A Face for Successful Intervention with Struggling Writers




 

Has anyone seen the boy in the first picture in your class?  Of course you have and it is so 'frustrating' for you(as the teacher), the parents trying to help and ESPECIALLY for the student themselves.

Hopefully, with the information gained from this resource site your students will be successful

like the boy depicted happily in the second photo!!!

Slant Boards, Therabands and Disc-o-sit can help focus Reluctant Writers.

Is your child having difficulty controlling movement long enough to formulate ideas and get them on paper?  


There are many uses for the slant board. The Super Slant Board is perfect for use by individuals of all ages in developing fine motor skills, in providing a distraction-free surface for writing or reading, and in addressing task-related postural problems.  Back and neck pressure is reduced allowing more upright posture and minimizing fatigue in writing and drawing.

Therabands on the legs of chairs can help the child to release pressure through their feet so their mind can focus long enough to write. 

Also, another helpful aid is the Diso-o-Sit, which allows the child to have body movement while sitting and get the 'wiggles' out therfore taking away that anxiety and allowing the student to focus on the writing task.

A Wordle Summary of Our Writing Analysis Journey

A Wordle is a neat feature that takes a compilation of words that expresses our thoughts and ideas in a visual graphic.  It is quite interesting and visually appealing with a lot of learning potential when using with students. Teachers can use this with students for brainstorming, setting discussions, organizing, summarizing  what the student learned etc.  They love to see their ideas on paper displayed in a fun way!!!!

Sensory Processing Issues

Students with sensory processing issues have an added barrier when it comes to writing. Lack of motor skills, visual and auditory problems, and the ability to balance are all directly connected with the "act of writing". These simple things which many of us take for granted will adversely affect any student's ability to complete a task which we may consider mundane.

For students with a sensory processing disorder, the things which the rest of us take for granted can become a struggle. 
It is only in the last few years that sensory processing disorders have come into the spotlight. The good news is that they are developing new methods to help with these issues.

Visual Processing disorders are also an area of concern. Dr. Fernette Eide is an expert in this field.

A great app for fine motor skills for the ipad is Dexteria - Fine Motor Skills Development. ($4.99)

Dexteria-iPad(only)

A set of therapeutic hand exercise improve fine motor skills and hand writing readiness in students.
Dexteria taked full advantage of the iPads multi-touch interface to help build strength, control and dexterity.



Emotional Barriers to Writing: Are These Sometimes Overlooked?

I am sure we have all encountered students who have writing difficulties because of emotional barriers in their lives. Whether a student is scared, anxious, experiencing low self-esteem, fear of failure or any of the thousands of combinations which can change from day to day, it is critical that we “assist” them in these areas. Before students are able to write, we must be able to minimize these issues.

There are many ways to improve the symptoms of Emotional Behavioral Disorders.

Instead of dealing with the problem after the fact, we must respond at an earlier stage.

After watching this video can you imagine a students like this expected to write?  These factors need to be addressed in order for any written out can be acheived.  Providing and outlet to express their thoughts and feelings could be very therapeutic.  You can use programs that enable some element of fun when learning to write and a program that will build in immediate sucess.  Voice to text would be wonderful to ask them to get their words on paper.  A fun wordle might spark interest in the beginning stages of writing. Making a video and adding text and a little story would also be calming and allow them to process the writing task in increments.

Some apps we have found to help calm and relax the anxious student.

Pocket Pond (free)

Create relaxing ripples, while you enjoy the sounds of nature. This app will help cleanse your worried and free your mind. Interactive water reacts to touches and swipes. You can even feed the fish.

Zen Meditation ($0.99)

Sophiscated sequences of binaural tones, synchronized the listeners brainwaves with low frequency theta waves associated with deep meditation. Headphones are recommended. Induces a meditative state of mind to help relax and calm.

Learning such simple things can be a gigantic task for many. Imagine learning to write with no foundations.

Imagine learning a new way to write, hard or easy? 

Language has existed for as long as people have. Communication is perhaps the key element to our survival as a species. Without this ability to share our thoughts and feelings, we may not have become the dominantspecies on the planet or even be around today. The written word has been in existance for over 5000 years. While this seems like a long time it is only a drop in the bucket in the history of life on earth. The amount of languages that exist today are staggering and they are still dying at an astonishing rate. How can we take this extremely complicated, relatively new ability to emergent learners? What is truely amazing is that so many people actually have the ability to convey their understanding through the written word.
The problem becomes what do we do with those students who have difficulties, perhaps through no fault of their own.

Is your student experiencing difficulties with lower level writing?

If you have a student who is struggling with aspects of lower level writing skills such as mental planning, past experience recall, vocabulary, spelling, pencil grasp, OT visual concerns, proprioception and directionality etc then we can help.
Depending on where the breakdown occurs, after inital assessment, will depend on the type of intervention or assistive technology that could be implemented.  For example, if a student lacks manuel dexterity then a keyboard may be used(dependent on the level of dexterity) or voice recognition software could be used to assist writing.


Shake a Phrase (1.99)
This app writers inspiration to start writing by
building language, vocab, memory etc.



A few apps for young writers as well as older students are listed.

iWrite Words(2.99)
This is a app to teach
children the proper formation
of letters in a fun and educational way







Even if young students need a tactile way of learning letters
then there is a fun way to engage them.

Teaching the proper pencil grip is another video linked to teaching proper pencil grip.

What happens when fine motor issues are holding the student back from producing any written output?

Some options are AlphaSmart(Neo), Word Q+Speak Q, Voice Memo, Co-Writer SOLO, Fusion, Quickpad, Aurora Suite, EZ Keys for Windows and Write:Outloud.

A video of AlphaSmart usage is demonstrated below.

Dysgraphia Compensatory Aid