Learning & Movement – Handwriting (warning sign #2)
Cindy strolls into her first grade class and stands by her desk.
“Hang up your coat and bag.”
“Ok.”
“Take out your journal to do your writing for today.”
“Ok.”
Cindy slouches at her desk and begins to write. She hated writing. Sometimes, she confused b with d, and p with q. She switched around words, like from and form, and saw and was. When the teacher passed Cindy’s desk, and looked at her work, not only did some of the words appear to swim between the lines, but also, each line seemed to have just one super-long word. And in addition to the spacing and placement issues, her spelling was peculiar…often became ofetn, and only turned into olny.
If these problems follow Cindy into the 2nd grade, she must be monitored for other signs of a learning disability. Research shows that children who continue to have trouble in writing at age 7 and beyond may have a learning disability.
Why is that?
As I mentioned in the previous post, handwriting and pencil grip hold neurological importance. Writing requires a brain-hand-eye relationship.
Handwriting involves a relationship between visual processing skills and fine motor control. In other words, the brain has to coordinate both the eyes and hand, simultaneously. Therefore, weaknesses in either area will affect the child’s handwriting.
Control for the movement required when writing originates in the brain stem, which also controls reading, writing, spelling and speech functions.
Consequently, difficulties in visual-motor skills may have a direct influence on academic performance.
Studies in learning show a high correlation between learning difficulties and fine motor control.
Poor handwriting may indicate visual processing or motor control weaknesses.
When caught early, interventions may be put in place to avert these difficulties developing into learning disabilities.
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