My 6 Year Old Is Very Reluctant To Write. :o(

[Jenarry]

MY son is nearly 7 years old and he has had this problem a little while but it seems like it is getting more of a problem now as his schooling requires more written work.
He is like it a school and at home and I don't know what it could be or how to try and remedy it and I'm getting very worried now.
The funny thing is his reading skills are and always has been excellent.
He is quite a bright boy who loves reading about and watching fact based books and programmes particularly science based ones.
But sitting down with him if he has a written homework to do is a very painful drawn out process where he will say he is tired or doesn't want to do it and his teacher tells me he is the same at school.It seems to me that if you give him the idea of what to write using words that he should be able to spell it helps as
he seems to not know where to start sometimes.
My parents bought him a joke book(he loves jokes) and my mum was trying to get him to copy one down the other day to give to his dad (he loves his dad so much and loves telling him jokes) but he wouldn't do it. he copied two words from the book and stopped. So even copying words was a no-no. and if these two things wouldn't get him writing I don't know what would.
Does anyone have any experience of this?..do you know what could be causing it? And most importantly has anyone got any ideas on how I can try to remedy it?

[murraymints]

Dyslexia ? Has he been tested ?

[Jenarry]

no murraymints. I assumed that would effect his reading as well but I don't know much about it.
how would I go about getting him tested for this...a trip to our GP?..

[pastafreak]

Dyslexia.
My daughter had problems in school-bright,but. It took ages of persistance to get her diagnosed as mildly dyslexic,then she got the help she needed,and was able to progress.Her problems were both reading,and writing.

She is now in her 2nd year of a PHd-so don't despair.

[diddlydo]

Your first priority should be to make an appointment to see his class teacher to discuss the problem. Ask her if he can be tested for specific learning difficulties and take it from there.

[murraymints]

Go can arrange testing....sound likely Jen...varying degrees of dyslexia...sooner tested the better before he gets anxious about it...

[Jenarry]

Thankyou everyone. I will get on to this as soon as possible.

[roopower]

My son was exactly the same as yours, but not considered dyslexic. ( This was some years ago, before dyslexia was as recognised as it is now.) Getting him to write was a nightmare, even after he chose to go to college. Sadly, although he finished his course, he didn't pass as his final thesis wasn't up to scratch. He carries all the information in his head, and a lot more besides, and after some years of working in dead-end jobs has now decided what to do with his life. He still doesn't like writing and I'm afraid he won't get as far as he is capable of as everything seems to hinge on exam passes and degrees.He did manage to get reasonable GCSE results, but it's such a shame that the world of work seems to rely so much on pieces of paper and not on competency and knowledge. I don't suppose I've been much help, but I worried like you and it got me nowhere and strained my relationship with my son as I was always nagging. Talk to your sons teacher, go for the dyslexia test and take it from there. Perhaps I should say that my son is very bright, eloquent, and well-rounded in every way - despite not liking to write.

[TopKat]

From what you've said, I'm wondering if he might be dyspraxic? This is a problem with coordination which some children, particularly boys, can have. My son was very similar and he was diagnosed as dyspraxic. He could read well, but found writing a real trial. Also, he wasn't any good at catching a ball, or other activities that involved that kind of coordination. If this is the case for your son as well, he could be tested. After my son was diagnosed we were given exercises to do with him which we did, every day for several years! He still isn't much good at sports, but his writing is fine and it made all the difference to him at school. Hope this helps!

[TopKat]

By the way, if you think he may be dyspraxic, the website of the Dyspraxia Foundation is a good place to find information - www.dyspraxiafoundation.org.uk

[Jenarry]

Thankyou roopower. And thankyou Topcat. I will bear dyspraxia in mind as well when I get little guy checked out. Bless him ,he already has a lot to deal with being a type 1 diabetic. :O(

[mummywelsh]

This is very late reply, I just saw it whilst looking for support for my own son! He has never liked writing, even at pre-school when the other children delighted in practising their name, he would avoid it. He loves reading, anything scientific on TV or books - in fact he claims he wants to be a scientist when he grows up! He will draw intricately but writing is a huge problem. Around 6 months ago he mentioned the 'coloured lights' on the page to his dad, we discussed it and questioned him further. To his surprise, not everyone sees them and he helped us understand by explaining that they were distracting and the lines on the page were hard to focus on and the dots and blobs he sees when looking at bright white things are worse in bright light or when he is tired. I googled (as every parent does) and came across Meares-Irlen syndrome. We took the questionnaire together and looked like we both needed to be checked out!! He has Irlen Syndrome - he doesn't muddle sentances but his brain activity is such that slowing down and forming a sentence in his mind in order to write it is so very hard. He is better with coloured paper in front of him, has coloured overlays which make his reading even better and will be fitted for tinted lenses next week. In every way he appears normal - if slightly detached from social awareness at times - but that is typical as an Irlen sufferer often sees the world in 2D and when they get their glasses the world looks like 'pop-up' with clear definition of space... I got my glasses in July and cried all the way driving home because I live in the countryside and for the first time in 41 years I see the beauty of it all. Although Irlen is especially relevant for children who have reading problems, writing is my son's jerk and continual drama...along with a bit of clumsiness and awkwardness bless him. It is extremely closely related to dyslexia and asd but it happily exists on it's own. I would strongly suggest you explore it as an option, or at least see if different coloured paper might help him. Pukka paper do an Irlen range which helps sufferers and dyslexics. My sone gets the Irlen problems when reading too, but he is so bright and determined (and knows no differently) he just gets on with is, but some books are easier to digest because of print type and page colour....Good luck