culbertson, M.Ed.

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Dyslexia/Related Disorders

• Dysgraphia
• Scotopic Sensitivity
• Dyscalculia

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Dyslexia/Dysgraphia

• Inability to remember letter formations
• Results of Training GOOD

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Treatment for Dysgraphia

• Prevention
• Remediation
• Accommodation

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Checklist Signature of Dysgraphia

• Inability to maintain proper posture and to hold
  the writing tool appropriately.
• Inability to utilize space in the proper
  relationship.
• Poor attention to details.

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Developmental Writing Disorder

• Trouble areas
• Difficulty in expressing ones thoughts
• Poor English usage
• Poor punctuation and capitalization
• Difficulty with legible handwriting

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Secondary to Attention Deficit Disorder and
Tourettes Syndrome

• Poor attention to details

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Motor Skills

• Inability to maintain proper posture and to hold
  the writing tool appropriately.

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Defect in Understandingof Space

• Inability to utilize space in the proper
  relationship

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Observation Skills for Teachers

• Watch struggling writer at work
• Slowly trace over students handwriting

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Dyslexic ChildrenOverload in Short Term Memory

• The older a dyslexic student becomes, the more
  his or her warfare with inadequate handwriting
  adds an unnecessary burden to the task of written
  expression.
• The struggle with the forms and spelling of words
  stands in the way of the ability to remember a
  thread of thought long enough to capture it on
  paper.

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• Misconceptions -
• Dyslexic students see backwards or in an abnormal
  fashion.
• An intelligent child can see that the letters are
  the same symbol.
• Inadequate visual memory and sense of
  directionality confuses the orientation of
  letters and the duplication of letters.
• Lack of adequate direct teaching compounds the
  difficulty of the task.

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Suggestions for Regular Classroom

• Practice in handwriting
• Allow keyboarding
• Dictation production is increased 9X vs.
  handwriting and 20X vs. keyboarding.
• Allow extra time to complete written assignments
• Use cursive

• Avoid critical evaluation of handwriting
• Do not ask student to write without purpose
• Give multiple-choice, T/F, fill in the blank test
• Gross motor skill need to be broken into smaller
  tasks.

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Kinesthetic Learningand Handwriting

• First and strongest memory system
• Access to utilization
• Formation without effort
• Student deserves automatic handwriting
• 20 5 out of 8 students do not write fast
  enough to meet school demands.
• Students do not write fast enough to meet school
  demands.

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Cursive not Printing?

• Each letter starts on the line.
• Eliminates the need of picking up a pencil and
  deciding where to place it after each letter.
• Very few reversible letters.
• Eliminates word-spacing problems
• Gives words a flow and rhythm

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Teaching Strategies

• Techniques to help the student analyze letter
  formation prior to written instruction
• Strategies to structure the students handwriting
  during practice
• Techniques to help the student evaluate
  handwriting achievement during practice
• Strategies to aid in students selection of
  his/her on individual slant.
• Techniques to continue students transition from
  large letter formation to size applicable to
  classroom or business use.

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Essentials to Consider in Planning a Handwriting
Program

• Choose between styles of letters.
• Remember both cursive and manuscript as a first
  handwriting technique are supported by research
  without defined differences.

• Left-handers without a reading problem need to
  learn to turn their paper clockwise when they
  begin to write.
• Ambidextrous dyslexic students and certain
  left-handed students need direct instruction and
  attention.

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Handwriting Instruction Reading Intervention
Program

• Provides a systematic, multisensory and focused
  practice of letter formation.
• Provides a secondary student with the opportunity
  to practice for automaticity of letter formation
  without attention to verbal expression.
• Without early intervention the process is one of
  unlearning bad habits however, the remediation
  does improve short-term auditory memory and
  relieves some of the difficulties with retaining
  a train of thought.

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Criteria for Judging Quality

• Letter forms
• Slant
• Rhythm
• Space
• General Appearance

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THREE REASONS

• Handwriting allows access to kinesthetic memory.
• Spontaneous ability to use handwriting shifts
  student concentration to spelling and to written
  expression.
• In school and work environment, judgment of
  quality of work is based on handwriting.

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References

• Overcoming Dyslexia in Children, Adolescents, and
  Adults
• by Dale R. Jordan
• Writing Series by Diana Hanbury King including
• Cursive Writing Skills
• Writing Skills BKS 1 and 2
• Writing Skills for the Adolescent

Available at EPS Educators Publishing
Service 1-800-225-5750