This hour-long video is part of the Developing Minds video library, which features the work of pediatrician and professor of pediatrics Dr. Mel Levine. In this program he looks at the writing challenges that many children face from his perspective as a developmental/behavioral pediatrician and Director of the University of North Carolina’s Clinical Center for the Study of Development and Learning.

In the video viewers watch students struggling with the many subskills that make up the complex task of writing, and they hear both teachers and students describe the impact these struggles have on the students’ performance in the classroom. Levine explains the students’ struggles in terms of breakdowns in the neurodevelopmental functions required for writing:

• Graphomotor abilities

• Attention

• Memory

• Language

• Higher-order cognition.

He offers suggestions and strategies that teachers and parents can use to help students overcome or compensate for their difficulties. Among these are:

• “Demystifying,” or helping students understand what their individual areas of weakness are

• Identifying students’ strengths and interests and using them to enhance the child’s writing skills

• Providing technology that facilitates writing, such as special pencil grips or writing surfaces or the use of computers for writing assignments

• Allowing extra time for revision and proofreading

• Promoting the use of graphic organizers to help students order their thoughts

• Teaching mnemonic strategies to guide students through the writing process, such as the following:

Accompanying the video is a guide that provides an overview of the program. It also includes a glossary of terms used, a listing of resources, and suggestions for using the video as a tool for teacher or parent training or to help children understand their own difficulties with writing or the difficulties of a sibling.

This video can be an effective means for changing attitudes about children who consistently fall short in their writing assignments. It becomes obvious by the end of the program that laziness or stubbornness have little, if anything, to do with these kinds of struggles.

One topic that seems to be missing from the program, however, is what to do if the strategies offered are not enough. It might have been helpful to explain that sometimes a child’s writing difficulties are due to learning disabilities, such as dyslexia, or to other issues that require professional evaluation and treatment or therapy. Information on when to seek help and where to go would be useful for many parents.      

For more information on writing difficulties, see these articles from the September 2006 issue of 2e:Twice-Exceptional Newsletter:

When Your Child is Diagnosed with  a Writing Disability…

Why is Writing So Hard for Some Kids?