Reply to What things do you do to help your DC with writing skills (ADHD)?

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[quote=Anonymous]Nanny/Tutor here.

Kids with ADHD and/or EF have so many different ways of getting help with writing.  The biggest issues are usually starting with a “boring” topic, getting materials home, and being overwhelmed.

1. One page of Handwriting Without Tears per day should take 5 minutes or less.  If your child is taking longer than that, it can work well to set a timer to do 5 minutes and then put it away.  The books are roughly ten dollars each, and they can be purchased through the company or on Amazon.  It’s the best program I’ve seen for kids with fine motor control issues, and it’s great at mnemonics to help kids remember where to start and what the steps are.  From talking with several OTs, they are also using it in combination with other techniques.  Because it makes it easier for a teacher to read and grade, I emphasize this when there are significant issues with legibility.

2. Part of what I do is teach kids to effectively use their planners/agendas.  It doesn’t help to know you have a writing assignment due Friday if there are no details.  So, there’s a checklist I teach them to use:
Class/subject
Due date
Assigned date
Topic
Length
Special instructions
Graphic required/type
I teach the kids to break it up into bite-size chunks based on length and time allotted, and we write each part into the daily homework.  Because they learn to view big projects as a group of smaller things, it’s less overwhelming. Just in case, the last day is always lighter, so the child can catch up if progress was slower than expected.

3. Sometimes the issue is getting the materials home.  Having a laminated (blank) checklist, a dry erase marker and a cloth to erase in their class can be helpful.  I teach kids to write out the projects’s description first, then write out the chunks in their planner/agenda, and finally make the list of what they need to take home for that day’s piece.  Because projects differ so much and most in elementary school have 2-4 days to do the work, it’s really something they have to learn to do at school.  The first several times, a tutor or parent can help them break it up and write the list the first night, but it limits their work time, so they need independence or support at school asap.

4. Many kids with ADHD can brainstorm and  write a quick story or essay if the topic interests them.  If they think the topic is boring or irrelevant to theim, they can struggle to stay focused enough to even start.  If a child struggles with this issue, I dedicate 5 minutes each session to taking a random prompt and starting to brainstorm.  By practicing that starting process, they’re not left floundering when it happens unexpectedly in school.

5. Graphic organizers are great visual ways to help kids put essays and stories together.  Story blocks are best for visual/creative learners, while webs are best for vocal/auditory/visual learners (provided that they are talking it out as they brainstorm).  I like to have kids cut the papers up and move the pieces around, that way they can easily change the flow without getting lost.  I always give kids extra copies of graphic organizers to take home and to school, because sometimes the teacher isn’t prepared with enough choices, and sometimes a child needs to think about a topic in a different way.

6. I have a laminated checklist that kids can take home and use for every writing assignment.
C(apitalization), 
O(rganization), 
R(un-ons), 
P(unctuation), 
A(greement), 
S(pelling)

7. There’s also a checklist for 5 paragraph essays:
Attention, main idea (convince or inform), list
Topic 1, example 1, example 2, restate and lead in
Topic 2, example 1, example 2, restate and lead in
Topic 3, example 1, example 2, restate and lead in
Restate main idea, convince or inform check, new information, things to consider

8. For kids learning to proofread and reorganize writing, it can be overwhelming or frustrating to do it with their own writing.  I create short pieces targeted at a child’s level with the types of mistakes they make.  With a list of proofreading marks and the number of each mistake for the child to find, we turn it into a treasure hunt.  I’m less concerned about whether they know how to correct the issues initially; the biggest hurdle is finding the mistakes, especially in organization.[/quote]

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