My name is Alfie, I am ten years old and in year five. The photograph is of me and Harry my dog – he’s a Labradoodle. There are lots of things that I am good at such as: thinking of brilliant ideas for writing, netball, making people smile and playing games on my X-Box. Handwriting is quite tricky for me as I have dyspraxia. This means that my hands don’t always do what my brain tells them too. They have a mind of their own. I have hypermobile joints in my hands too. This means that my knuckles crack and my fingers can make strange positions. Handwriting hurts me lots in my fingers and wrists and I get tired quickly. Even though I have a pen grip and writing slope that work for me, it is just challenging! I write slower which means that I don’t get as much done on a brilliant idea as I thought I had and that idea doesn’t feel so brilliant then! I would rather use a laptop rather than write by hand as it doesn’t feel good.
I had a chance to try out Writing Explorers, at first I didn’t want to do it as I thought it would be more handwriting. Why would you do something you don’t enjoy? But when I started, I realised it wasn’t handwriting, it was dot-to-dots, patterns, puzzles, pictures, challenges and lots of other things more fun than writing. This is clever as Writing Explorers tricks you to improve your skills without actually writing. It is more interesting as it is set in a time travelling world with dinosaurs, which is very boy friendly. This six-week program is way more fun than any other writing program I have tried and yes, it is six weeks long, but it is short, fun and busy – not boring and repetitive.
One of the things that really helped me was looking carefully at my handwriting to see what worked well and what needed to improve. What was good about this was that I realised that it isn’t all of my letters that are wrong – just some of them need a few tweaks. So, actually, my handwriting isn’t as bad as I thought. I could then focus on the bits that I needed to do and not all of it!
After Writing Explorers I feel much more comfortable when I write. There is less pain and I have a happier pen grip. I also sit up straighter now. I still use my laptop, but when I have to write I am much happier about it! I think Writing Explorers is something that many children will enjoy and benefit from. It worked for me!
With thanks to Alfie and Beccie (Alfie’s mum).
This article has been written by Beccie Hawes
Beccie has worked in all aspects of Special Educational Needs including mainstream, additionally resourced provision and specialist settings. She has extensive experience as a SENCo, Inclusion Manager, Lead Local Authority SEND Advisory Teacher and has set up and led an inclusion advisory service.
Beccie is currently proud to be the Head of Service with Cadmus Inclusive, part of Cadmus Services, which is based in Walsall. This service has a national reach and actively supports schools with all aspects of providing a high quality education for vulnerable learners. Beccie is the author of ‘The Complete Dyslexia Toolkit’ and co-author of ‘Getting it Right for SEND’ and ‘How to Create the Perfect Partnership with Parents’. Beccie also writes the national Ebriefing: SEND Bitesize. She has developed a number of educational resources to support learners which schools across the UK have purchased and use. Beccie remains very ‘hands on’ in the classroom and is passionate about being at the chalk face to support teachers and children to think differently for a brighter tomorrow. She is also the mum to four boys and a dog.
Read about Alfie’s 3 magic resources.
