A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood....

WOW that is Fantastic! Being a parent of a 14-year-old with poor handwriting I want to hear more. Could you kind of ask him nicely that another parent would like to know what he thinks has made the difference.

Thanks
Helen (who is considering IM for her son)

Okay ,Joey says, he reccomends mechanical pencils,to make sure the pencil remains sharp. When I asked him if he thought IM made a difference,he thought a moment and said,”It’s Possible”. Big help,I know.

That’s great Socks. Just thought I’d share my handwriting story. My son did IM just as school was letting out. We did a pre and post test with writing and my son’s endurance was markedly better. You could read his handwriting (even before IM) but it took such effort that he would collaspe after just a few sentences. He did no writing over the summer but I had him do a typing program. There was clear evidence from school that he could write better using a word prediction program but that his lack of keyboarding skills was slowing him down. (He had an IEP goal to write a paragraph that he made NO progress on last year).

Fast forward to fall. He is now keeping up with all handwriting work without the benefit of word processing. He was even writing paragraphs at school and so we elected to let him do it by hand (he hates to be different).

I have tried to keep up the word processing at home but I’m afraid he may have to relearn it in a another year or so.

Beth

I have to say, “I haven’t seen this.” Writing still seems to be my son’s biggest area of difficulty.
He can write legibly but when asked to write a story he doesn’t use capitals sentences or correct spelling. The spacing although much improved still can get sloppy.
I would say his writing is at the level of a first grader despite the fact that everything else is at least close to grade level which is 3rd.

I really blame some of this on the way he was taught at school. They told him to use creative spelling and to “just write.” I think the idea was that stopping to think about sentence structure and spelling would slow down the flow and that those skill would just come in time or something. It seems like they used a whole language method of teaching writing.

If I ever get my hands on the idiot who thought up that methodology……..

I know I need to teach him how to write just as I have taught him pretty much everything else after unteaching the whole language methods. I am finding it hard because he is just so used to doing it this way. I need a good de-programer ie. tutor.

I am a big fan of mechanical pencils too! They really helped my 13 yo son’s handwriting as well..especially in math. The only problem is the cost… 1st due to the ADD… he can never seem to hold on to them….2nd if he manages not to lose them….they get stolen! Despite all of that….and snide remarks from teachers…..I still make sure to supply him with the mechanical pencils….They are truly worth it for him.
MO

Now, I never said he uses capitals or periods, did I?

That is a different sort of problem and one, in my experience too, IM did nothing for.

Beth

Congratulations Mom! Who cares why- celebrate!

My son just barely began using regula wooden pencils this year- 14 yrs old- before that it was always mechanical.

What I would love to see is pre-test/post-test on processing speed on kids that do IM and have handwriting issues before and either improve their handwriting or don’t.

We also use mechanical pencils that are fat. I bought two when school start and I need to check that he still has one.

Helen

My kids VMI changed only slightly.The age equivalent stayed the same. Joey had absolutely no change what so ever in handwriting after IM was completed.

Spacing,letter reversals,size ,shape,all totally illegible. If I can find someone with a scanner I am going to put it( a writing sample) on my webpage just so I can explain it.

Now with this kind of problem who would know whether it was spelled or correct punctuation was used? Seriously ,it was that bad.

They say IM continues to work,to help the kid progress even further past the post test point. My kids did IM a year ago.Maybe it took a year?
One thing I do know,it’s like HE decided,I’m gonna write today.Like no big deal,so I write legibly,when I didn’t yesterday.

Oh well, just something to keep momma guessing.

Would love to see those samples. I’m not sure the VMI taps into our kids problems with writing. In 5th grade my son managed to score in 90’s per centile wise but he took so much time to get that score. Also the VMI asks kids to copy. Most writing is not copying. They have to retrieve what they want to write along with the visual image of the letters. They also have to remember the motor movements needed to form the letters. Motivation is also an issue because at any given time they have to decide home much effort they are going to put into the activity. Are they motivated to put five times the amount of effort into the activity as the NT child. My son is not motivated to put in the 5 times the effort at this point. He is into quick and efficient.

What would be interesting would is to ask Joey if he thought the amount of effort he puts into writing now is the same or greater then the amount of effort he put in during the Spring.

Helen

I agree on the VMI—my son’s was 95 before IM but his functioning handwriting wise certainly wasn’t!!!!! The OT at school last year tried to use the VMI to dismiss him from OT and it was only loud arguments from me and his teachers that prevented it.

Beth

Yeah well,were talking about a kid who definitely had problems copying. His VMI age equiv. last year was preK level he was 11 at the time.

Okay,I asked Joey your question. I stated to him,”you know the effort it takes to write neatly now,and then the effort it took before?”“before what?”,he stated. “Before you started writing neatly”,I stated. “what effort? I couldn’t do it,before”,was his reply. SO I suppose to ask whether it is easier would be unecessary. I asked anyway. I stated,”so it is easier now,then before?“ ‘Yeah”.(rolling eyes)
“why are you asking me these questions Mom?” “well this other mom on the ldonline is trying to decide if her son,who has trouble with writing,should do IM.”“yes,tell her yes.”

Socks, give Joey a big thank you from me.

If I could now only convince my husband that IM is not snake oil! My husband says that we should just find someone to work with him on handwriting. We did OT, he got help last year with handwriting at school for six months. Yes his samples were neater but the pace to produce them was slow and the effort to great. So getting someone to work on handwriting I don’t feel is the answer. He needs something that will make the process easier. He does use the the computer and has a scanner but getting the worksheets ahead of time from teachers so he can scan them does not always happen even though it is in the IEP. His grades suffer somewhat from the quanity and quality of the work he produces by hand .

Thanks again. One more question did Joey have any medication change lately that might have made a difference or change in diet or supplements?

Helen

No new medication changes. His last med change was two or so years ago.
It was a wonderful thing,I will say that. He is on concerta 54 mg. It helped him behaviorally,but didn’t make an impact in handwriting. He had 2 years of OT,SIT,before his therapist threw her hands up and suggested IM.( and this was OT 1 full hour twice a week,privately,not the school therapy,although he got that too) I have the ability to ask other people,so of course I did. Lots of “experts” saying,it’s a great program,except my developmental pedi who was adament,that it indeed was snake Oil. As a matter of fact he told me that he would not reccommend it,for insurance purposes. I basicly told him,that I was not looking for his approval,I knew insurance wasn’t going to cover it anyway. I told him that so far everything seems to have no garantees anyway. If he was suggesting that Joey needed more practice,that I had heard that before. I asked him simply,will it hurt him? He said,well no. Then I said,okay,that all I needed to hear.Do no harm. No one had any hard evidence that it improved handwriting.I had read an article in the OT journal,but even then they discussed mostly attention span.The BIG thing was motor planning and execution. Both of mine seemed to have big problems in this area. I went ahead with the program,not for the handwriting but for the symptoms of ADHD.I had basicly given up on the handwriting,putting it on the back shelf,and concentrating on other things.I am still not saying IM did it for Joey,but I can tell you this. If IM made Joey think he could do it,then snake oil or not,it was worth the cost.

Just wanted to tell you too that we did therapy for handwriting that helped with letter formation and legibility but not at all with endurance before IM. I had his resource teacher tell me yesterday how much my son’s handwriting has improved since last year.

Handwriting is very complex and motor planning is only one part of it. It seems to be the aspect that IM works on though.

As a standardized, researched program, IM is far less like snakes oil than some thing I have done!! (sound therapy for example–and it helped too—but really no research at all supporting it).

Beth

I’ve been doing some thinking and what I’ve decided to do is to divert the money I have going into 401K (which is like burning money at the moment) and add it to my savings. I figure by the end of January I’ll have enough for IM. I’ll look into doing the pretest soon and then based on that sign-up hopefully for Feb. for the actual IM sessions. Timewise this will be good as my son will be involved in the building of a robot as part of the Robotics club he belongs to during the month of Jan. which will involve a large time commitment.

Thanks Socks and Beth

Helen,

Do I recall correctly that your son is ADHD as well? Just wanted to tell you also that we’ve seen major changes in attention following IM. I was prepared to put him on medication this fall, following a diagnosis of ADD-inattentive by a neurologist this summer. I decided to wait a few weeks after school had started. I still have not done it. His resource teacher says he is like a different kid.

Hard to sort it all completely out. He has CAPD as well. But I do think one of the best documented findings is improvement in attention.

Let us know how he does.

Beth

Good Luck Helen,sounds like a good plan. And you will need the commitment of time. Keep us posted. And when I get those samples scanned I will post here and let you know.

Beth,

No, I would not consider him ADHD or ADD. When he was younger he may have seemed a bit ADD by teachers but I chalk that up to the difficulty of the task of writing. It’s hard to stay with something that takes so much effort.

Helen

Well, that is what makes your choice of IM more difficult than Socks or mine. Her kids are both ADHD and we had clear attention issues as well. I didn’t expect the handwriting outcome–I wouldn’t have had him learn to type last summer, if I had. But it is a common result that his IM therapist has seen—and thus why she has the student do pre and post IM copying.

Beth

I asked a friend whose son did IM this summer if she had to pay for the pre-screening and she said no. The friend’s son is in the autistic spectrum and she is not sure if he benefited but he is talking more then he was last Spring.

Since my son scored 99%tile on the learning section of the WRMAL I think that he will progress quickly on IM. He will not be the kid that needs more than 15 sessions.

He has never been into sports much but I’m sure improving timing will give him more enjoyment in this area. He is taking Drivers Ed at school and will be turning 15 in Jan. My husband told him he can get his driving permit which I think is a bit premature. I’ll tell him that IM should make learning to drive easier. The provider told my friend that after doing IM herself it was easier to change lanes while driving.

Helen