Handwriting and Autism

8/10/2019 Handwriting and Autism

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James Williams

My Handwriting Perspective

DISCLAIMER: James personal information shown in Figure 2 is fordisplay purposes only, and should not be used to solicit the

presenter. If you want to contact James, please use his Daynumber, not his Evening number.


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I grew up in a town with a fragmentedschool system. The elementary and

middle schools were served by districtsseparate from the high school.

As a result, the high school district had ahandwriting policy that was separatefrom that of the elementary and

middle school I attended.


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When I was a 5thgrader in the1999-2000 school year,cursive was mandatory inmy elementary school,starting from the 2ndgrade.

In the 5th

grade, I still hadsome struggles withhandwriting.

Figure 1. Recreation of wordsfrom spelling tests I had,and how I wrote them,

since original tests were notpreserved.

Notice how the word rubiesis spelled rulies. I knewhow to spell the word butmiswrote the letter b,

writing it as an l instead. Ilearned from my mistake,and it was the only word Iever spelled incorrectly on aspelling test the entireschool year.


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Also notice the inconsistency in thesize of my letters. Due to finemotor coordination issues, itwas easier and took less energyfor me to write my cursiveletters larger, and I endured

fatigue when trying to writesmaller letters. I also used thelines as a guide to properlymaintain letter size with largerletters.

Finally, the word basic was aword from an assignment I wasgiven after the spelling testwith rubies, which is shownhere to demonstrate that aftermaking the rubieshandwriting mistake, I learnedhow to write the letter bproperly in cursive. I took pridein my spelling (and was one of

the top spellers in my 5thgradeclass), and this mistake on aspelling test motivated me tolearn how to handwriteproperly.


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In contrast, the high school had the oppositepolicyyou were expected to print andcursive was frowned on. Teachers would tellyou that printing was easier to read andencouraged you to write that way.

Figure 2.Section of a jobapplication Iquickly filledout by handwhile in high

school,showcasing theprinting stylecommonly usedto completeassignments at

my high school.


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Twelve years later, inthe 2012-2013 schoolyear, my youngersister started 5thgrade

in the sameelementary school,where she was subjectto the same cursiveexpectations.

Figure 3. Sample writingassignment given tomy sister in the 5thgrade, whichshowcases the sameexpectations that Iwas subject to in1999.


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My development was unlike that of most children, in that Ilearned how to read and write before I learned how to talk. Ialso learned how to type before I could handwrite, and to thisday, I prefer typing over handwriting.

But in elementary school, I still had many struggles withhandwriting. Some of them were due to fine motor issues thatare very subtle and invisible to the eye. These strugglesresulted in fatigue after writing for long amounts of time, anda tendency to write large. It was hard for me to write insmaller sizes and within the lines of lined paper.

In the fifth grade, it was hard for me to write small letters. Myteacher threatened to take points off assignments unless Ilearned how to write smaller. However, my teacher did let metype my homework assignments because it was easier for me.I also tended to get higher scores on typewritten assignments.


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Later on, as a high school student during the 2006-07school year, I served as an intern in a kindergartenclassroom with my former kindergarten teacher.There, I observed how the kindergarten curriculum

revolved largely around handwriting, and how astudents ability to handwrite was often determinedto see if they needed special education services.

As was required of the internship, I kept a diary of the

activities I participated in and created for thestudents.

While I was completing the internship, I attended the2006 MAAP Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. At

this conference, the keynote presentersDr. BrendaSmith Myles and Dr. Tony Atwoodtwo prominentfigures in the autism world, both shared that theybelieved that handwriting standards should beremoved from school curricula.

I was shocked when I heard those statements.


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From my publication Diary of a Kindergarten Intern, originally writtenin 2006 (with all names and identities changed):

During music, Mrs. Michaels, an occupational therapist, came to theroom to discuss with Mrs. Shapiro the state of Rogers handwriting.

Apparently Roger is able to write properly with a grip but refuses todo so when he is forced. And unlike the situation I was in when I washis age (writing with an improper grip but quite beautifully), he notonly wrote with a bad grip but wrote poorly.

What also deepened the problem was that not only was he unwillingto write, but because of his intelligence, he did not qualify for special

services or an IEP at the school (he lacked a 504). I informed Mrs.Shapiro and Mrs. Michaels that I had done a free time handwritingproject with him, but since I did not force him, he was willing tocomply and wrote quite well.

My project consisted of asking him to write his name in two stylesblock letters and typewriter (serif) letters. I was going to writebubble letters next but did not due to lack of time. However, sincethat did not consist of the handwriting they required for a validhandwriting evaluation, those sheets were not valid, but I was stillgiven recognition for my effort by Mrs. Michaels. Its truly sad that,due to bureaucratic rules, they can only take a formal evaluationsheet as a record of a students performance, even though my funactivity had already shown that the problem was more likely the

evaluation sheet than his actual writing ability.


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The passage from this diary illustrates howhandwriting impacts a teachers judgment of a

student, as well as the importance of properlyteaching handwriting to students. In this situation,I engaged in a fun handwriting activity with astudent, only to learn later that this same studentactually had been formally diagnosed withhandwriting deficits.

Sometimes, kids need to learn handwritingdifferently. The free time activity I did was not

meant to show Rogers ability, neither was itintended to teach handwritingit was just anactivity I created that inadvertently showed apossible learning disability.


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Similarly, descriptions that showcase how teachers view handwriting inthe educational curriculum can be found in childrens literature.

One example of such a description can be found in the book Ramona

The Pest, written by Beverly Cleary (1958):

The next day the seat work got harder. Miss Binney said thateveryone had to learn to print his name. Ramona learned right awaythat this business of names was not fair. When Miss Binney handedeach member of the class a strip of cardboard with his name printedon it, anyone could see that a girl named Ramona was going to have

to work harder than a girl named Ann or a boy named Joe.

Not that Ramona minded having to work hardershe was eager tolearn to read and write. Having been the youngest member of herfamily and of the neighborhood, however, she had learned to watchfor unfair situations.

Carefully Ramona printed R the way Miss Binney had printed it. Awas easy. Even a baby could print A. Miss Binney said A was pointedlike a witchs hat, and Ramona was planning to be a witch for theHalloween parade. O was also easy. It was a round balloon. Somepeoples Os looked like leaky balloons, but Ramonas Os wereballoons full of air.


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I like the way Ramonas Os are fat balloons full of air, Miss Binneysaid to the class, and Ramonas heart filled with joy. Miss Binney likedher Os best!

Miss Binney walked around the classroom looking over shoulders.Thats right, boys and girls. Nice pointed As, she said. As with nicesharp peaks. No, Davy. D faces the other way. Splendid, Karen. I likethe way Karens has a nice straight back.

Ramona wished she had a K in her name, so that she could give it a nicestraight back. Ramona enjoyed Miss Binneys description of the lettersof the alphabet and listened for them while she worked.

A second example can be found in the book Felicity Learns A Lesson, thesecond book in the Felicity series written by Valerie Tripp (1991) aboutFelicity, a historical character in the American Girls Collection (set incolonial Virginia in 1774), proper handwriting is shown to be consideredan essential skill for girls to become gentlewomen:

From Chapter 1 (set in Felicity Merrimans house):

Felicity sat up. Am I to be apprenticed, Father? she asked hopefully.Some girls were apprentices. They learned to be seamstresses, or tomake hats, or even to work in shops. Felicity had always dreamed ofworking in her fathers store.


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Goodness, no! exclaimed her mother. You are fortunate enough to bethe daughter of Edward Merriman, one of Williamsburgs mostimportant merchants. You are to be educated as a gentlewoman.

Oh, said Felicity. She was disappointed. What am I to learn?

The things my aunt taught me, said Mrs. Merriman. You will havelessons in dancing, handwriting, fancy stitchery, the proper way toserve tea (emphasis added)

From Chapter 2 (set during lessons with Miss Manderly, Felicitys teacher):

When the tea tray was cleared away, Annabelle went off to practicewriting fancy capital letters. Miss Manderly wrote out a phrase forElizabeth and Felicity to copy into their copybooks:

Think ere you fpeak for W ords once

flown

Once utterd are no more your own.


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Miss Manderly sat back and read it aloud, Think ere you speak, forwords, once flown, once uttered, are no more your own. I would likeyou to practice writing this phrase, she said. The word ere meansbefore. The phrase tells you to think before you speak. And I think it isa good idea to think before you write, too. She smiled, and then left to

help Annabelle.

And finally, in a third example, from Theres A Boy In The GirlsBathroom, written by Louis Sachar (1987), demonstrates how astudents performance in school, in handwriting for instance, canimprove with the proper motivation:

In this story, the main character, a boy named Bradley Chalkers, is failingacademically. He exhibits many tendencies of a disability, but hiscondition is not named. He finally receives help from Carla Davis, thenew school counselor, which also motivates him to help himself:

Bradley lay on the bed, on his stomach. He chewed the end of his pencilas he looked hopelessly at the arithmetic book, opened in front of him.

Next to the book was a piece of paper. In the upper right-hand cornerhe had written:

Bradley Chalkers / Homework / Arithmetic / Page 43 / Red Hill School /Room 12 / Mrs. Ebbels class / Last seat, last row / Black eye


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His handwriting, which was messy anyhow, was made worse by thefact that he wrote with a dull pencil on top of a soft bed.

Later on, after school at the playground as he starts his arithmetichomework using handwriting

Hey Bradley, what are you doing? asked Ronnie.

Homework.

Whats homework? she asked.

Its work you do at home.

Is that supposed to be funny? she asked.

No, really. Thats what they do at school. They give you work to do athome and they call it homework.

Youve never done it before, she said.

Im doing it for Carla. Now leave me alone so I can concentrate.


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Key points to notice in the following passages:

- In each passage, handwriting abilityimpacts performance in a school setting,regardless of the era and setting.

- The students in each passage comprehendhandwriting better when they havesufficient motivation, and when instruction

relates to something they can understand:an example is Ramona personifying theletters she is writing.


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To continue with my experiences

A year after completing the internship, I was selected to serve asone of several scribes for a student in my high school (as partof our schools peer mentoring program) who had a handdeformity and could not write on his own. He got good gradesin the class where I served as his scribe.

The selection was made after a special education teacher went toseveral classrooms and asked active peer mentors in thoseclasses to give him a handwriting sample, in hopes of finding apeer mentor with the most legible handwriting. I wasconsidered to have written the most legible handwriting in theclass.

The next year, he lost his accommodation to have a scribe. I was

in one of his classes as a classmate, and was told that I couldnot write things down for him. Without a scribe, his gradesand ability to perform in the classroom declined significantly.This added to my understanding of how handwritingperformance impacts classroom performance.


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Looking back at my experiences, I have concluded the followingabout handwriting in education:

1. Teachers and schools need to spend less time emphasizing a

specific handwriting style, and more time on whether or not astudents handwriting is legible.

2. In addition, alternative methods of holding pens and pencilsshould be allowed by teachers if these methods enablestudents with motor issues to write legibly. Conventional

pen/pencil-holds do not work for everyone, and sometimes ittakes longer to learn to hold a pen conventionally than it takesto learn to write. I learned to handwrite before I learned apen/pencil hold. And there is more than one efficient way tohold a pen/pencil.

3. Although computers and iPads are more widely used in schoolsand society, handwriting is still essential. For example, westill need to sign our names, and sometimes need to addressletters and fill out forms by hand. However, in each of thesecases, what matters the most is legibility, not a specific style.Furthermore, in high school, the supply list for each school

year always included: All classes require paper and pencil.


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Finally, though the ability to write is an

essential skill for other classes in school,and for life, a student with handwritingissues should use assistive technology inclasses unrelated to handwritingperformance (such as science and history).When you need to teach handwriting, teachit in a handwriting class and/or duringdesignated handwriting practice session.However, a student who is still learning

handwriting skills, and/or who hashandwriting deficits, should not bepenalized having these deficits and/orinstructional needs.


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Works Cited

Cleary, Beverly. Ramona The Pest (1958). Book is part of the RamonaQuimby series. Published by HarperCollins.

Williams, James. Diary of a Kindergarten Intern. First written in 2006,self- published on my website, www.jamesmw.com/diary/, in 2011,with names and identities changed to maintain confidentiality.

Tripp, Valerie. Felicity Learns A Lesson (1991). Written as part of theFelicity series, and published as part of the historical characterseries by The American Girls Collection. Published by American GirlPublications.

Sachar, Louis. Theres A Boy In The Girls Bathroom (1987). Published byScholastic, Inc.

School district policies in this presentation refer toNorthbrook/Glenview District 30, and Northfield Township HighSchool District 225, school districts that serve portions ofNorthbrook, Illinois and Glenview, Illinois, two suburbs of Chicago.
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