Written Expressive Difficulties in Children:
Suggestions For Teachers
Background information
Children who have problems getting things down on paper often show
the following characteristics:
- an obvious discrepancy between their oral skills
and their written output; this is usually quite noticeable in
Grades 3 and 6 when the demands for written work increase;
- few, if any, difficulties in reading or math
in the early grades -- except perhaps in the latter when the math
becomes written; they often have difficulty lining up the rows
and columns and hence make errors when writing that they do not
make when they are manipulating the numbers in their heads;
- tend to dislike colouring, drawing, printing
readiness activities; parents often confirm this; will not choose
such activities during free play time;
- few, if any, problems with large muscle activities
(balance, climbing, sports, etc.); in fact, they are often quite
skilled in a number of sports; parents often report that they
much prefer outdoor activities over indoor pursuits; a small group
of children do, however, have both fine and gross motor problems;
- sometimes a mild lag in fine motor development
can be measured, particularly in the formation of < and >
angles, and sometimes with L and V;
- a tendency to be extremely slow copying from
the board, copying letter by letter, even when they can read the
words, because they cannot remember what the letters look like;
if you make them go fast, they make many errors and become frustrated
and often ashamed of their work;
- left-handedness or mixed handedness; left-handers
have to overcome consciously the brain's automatic tendency to
move the hand from the midline of the body outwards -- which for
left-handers sends them from right to left; therefore they have
to concentrate especially hard when learning to print and write,
particularly when being taught by a right-handed teacher and watching
right-handed peers; they may still be consciously forming letters
when their classmates are doing so automatically -- and this detracts
from their ability to concentrate on other aspects of the task
(e.g., listening, following directions, understanding what they
write, etc.)
- letter/number reversals beyond Grade 1 (especially
p/q, b/d, n/u, m/w, 2, z); these are common in the early stages
of printing and not something to panic about, but for children
who still confuse the formations, it again detracts from what
they are supposed to be focussing on and they often get left behind
and discouraged;
- some have spelling difficulties --especially
with sound/symbol correspondence during phonic exercises or with
sight words --in both cases often due to a weak long-term visual
memory for letter formations; many teachers report that the child
has auditory problems because they do not seem to be using a phonic
approach --however, it often turns out to be difficulty remembering
what the correct letter looks like and reproducing it from the
mind's eye onto paper;
- orally extremely competent -- good ideas, well
developed concepts, excellent at show-and-tell-type activities,
good general knowledge, fluid verbal expression; NOTE: it is extremely
important to distinguish between children who cannot organize
their ideas verbally from children with a written expressive difficulty
the latter know what they want to say and can tell you orally;
- simplify what they have said orally when they
put it on paper-- in terms of both quality and quantity; extremely
economic in use of vocabulary (will substitute the word "nice"
for "beautiful", for example), even though you know
they have a broad lexicon;
- often complete assignments but do not hand them
in; hide them in their desk, schoolbag, at home; homework book
often gets "lost";
- broad range of avoidance behaviours around pencil-and-paper
activities including a compelling need to sharpen a pencil endlessly,
chatting to other children; acting out behaviours resulting in
removal from the classroom, defiance, trips to the bathroom, tummy-aches,
headaches, frequent absences from school; often referred for "behavioural
problems" in Grade 3 or 4 or signs of stress (bedwetting,
somatic complaints, sleep disturbances, avoidance of school, etc.);
- often labelled as "lazy" with comments
on reports cards like: "... does not complete his work in
class", "... is not working up to potential", "...
could do better with more effort", and so on;
- marks in content area subjects (e.g., science,
environmental studies, social studies, etc.) start to drop in
the junior and intermediate grades;
- occasionally have general organizational difficulties
-- arriving without books, pencils; messy desk/locker; forget
to use margins; frequent erasures;
- have difficulty improving their work even when
offered attractive incentives or threatened with dire consequences;
- often become depressed and either act out or
withdraw -- at which point even their stronger subjects suffer;
- parents often report considerable stress over
homework; often at least one parent has had similar difficulties
and fluctuates between sympathy and frustration; occasionally
that parent failed grades and/or dropped out and has high aspirations
for the child, especially because they know he is bright.
Strategies for helping children with written expressive difficulties
There are two main purposes in remediating these problems:
As a general rule, it helps a great deal to think of these youngsters
as having a problem with their hands -- as if they had broken a
wrist and were in a cast. This enables you to conceptualize their
difficulties in rather concrete terms and to be creative when it
comes to determining compensatory strategies.
Because this is an "invisible" handicap, there is often
great resistance to treating these children differently from others
in the class if particular consideration is given to these students.
Consider whether you would place a cast on everyone if one child's
arm were broken -- and have the courage to take the leadership role
by telling the other children that it is basically not their place
to be concerned and "life is indeed not fair" it is a
valuable lesson for them all to learn.
Although there are a large number of suggestions listed below,
there is no need to do all of them! Even one is better than none.
Willingness to help a child with a written expressive disorder involves
an attitude rather than the acquisition of new teaching skills or
the investment of a great deal of time.
Compensatory Strategies:
1. These children are often extremely sensitive about their difficulties,
even if they have been quite obnoxious in their acting out avoidance
behaviours. It is therefore extremely important not to point out
their problems to the rest of the class, to comment on their work
in front of others, or to single them out or put them down in any
way.
2. It is devastating for these children to have their work marked
by other children in the class, especially if they have spelling
difficulties, since the others will often delight in "bringing
down" a child who appears to be smart. It may indeed be necessary
completely to abandon peer-marking if you have one of these children
in your class.
3. If it is clear that the child understands the general concept
being taught, you might consider reducing the quantity of output
required on routine drills by having them complete every second
question, for example. Setting individual goals by having the child
compete against his or her previous performance is a way to motivate
without comparing the child to the extremely competent children
in the class; for example, asking for "one more than yesterday"
or "see if you can beat your best time". Children prefer
timing themselves -- if they are able to do so -- and like to keep
"records".
4. It is necessary to be alert to the fact that many tests that
purport to measure such things as reading comprehension actually
measure the child's ability to write and not comprehension at all,
and it may be necessary to check out their comprehension orally.
It is especially important to see that quiet or introverted children
are not overlooked, nor singled out to perform in front of a group
when no one else does.
5. It is almost always necessary to offer flexible time to children
whose writing is slow. However, bright children in particular are
sensitive to being constantly last to finish. It is therefore useful
to start them ahead of time, or allow them to start or continue
a written assignment at times when they have completed other work
quickly.
6. For children with spelling difficulties, providing a list of
"jargon" words in a particular subject area ahead of time
can allow them to familiarize themselves prior to the unit being
taught. This again prevents the cumulative lag that develops when
they are behind.
7. Waiting for a child to perfect printing skills prior to starting
cursive writing instruction is usually a waste of time. They will
never be perfect, and need to learn the cursive formations along
with everyone else. Some children, however, have never really been
taught to print -- they have been expected to pick it up by osmosis
-- so in the early grades, it is often worth some reteaching, which
is best done in small group settings. If they have difficulty learning
the cursive script, they may constantly switch to printing. If it
is not specifically a cursive writing exercise, it really helps
if you can be flexible. They often also have difficulty using pen
-- it also helps if you can be flexible in allowing the use of pencils.
Left-handed children, in particular, often smudge their work when
using a pen or a marker, which adds to their difficulties.
8. Teaching computer keyboarding skills is usually extremely useful.
It should be remembered, however, that fine motor difficulties can
make the coordinated movements needed to touch-type quite a problem,
and the children need patience and flexibility in learning the keyboard.
Allowing them to play games at the computer that require knowledge
of where the letters are can often lead to incidental learning and
can be fun. However, indiscriminate and unsupervised use of the
computer using joystick or a mouse does not accomplish this learning
goal or any others, in fact.
9. Teaching a child how to dictate on to a tape recorder can be
beneficial. They need to be taught step by step -- turning the machine
on, inserting the tape correctly, familiarity with all the controls
(starting, stopping, rewinding, pausing, etc.), getting used to
listening to their own voice. Then it is important to teach them
how to listen to what they have dictated and gradually to transcribe
using the pause button to give them time to write. It is useful
to start with a simple spelling list or a dictate, and gradually
progress to phrases, sentences and eventually hopefully paragraphs
and/or stories.
10. There is little more discouraging and depressing to a child
with written expressive difficulties than to get back a piece of
work covered in red ink, negative comments and corrections. They
often glance at it and are too anxious to learn anything from it.
The following may help:
- underlining two or three key words that are mis-spelled
and encouraging the child to self-correct;
- keeping a personal "spelling book"
of words that the child commonly misspells so that they can look
them up themselves, recognizing that people who cannot spell also
often have difficulty using dictionaries;
- deducting a maximum number of marks for spelling
(say, 5%) on any assignment for which spelling is not the main
purpose;
- recognizing that spelling CAN be taught and that
most poor spellers can improve, although they will never be perfect;
- realizing that it is your responsibility to teach
spelling, and that these children do NOT learn simply by being
exposed;
- understanding that they do not make these errors
on purpose and that they are usually extremely upset by them;
in fact, many are perfectionists in other aspects of their life
and thus suffer high levels of anxiety over their written work;
- utilizing the resource teacher if available to
implement a spelling program, recognizing that there are a number
of computer programs that can help;
- having the child copy two or three key words
two or three times, so that the correct form stands some chance
of being recognized and remembered;
- never expecting a child to write out a word more
than three times -- the exercise completely loses its purpose;
instead, encourage them to write it once correctly, cover it up
and see if they can write it without looking, and then once more
as an insurance.
11. NEVER, EVER, under any circumstances, rip up or throw in the
garbage any piece of work done by any child. The humiliation and
damage to self-esteem that can occur are sometimes irreparable.
Many parents report incidents like this that occurred to them thirty
or more years before but which still raise the same devastated feelings.
12. Please think very carefully before you deprive a child of recess
-- particularly those whose gross motor skills are good and who
have good energy levels. The frustration of struggling with printing
or writing hour after hour can cause incredible fatigue and they
need a change of scenery, pace and activity. It is important to
set a number of small goals that can be accomplished and to reinforce
positively the small steps. Children seldom object to recording
their own successes in a small notebook dedicated to this purpose
-- nor does this type of book get "lost" en route to home.
13. It is especially important for an intellectually superior or
gifted youngster to receive special attention for his or her areas
of strength that does NOT involve written work. Allowing oral presentations,
construction projects, drama, musical or artistic productions and
other alternative means of expression can often open up a shut?-down
child and encourage creativity.
14. Teaching all children to edit their own work is useful and
eventually time-saving. Simply having them read aloud what they
have written is a good first step and results in the correction
of careless errors. (Sometimes you will be surprised that one or
two children cannot read back what they have written only minutes
before. This is a whole different ball game!) Going through the
work with them and underlining what needs to be corrected, then
helping them to correct it (by reteaching if necessary) is the next
step. Following this, you can underline and encourage them to correct
-- and finally the child can be encouraged to find their own errors
and correct them independently.
15. If a child uses a word processor with a spellcheck program,
or has a parent or "study buddy" to whom he dictates,
teachers often feel that this is "cheating", when in fact
it can be a useful step in the process of encouraging improvement.
If you suspect that the parent or buddy is doing a lot more than
simply transcribing what is said, have the child write his rough
copy with no regard for editing or spelling -- and then hand it
in along with the edited copy. If the child cannot type, they often
appreciate a story that they have written being typed up for them.
Parent volunteers or co-op students will often undertake this task.
16. Surprisingly, children who have difficulty with their handwriting
often enjoy calligraphy -- especially those who are extremely creatively
artistic.
17. In order to evaluate what a child has learned, consider very
carefully whether it is vital for the child to write the information
or whether an alternative means of evaluation and assessment could
be used. Having the child write what he or she can, and then going
over it with them in a warm and friendly atmosphere can sometimes
provide important insights into what they have actually learned.
Allowing point-form answers or (if possible) multiple-choice formats
can help -- although if the child has a visual-perceptual problem
underlying the written expressive difficulty, they often become
confused with computer-ready answer sheets and strict time limits.
Just a reminder -- what would you do if the most competent child
in the class broke an arm the day before an important test or project?
How would you ensure that he was fairly evaluated? Use the same
ideas for the child with the invisible handicap.
18. As with any child who is having difficulties, it is extremely
important to liaise with the parents to report positive progress,
to set reasonable goals, to have an open agenda about what is or
is not expected at home, and to confirm that it is the school system
that has the responsibility for teaching the curriculum materials.
It is not reasonable to expect parents to teach -- some will, but
the vast majority do not. Parents are responsible for valuing education
in a general sense, being supportive, providing the opportunity
for homework to be done, and reinforcing success. It is vitally
important that a child who has difficulty completing seatwork NOT
be sent home with the entire day's work. This causes major problems
in the majority of families -- however nurturing and positive they
are -- and incredible stress for the child. It is also vitally important
that the parents know that this situation exists in the classroom
and that something is being done at the school to rectify it. A
good rule of thumb is that it takes the same amount of time to make
a positive, constructive phone call to a parent as it does to make
a negative one, but the payoff is considerably greater.
19. There are many tutors and tutoring services in the community
that parents will often use. It is important to remember that whatever
helps the child is the primary focus -- sometimes it is difficult
to be gracious about a subtle or not-so-subtle message that you
are not doing your job properly, but parents often recognize (accurately)
that you do not have the time or opportunity to teach their child
one-to-one and prefer to seek support elsewhere. Try not to take
it too personally -- but it doesn't hurt to take inventory and see
whether you are missing the chance to help even in a small way.
Most tutors are extremely eager and willing to liaise with you --
if you don't mind.
20. Learning difficulties have been around for a long time and
will continue to be. The thrust in education is to integrate all
kinds of children into the regular program and thus to raise the
anxiety levels of the regular classroom teacher. Do not forget to
make use of the important network available to you from fellow staff
and administrators; you will find many useful suggestions from your
colleagues. There is no magic "fix" -- just patience,
understanding, perseverance and a flexible approach. A positive
and optimistic attitude, along with a willingness to become involved,
are the foundation upon which success is built -- step by little
step.
Reprinted with permission.
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