How to identify a handwriting problem
Often the first indication of a handwriting problem is when the work produced is below the expected standard. This section explains how to identify a handwriting difficulty in a primary school child. It will discuss why noticing a problem is essential and analyses what to look for when thinking a child may have a handwriting problem. There is a checklist on how to spot a child with a handwriting difficulty in your classroom.
The impact of handwriting difficulties is more than not being able to keep up academically with peers or experiencing physical pain. Such difficulties can cause low self-esteem. Children can become frustrated and lack the confidence to complete homework or school projects. Over time they may even try to avoid doing handwriting activities.
Handwriting provides an indication to how a child is both physically and cognitively developing. The ability to write is not solely linked to the acquisition of one skill and often children struggle due to its complexity.
Writing requires the combination of correct body posture, visual motor skills, motor planning, cognition, appropriate behaviour, tactile and perceptual skills. By adulthood the use of these seven skills becomes so automatic that sometimes it is easy to forget the intricacies involved for a child to learn this essential activity.
In the primary classroom, handwriting remains a core activity for most subjects. The ability to write influences reading, language and critical thinking skills. Handwriting problems can cause a reduction in the amount of work produced and physical pain in the hand. It can result in pupils struggling to remember letters. They might copy letters and spell words incorrectly. Alternatively they can struggle to extract meaning from words, phrases or topic books.
Writing requires more physical energy if it is a problem area. Research has also shown that when writing the brain gets its energy from oxygen that is transferred into glucose. The glucose acts as fuel to help the brain. However, if a child is struggling to write they use more oxygen meaning the body has to work harder to create the resources to think. This is why body posture can alter from sitting up straight in a chair to appearing to be slumped over a desk as the child no longer has the energy to remain sitting upright.
In the long term a handwriting problem can negatively affect exam grades. Studies have concluded that examiners allocate lower marks to students whose work was poorly written. Sweedler-Brown concluded this was regardless of the quality of the content. In turn poor exam results impact on career choices.
Handwriting problems need to be identified to reduce the impact upon all lessons, body fatigue and exam grades. A recent study published by Cermak and Bissell in 2014 identified that although children may correctly identify that they have a handwriting problem, they are unaware of the extent and severity of their problem. These children need their teachers to help them identify that an existing handwriting problem needs to be addressed.
Being able to recognise a handwriting difficulty is essential. There is no one encompassing test to state if a child is ready to write or if they have a handwriting difficulty. One of the first words ever written by a child is their name and this is the start of a child gathering meaning to letter formations. Asking a child to write a familiar word and a non-familiar word will help you notice differences between practised letter formations.
When looking for a handwriting issue often both teachers and parents assess in terms of neatness, size and pencil grip. There are two methods to analysing handwriting: either whilst it is being completed or after it has been written. The latter is more difficult for identifying a specific problem: observation is necessary.
If you are analysing any handwriting whilst it is being produced look at the child’s sitting posture. They may appear to slump forward and round their shoulders when writing due to reduced muscle stability in their trunk. Check the wrist position. Does their wrist turn inwards towards the centre of the body as if hooking back on its self? This occurs when a child is trying to see what they are writing but their current pencil grip restricts vision. It should be avoided as it affects letter legibility and can cause physical pain in the wrist. To learn more about the impact of poor sitting posture read Chapter 3.
Another area to look at is the pencil grip. Often children who hold the pencil too tightly do so because they do not write using a three-fingered tripod grip. An awkward pencil grip causes children to press too heavily when writing. To relieve any tension in the hand and return the blood supply to the finger tips children will shake their hand, wiggle their fingers or say their hand hurts. This particularly occurs if the thumb is tucked straight over the pencil shaft causing there to be no web space between the thumb and the first (index) finger. A thumb web space is crucial for easy formation of rounded letter shapes.
Neatness is only achieved once letter formation and size has been mastered. When looking at any letter formations, check to see if the letters are clearly formed or reversed. Letter reversals are common for younger children. This is due to them developing visual motor and perceptual skills at the same time as learning to write. Letter size with clear ascender and descender letters appears when a visual skill called spatial relationship is fine tuned. This is when spaces around two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes are noticed. Observe word spaces and letter alignment when considering general neatness of the work.
If you are analysing writing after the work has been produced then you will only be able to analyse neatness. Look to see if the letters are at the correct height. The straight letters may look crooked and apart. There may be limited or no spaces between words and on turning the paper over you can feel bumps on the page whe...
