Shayan forough, a child with autism, practices writing letters with an instructor at his home in kirkland, wash. Elaine thompson/ap many children with autism not only struggle with social skills and communication, they also have great difficulty with handwriting, according to a new study in the journal neurology. Researchers compared 14 typical children with 14 diagnosed with mild autism and found that the children with autism had much more difficulty forming letters. It was really striking, says amy bastian, a neuroscientist who directs the motion analysis laboratory at kennedy krieger institute in baltimore. what parents already knew the finding offers scientific evidence of something parents have been saying for years, says barbara wagner, whose son austin, 14, was one of the children on the autism spectrum who took part in the study. And wagner says things got even worse when he had to do written exercises in class. As a part of the stduy, the sentence at the top was copied by children with and without autism.

In the sample shown, both of these children have autism, however the middle handwriting sample scored much higher. american academy of neurology hide caption as a part of the stduy, the sentence at the top was copied by children with and without autism. American academy of neurology things got better for austin when he was diagnosed with asperger's syndrome and his school allowed him to answer questions verbally, or type on a keyboard.

motor skills linked to communication the handwriting issue on its own is a major impediment for many children with autism, bastian says. And these problems with motor skills may carry over into social interactions, bastian says. These are the kids who are clumsy, who already have difficulty relating to other kids. Bastian says a lack of motor skills can also make it harder to communicate through subtle gestures and facial expressions. And people who can't make these gestures and expressions themselves often have trouble understanding what they mean when other people use them. Other researchers say motor skills may offer a way to help spot children with autism as early as the first few months of life.

A study of babies who were later diagnosed as autistic were late reaching milestones such as sitting up, standing on their own and walking, says dr. Sarah spence, a pediatric neurologist at the national institute of mental health who helped conduct the study. Spence says writing and all of these other skills rely on a process called motor planning, in which the brain gets itself geared up to carry out an action such as walking or talking. So it's possible that some nonverbal children with autism actually want to speak, but lack the motor planning capacity. please don ’t make me write! by kathy oehler, ms, c slp autism aspergers digest january/february 2013 most students with autism spectrum disorder asd hate to write.

So, what can a parent or teacher do to help? why is writing so difficult? the process of writing requires much more than the ability to form pretty letters. The writing process involves skills in language, organization, motor control and planning, and sensory processing: four areas that are problematic for many individuals with asd. It is essential that parents and teachers consider how each of these areas may be affecting a student’s aversion to the writing process. language difficulties can influence a student’s ability to come up with ideas to write about. organizational challenges affect the student’s ability to sequence words into sentences that make sense, and then sequence those sentences into a logical order for a paragraph.

motor control and planning difficulties affect the student’s ability to orient and stabilize his body while he tries to coordinate his fine motor muscles to hold a pencil or maneuver around on a keyboard. And throughout the entire writing process, the student must use sensory regulation to filter out the bombardment of sights, sounds, smells, and movements that surround him. The wise parent or teacher will consider each of these potential problem areas when helping students with asd find success with writing tasks. why is writing so important? first, regardless of a student’s cognitive level, the ability to write can affect his ability to graduate with a diploma.

Forty six states now require proficiency in the common core standards english language arts, literacy in history/social studies, science, technical subjects, and mathematics in order for students to graduate from high school. If students can’t or won’t write, they are in danger of failing to achieve standards required to graduate with a diploma. When asked to write, students with asd often express extreme frustration because it’s too hard to put their ideas on paper. In my experience, the most frequent trigger of behavior outbursts in the schools is a request to do work.