Which hand to write with?
Which hand to write with?
My son is right handed, it's his right arm that's injured. He does have very good rom in that hand, but he's never been able to write with it. I used to try to encourage him to write with his injured hand, but it was so frustrating for him, and he'd only do it when I was watching. The minute I turned away, he'd go back to writing with his left. Well, he's started kindergarten this year, uses his left hand exclusively now, and his teacher has a problem with his handwriting. I've explained the injury to her, but it's really like talking to a wall. A mean wall. I think his writing is pretty good, but it's clearly not up to her standards. I'm starting the process of getting some therapy for him through the school, and I wonder if he should be using his right hand to write with? Also, if anyone has tips on how to go about getting an IEP (I think that's what it's called, right?) please let me know. Thanks!
Re: Which hand to write with?
Tricia,
I think he should be able to write with which ever hand is most comfortable for him. I am sure it is difficult for him to use the opposite hand for writing but if it is less frustrating for him then I say let him go for it! My daughter is 5 (doesn't have a BPI) and doesn't have the best handwriting in the world yet either this is something that takes time and practice. I think you should insist that he get to pick which had he will write with and then work from there. I would suggest that you get this written into his IEP and I would suggest maybe getting some workbooks and working on it at home. I am a homeschooling mom and I love out hand writing program! Let me know if you would like more info... feel free to e-mail me kristie@jesusway.org
Blessings,
Kristie
I think he should be able to write with which ever hand is most comfortable for him. I am sure it is difficult for him to use the opposite hand for writing but if it is less frustrating for him then I say let him go for it! My daughter is 5 (doesn't have a BPI) and doesn't have the best handwriting in the world yet either this is something that takes time and practice. I think you should insist that he get to pick which had he will write with and then work from there. I would suggest that you get this written into his IEP and I would suggest maybe getting some workbooks and working on it at home. I am a homeschooling mom and I love out hand writing program! Let me know if you would like more info... feel free to e-mail me kristie@jesusway.org
Blessings,
Kristie
Re: Which hand to write with?
My son is 9 years old and in 4th grade. He is also right hand dominant and robpi. John writes left handed. We did work with the left hand quite a bit to get him comfortable writing with the left hand.
Now is penmanship is very good with the left hand. If he trys to use the injured hand for writing it tires very quickly and the fine motor control is not as good as on the left side.
Initially, his letters were larger and not slanted in the "preferred" direction but the writing was clearly readable.
In 1st grade we had a stubborn teacher. I flat out told her that he was right handed,forced to be left handed, because of the injury and that the learning curve for handwriting would be longer than for other children. I also, nicely, told her that as long as the writing was ledgible -maybe "too large" for her that it would have to be OK and that he would continue to practice handwriting.
She did soften and backed off after that.
In 3rd grade the teacher commented at a conference that she would like to see the letters a little smaller. I explained the situation to her and she apologised for even bringing it up and said she should have realised that would be a problem for John. Some teachers are more understanding than others.
You will know in your heart what is best for your child and then will be able to be his advocate. It seems that if he is most comfortable writing with left hand then let him.
Our OT was very happy to work with the writing even though he uses the non injured hand. Anything to make things easier.
Hope I didn't ramble too much and good luck with the teacher!!
Now is penmanship is very good with the left hand. If he trys to use the injured hand for writing it tires very quickly and the fine motor control is not as good as on the left side.
Initially, his letters were larger and not slanted in the "preferred" direction but the writing was clearly readable.
In 1st grade we had a stubborn teacher. I flat out told her that he was right handed,forced to be left handed, because of the injury and that the learning curve for handwriting would be longer than for other children. I also, nicely, told her that as long as the writing was ledgible -maybe "too large" for her that it would have to be OK and that he would continue to practice handwriting.
She did soften and backed off after that.
In 3rd grade the teacher commented at a conference that she would like to see the letters a little smaller. I explained the situation to her and she apologised for even bringing it up and said she should have realised that would be a problem for John. Some teachers are more understanding than others.
You will know in your heart what is best for your child and then will be able to be his advocate. It seems that if he is most comfortable writing with left hand then let him.
Our OT was very happy to work with the writing even though he uses the non injured hand. Anything to make things easier.
Hope I didn't ramble too much and good luck with the teacher!!
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Re: Which hand to write with?
We are talking bad handwriting in kindergarten huh? My daughter, non bpi had the meanist kindergarten teacher last year...on every paper she would write NEATER PENMENSHIP please.....she was a WITCH....aS FOR WHICH HAND...ANY ONE THEY CHOOSE IS GREAT WITH ME... mY SON 4 HAS A ROBPI. HE WRITES WITH HIS LEFT HAND HOWEVER I WAS AT OFFICE DEPOT THE OTHER DAY AND THEY HAD AN INFLATABLE PEN, YES, YOU READ THAT RIGHT...IT IS THICKER AND KINDA FLEXIBLE. HE ACTUALLY IS TRYING TO USE IT IN HIS WRITE HAND. HE DOESN'T HAVE MUCH PINCHER IN HIS HAND BUT SEEMS TO LIKE THIS CRAZY PEN I BOUGHT, SO I GUESS WE WILL GO AND BUY MORE. I THINK IT IS EASIER FOR HIM TO HOLD...JUST A THOUGHT !!!
Re: Which hand to write with?
Wow, I'm shocked to read about a kindergarten teacher having a problem with a child's handwriting. I didn't realize it was so important in K. My daughter is only 3 1/2 so it's good to know about this now. I think it's good that you are going to get an IEP. Did your son have early intervention therapy? If so, they should've helped you transition into the school system. Did you receive the Awareness Outreach? There's a great article on page 16 that Rich Looby wrote. There's a lot of great info. and some websites to help you get started. It is very important that you go into your first meeting with the school armed with information. I am certain that made a world of difference for us. Anyway, about the handwriting, I have some thoughts, but no personal experience yet. One thing I was thinking as I read your post is that if your son has very good ROM in his right hand, but still prefers to use his left for writing is that maybe he is actually left-handed. Have you ever had him tested by a Ped. Opthalmologist to determine which hand is his dominant? They can tell by determining which eye is dominant. Regardless of which hand is his dominant though, I think I would just let him use whichever hand he prefers. My daughter has difficulty drawing / writing letters on paper with her right hand (she seems to likely be right-handed & has a LBPI) b/c she can't stablize the paper very well with her L hand. That would certainly affect the quality of writing if that's the case with your son. If that's the case, then there are simple modifications that might help him such as using dycem (sp?) (available from an OT) or the shelf liner stuff below a clip board to stablize the paper. Does your son work with an OT presently? The OT can should be able to show you some other tricks and things to work on to help. I think that regardless of which hand is dominant and which hand they choose to write with, there are challenges for most children with BPIs, whether it's writing with a non-dominant or injured hand or trying to stablize the paper with an injured hand, etc. I think that getting the IEP for your son should really help. It sounds like this teacher needs some straightening out too. I hope Kathleen posts b/c I know she has first-hand experience with this and some great insight to share. -Tina
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Michelle_16
Re: Which hand to write with?
Hi to you all.
About your sons writin! dont worry about it. I couldnt write good until i was about 10 or 11 i jst couldnt manage for some reason but now that im 16 i manage great. I have erbs palsy in my right arm. i will lift things with my right hand but writing jst doesnt happen really. My hand shakes too much when i try to write i think bcos its quite a delicate process of getting the pencil to move in small spaces bcos if write big i can do it but not very good. its all a bit wobbly!
When i was in my 1st year of school(4yrs old) my teacher disagreed with my left handed writin and told my parents that everyone should b writing with the same hand...their right. Yep...she was old fashioned! So my mum and dad took the matter further and had a big staff meetin. alot of the staff said that i should b usin my right hand and my dad said "well she cant do it with her right hand, will her right foot do?" he said it shut them up a good bit and nothing was said about it. They explained about my arm when i started school so it was not as if she didnt understand.
So maybe some teachers jst think that children shouldnt b left handed.
I jst watch ur son and see wot he doesn natrually. If he is lefted handed he isnt gonna hav a problem but if he is right handed he mite take a bit longer gettin the hang of it. I suppose it would jst take a little more work at home to get him on his way.
Does his arm work alright? i mean when i see him write with this right hand is it as neat as his left hand writing? For anyone without bpi thats hard...being able to write with both hands.
Its really up to your son after all he's gonna hav to stick with wotever hand he chooses for a lifetime. so it may as well be the one that he is most comfortable using...
Good luck with ur decision.
Michelle
About your sons writin! dont worry about it. I couldnt write good until i was about 10 or 11 i jst couldnt manage for some reason but now that im 16 i manage great. I have erbs palsy in my right arm. i will lift things with my right hand but writing jst doesnt happen really. My hand shakes too much when i try to write i think bcos its quite a delicate process of getting the pencil to move in small spaces bcos if write big i can do it but not very good. its all a bit wobbly!
When i was in my 1st year of school(4yrs old) my teacher disagreed with my left handed writin and told my parents that everyone should b writing with the same hand...their right. Yep...she was old fashioned! So my mum and dad took the matter further and had a big staff meetin. alot of the staff said that i should b usin my right hand and my dad said "well she cant do it with her right hand, will her right foot do?" he said it shut them up a good bit and nothing was said about it. They explained about my arm when i started school so it was not as if she didnt understand.
So maybe some teachers jst think that children shouldnt b left handed.
I jst watch ur son and see wot he doesn natrually. If he is lefted handed he isnt gonna hav a problem but if he is right handed he mite take a bit longer gettin the hang of it. I suppose it would jst take a little more work at home to get him on his way.
Does his arm work alright? i mean when i see him write with this right hand is it as neat as his left hand writing? For anyone without bpi thats hard...being able to write with both hands.
Its really up to your son after all he's gonna hav to stick with wotever hand he chooses for a lifetime. so it may as well be the one that he is most comfortable using...
Good luck with ur decision.
Michelle
Re: Which hand to write with?
I think school districts are going nuts. When my oldest (4th grade) was in K, they didn't even work on handwriting. They let the kids do it the best they could, and encouraged all of the kids to be as neat and legible as possible. Just 2 years later, my twins were off to K and they had "handwriting sheets." They had to practice handwriting!!! I couldn't believe it! My twin daughter had spent her entire life keeping up with her older sister, so she had pretty good writing, but my son was off building legos, so his handwriting was awful! I would have clocked a teacher who commented! Now, in second grade, they have become tough on him, but he is 7.5 years old!
When Juliana (my bpi kid) enters kindergarten she will not yet be 5. Her birthday isn't until November. How can "educators" be so ignorant of their own studies. There are a whole slew of studies about handwriting and when we should expect it. And in a 5 year old boy--it isn't for a while.
I would definately get ot for the handwriting. If your school doesn't offer it, then get it on your own. There is also a handwriting kit called "handwriting without tears." Some school districts (not mine) use it.
Oh, and I would have a sit down with the teacher and the building principal, and let them know how inappropriate criticism of this type is for your child.
hope it helps,
claudia
When Juliana (my bpi kid) enters kindergarten she will not yet be 5. Her birthday isn't until November. How can "educators" be so ignorant of their own studies. There are a whole slew of studies about handwriting and when we should expect it. And in a 5 year old boy--it isn't for a while.
I would definately get ot for the handwriting. If your school doesn't offer it, then get it on your own. There is also a handwriting kit called "handwriting without tears." Some school districts (not mine) use it.
Oh, and I would have a sit down with the teacher and the building principal, and let them know how inappropriate criticism of this type is for your child.
hope it helps,
claudia
Re: Which hand to write with?
Hi Tricia,
Michael is in Kindergarten as well. It's his right side that is injured and also writes with his left hand. What works for him is lots of repetition, positive re-enforcement, encouragement and disapline. In the beginning he fought me on doing his homework, but setting a timer really helped. He would tell me, he was bored, that "this is taking FOREVER!" The timer really helped. Now I don't us it anymore.
As far as the IEP? You need to see the Child Study Team that is asigned to your childs school. Call and ask for the person in charge of it. Good luck.
Patty
Michael is in Kindergarten as well. It's his right side that is injured and also writes with his left hand. What works for him is lots of repetition, positive re-enforcement, encouragement and disapline. In the beginning he fought me on doing his homework, but setting a timer really helped. He would tell me, he was bored, that "this is taking FOREVER!" The timer really helped. Now I don't us it anymore.
As far as the IEP? You need to see the Child Study Team that is asigned to your childs school. Call and ask for the person in charge of it. Good luck.
Patty
Re: Which hand to write with?
Stephanie uses her right hand, but we are wondering now if she should be left handed. She is in the 3rd grade and her hand-writing is horrible. Her teachers have never been mean about it. I get notes once in a while and at PT conferences, we usually joke about her becoming a doctor because of the her hand writing. (She told her Kindergarden teacher that she was going to be a baby doctor and take care of really sick babies when she grew up. So that has kind of followed her.)
We are having her experiment with her left hand a little now, as she is beginning to gain use of it. But we told her to use the hand that feels the best to her.
We are having her experiment with her left hand a little now, as she is beginning to gain use of it. But we told her to use the hand that feels the best to her.
Re: Which hand to write with?
I think I already e-mailed the origional poster but since so many people have discussed this I have decided to go ahead and post. Someone may need to knock me off my soapbox:) and I'm sorry if I offend.
Handwriting has been pure hell for my son, he's 13 years old and the biggest reason I homeschool is because he has such a hard time writing. The school even with the IEP was no help. They promised to help and never got around to it(they forgot((((FUME)))). They just are horrible and I know I could fight them but my son's personality wasn't up to the fight and he is what is most important.
He has a ROBPI. When he was in the younger grades he wrote with his left hand and did pretty good at penmanship but he just had to write really slowly. He passed with D's in writing. Then later as he got older and the teachers all insisted on notes in every class it got worse. The inability to keep up started to wear him down and I don't just mean physically. His attitude got worse with every year!!
I visited the school and I got a first hand look at how they treat these kids and it was ridiculous. I swear they have hired a bunch of Nazi teachers at his school. Some of the things they did for 2 years in a row were take his pen out of his hand and replace it with pencil..eventhough his IEP says he can use pen. They insist that all students must write in cursive(eventhough if you look at any form in the USA it says PRINT!)
I took him out of school and he is doing great! His attitude is good and he wants to learn. He does all his writing on the computer except when he does work sheets or math. He is a good writer but the school had him beat down so badly that he was ready to give up. He was confusing penmanship and writing skills and they are totally separate.
It makes me sad that in one of the richest countries in the world they can't teach worth a darn. I have 7 children and 4 are in the public school system and it stinks. Since I have been homeschooling I have been asking my high schoolers simple questions to kind of see what level they are at and they can't answer some of the most basic questions on math and grammar! If they were slow kids I'd probably say they just need to work harder but my daughter has a 3.90 grade average!!!
There is really something wrong here!
As soon as the pressure to perform was off Jameson he just blossomed. He really is a good student and he surprises me sometimes!! He's not a D student but because the school refused to accept any proof other than written it never showed! I really think we should monitor our kids education by quizing them at home. I was guilty for a long time of believing the schools were doing their jobs and they aren't. At the very least try some of the summer workbooks that are out there to help them.
O.K. I'm stepping down from the box.
T.
Handwriting has been pure hell for my son, he's 13 years old and the biggest reason I homeschool is because he has such a hard time writing. The school even with the IEP was no help. They promised to help and never got around to it(they forgot((((FUME)))). They just are horrible and I know I could fight them but my son's personality wasn't up to the fight and he is what is most important.
He has a ROBPI. When he was in the younger grades he wrote with his left hand and did pretty good at penmanship but he just had to write really slowly. He passed with D's in writing. Then later as he got older and the teachers all insisted on notes in every class it got worse. The inability to keep up started to wear him down and I don't just mean physically. His attitude got worse with every year!!
I visited the school and I got a first hand look at how they treat these kids and it was ridiculous. I swear they have hired a bunch of Nazi teachers at his school. Some of the things they did for 2 years in a row were take his pen out of his hand and replace it with pencil..eventhough his IEP says he can use pen. They insist that all students must write in cursive(eventhough if you look at any form in the USA it says PRINT!)
I took him out of school and he is doing great! His attitude is good and he wants to learn. He does all his writing on the computer except when he does work sheets or math. He is a good writer but the school had him beat down so badly that he was ready to give up. He was confusing penmanship and writing skills and they are totally separate.
It makes me sad that in one of the richest countries in the world they can't teach worth a darn. I have 7 children and 4 are in the public school system and it stinks. Since I have been homeschooling I have been asking my high schoolers simple questions to kind of see what level they are at and they can't answer some of the most basic questions on math and grammar! If they were slow kids I'd probably say they just need to work harder but my daughter has a 3.90 grade average!!!
There is really something wrong here!
As soon as the pressure to perform was off Jameson he just blossomed. He really is a good student and he surprises me sometimes!! He's not a D student but because the school refused to accept any proof other than written it never showed! I really think we should monitor our kids education by quizing them at home. I was guilty for a long time of believing the schools were doing their jobs and they aren't. At the very least try some of the summer workbooks that are out there to help them.
O.K. I'm stepping down from the box.
T.