My Child Has Motor Difficulties and Cannot Handwrite...
A parent recently wrote to me saying, "My 8 year old daughter has motor difficulties and cannot handwrite. She can use a specialized keyboard to write on a computer. I saw that Phonics Plus Five involves a lot of writing activities. Can I use the program with her?"
Happily, the answer is "Yes." It will require that the parent modify some of the materials, but the changes are readily achievable. For example, one of the writing activities involves showing words with missing letters and the child has to enter the correct letters to complete the word. So a word such as some might appear as _o_e.
In adapting this sort of activity, a parent might:
enter the incomplete word on the computer and the child could then type in the missing letters.
Alternatively, the kit includes an alphabet chart. Instead of having the child write the letters, he or she can hold a pointer and use it to identify on the alphabet card, the letters that need to be inserted.
There is still another avenue that should be considered. Many children with motor problems can achieve handwriting if their hands are supported during the writing process. This does not mean that the adult moves the child's hand; all the adult does is to support the wrist and if necessary, the fingers and the child executes the entire movement. The support removes some of the many demands that writing imposes (such as how to steady one's hand) and it thereby frees the child to devote full attention to creating the shape of the letters.
Motor problems have often created obstacles that have kept children from achieving their potential. Now through a combination of new technology and modifications in traditional techniques, their future can be much brighter.
