Source
r/slp•
helloadrien

SLP grad student starting clinic next semester: Questions about suspected dysgraphia?

Hi, everyone! I'm a current SLP graduate student. I'll be starting clinic next semester, and I am rather nervous about it. I'm hoping that some of you more seasoned professionals can provide some advice.

I'm entering the SLP field from my former career in ESL. One of my areas of interest is in literacy. As I take my preparatory coursework for clinic, I am beginning to suspect that I have undiagnosed and untreated dysgraphia. I have never been able to write neatly, even when copying another text directly. As a child, my parents and teachers gave me thick pencils with triangular-shaped grips to facilitate proper holding and admonished me to do reams of handwriting practice to 'stop being so sloppy.' Nothing ever made a lick of difference. I am now twenty-nine years old and my handwriting is illegible to everyone but myself. I still do not hold a pencil 'correctly.'

I am afraid that I will need to model proper handwriting procedures to a child and I am ill-equipped to do this. I can try to hold a pencil properly, but it causes me quite a lot of pain to write in that manner. I can write letters neatly with a LOT of effort, but only for a very limited time. The resulting 'neat' letters still look rather juvenile as well. I cannot write cursive at all.

Might this pose a problem for me in the clinic and in seeking employment in a school? If so, what might be done to help with it? I can't afford occupational therapy. I am a graduate student, after all!

Edit: I have also been diagnosed with ADHD and am currently taking medication. When medicated, my writing is much more organized. However, the letters are still malformed. I can try to upload writing samples both medicated and unmedicated if it will help!

Posted Sep 17, 2014, 6:54 PM UTC · edited

13
LAspeechieSLP Private Practice•

School SLPs feel free to jump in and correct me, but I don't think handwriting is necessarily a big focus for an SLP - I feel like that's more of an OT domain? I feel like this is a case even for SLPs that work with literacy particularly. I have worked w/ many school-aged kids on pre-literacy and literacy skills and handwriting has never been something I've targeted (but I am in a private practice).

I wouldn't fret about it!

8
[deleted]•

You won't ever have to model good handwriting. This is essentially a non issue - as long as you can read it!

5
Usrname52SLP in Schools•

You won't have to model good handwriting in terms of how to hold a pencil and stuff, but there is a lot of focus on writing. In an age of Common Core and testing and proof and all that stuff, you are expected to have work that the students have done--including a lot of writing.

For the older kids, there is focus on organization in paragraphs--details and main idea, syntax, phonological awareness as expressed in spelling, etc.

For the younger kids, they often will either copy what you write, trace it, or you have to write what they describe. If the student draws a picture and wants to hang it up, it would be good for you to write the student's description on it, so they can link it to words.

Kids who are just learning to write need letters to be formed as clearly as possible. I've definitely had students super confused by things I have written because I wrote them quickly and some letters weren't clear.

Cursive is rarely taught anywhere, I think.

I know I'm not super organized, or great at planning. I often am creating things as I'm doing them (even though I have the lesson planned) so I'm writing things for the students. You can overcome this by making sure you have typed sentence strips for everything you plan on discussing, and not deviating.

However, there are times where writing really helps. I have a 1st grader, who has such poor articulation, and often speaks with such speed and with poor function word usage, that you can't understand him. When he says something to me, I rephrase it, and then write it for him, and make him point to each function word at a time as he's saying the sentence. It makes him more aware of making sure all the words are there. You can make sure you have a way more planned activities, where you have a bunch of sentences about a specific book or activity typed up, and ask specific questions to target only those answers.

I'm not saying it can't be done, and I know that the way I do things isn't the way other people do things, but I'm just giving my experiences. It definitely shouldn't deter you right now, but you should start talking to the advisers in the clinic and getting their advice and opinions.

Do you have a tablet? Maybe for all the things I write out to model for the kids, you can type them right there (don't expect a working computer or even a room in a school).

If you have a tablet, perhaps you can type a lot of things in order to model them for the students right then and there.

Does your school have an OT program? If you could find a grad student clinic just like what you are going to be doing, it will be a lot cheaper, maybe even better if you are a student, and you could maybe just get some ideas.

Start talking to professors and supervisors and whoever else, a soon as possible. See what happens and what demands are on you during the clinic and during student teaching and such. You seem as though you are very passionate about it, which is worth a lot. Good Luck!

1