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Writing Activities For Autistic Kids.

Writing can be rather tricky for many autistic children. They might have great ideas and be very intelligent but struggle with putting their thoughts down on paper. Writing for autistic people is not as simple as it is for neurotypicals. Writing requires language skills, organizational and planning skills as well as good motor control.

Many autistic kids struggle with these areas from a very young age and can become disheartened when it comes to completing writing exercises. This is exactly why finding and practicing with the right writing exercises can make all the difference.

Here are some ideas to help you make your child’s learning experience a lot easier and more pleasant.

Identify which parts they struggle with

Writing Activities For Autistic Kids

Finding the most important part of any writing activity and the parts your child struggles with is a crucial step in this process. Many autistic kids tend to struggle with planning out their thoughts or organising their longer stories into parts. Along with that they can focus all of their attention on specific details and forget about the larger picture.

Give Instructions

Giving the kid-specific instructions about what they are supposed to do is also very important. It will enable them to be able to get a grip on the task. You need to break it down into simple and achievable steps which will ensure they will recognize they can achieve this task. They will then become more encouraged to complete it.

Identifying which issues exactly your child struggles with can help you find ways to simplify the process for them. Since your child is not very likely to tell you what they struggle with you need to be observant. You can get admission services help online if you struggle coming up with interesting writing content to work with. Listening to their teachers’ feedback can also help you find activities that will focus on writing-related things they are more comfortable with.

Get their hands moving

Starting with a physical task or something they enjoy such as doodling before jumping into writing anything can be a great idea. Many autistic children tend to avoid beginning with an activity they don’t particularly enjoy. Doing this can really help as sometimes all it takes is getting started. This is especially important if you’re in the first steps of teaching an autistic kid how to write.

Drawing

Drawing with paints and using a digital paint by number app can help get them in the mood to write. However, this can greatly depend on the child’s motor skills and the activities they enjoy. Getting started with anything that can help them get their hands moving can be a very smart activity.

If your child is dealing with sensory issues, it might be a good idea to look for some nice pencil grips that can help minimize them. In addition to this, you can also use grip aids that can help your child get a proper grip on the pencil. These tools are very helpful in situations where handwriting is necessary and can be used with coloured pencils and markers too.

Talk about the topic before writing

If your child is verbal you can discuss the topic first using speech-to-text apps to help them write their papers without actually having to do much writing. Simplifying the activity and making it easily achievable will take away the stress of the activity.

Worries About Handwriting

This can also prove useful in cases where the child is worried about their handwriting or the sensory aspect of writing. Turning the traditional writing practice more digital can be a lot friendlier for an autistic kid.

Many autistic kids struggle with delays or difficulties with communication and speech. If your child is non-verbal using alternative ways to discuss the topic before starting to write is also important. If your child is familiar with sign language this can also be a great approach. However, if this is not possible you can once again use visual materials such as images, videos, and paintings to your advantage.

Change the approach of a writing task

Many autistic kids seem to be able to learn better visually rather than through studying a piece of text. This piece of advice could help you change the way you approach writing tasks as well. Instead of making them strictly text-based, you can try introducing drawings and images into the writing process.

A Great Idea

A great idea is to turn the writing task into a short picture-based story with each picture they draw or choose to be one part of the task they have to write about. You can then number the different pictures as consecutive steps in their story and afterwards they can use these pictures to start writing their task.

You can also use writing graphs to achieve a similar result without having to draw anything. This can be a very helpful activity that can allow them to organise big tasks into smaller ones and find a way to put them in order. Since a lot of autistic kids struggle with these matters this could be a fun and stress-free way to tackle writing.

Simplifying the process and making it enjoyable

Whether you are teaching your child to write for the first time or you are helping them complete their homework, writing can be a challenge. The right steps and the right activities can truly help an autistic child learn how to enjoy writing more than before.

Everything you follow should always be based on individual needs and skills. Autistic individuals tend to struggle with writing and writing-related activities meaning finding ways to make them more fun is always important.

Writing Activities For Autistic Kids

Jessica Fender

Jessica Fender is a professional writer and educational blogger at EssayShark, an aggregator for useful college resources and websites. She enjoys sharing her ideas to make writing and learning fun.