Writing Made Easy

Guest Post by Nikolas Baron

In each of us is a unique capability to learn and overcome challenges as we play to our strengths and downplay our weaknesses. Our brain is a source of multiple intelligences that are just waiting to be tapped. The thing is, there isn’t just one way to learn. Sure, there is the ‘normal’ way by sitting in a classroom, but just because it’s the conventional method, doesn’t mean that it’s the best approach. Kids on the spectrum really absorb information at entirely different ranges. Writing to express their wants and feelings is usually one of the first few hurdles they’ll have to conquer.

Though the writing barrier for spectrum kids may seem more like a mountain than a molehill, like every other individual, we simply need to play to their strengths, and downplay their weaknesses.

Here are some tools that can be easily used at home to cater to the needs of spectrum kids and make writing easy.

TRY TYPING to simplify writing. As spectrum kids often have difficulty with their motor skills, writing with the traditional paper and pen might not be the most effective. Let's try not to focus too much on the trifles of handwriting; what is fundamentally important here is communication and expression. Word processors such as Microsoft Word are widely available, and its lack of complexity will also allow for quick independent learning.

For learners who are more AUDITORY, go for programs like Dragon speech recognition. The program works perfectly for individuals with good oral abilities. Dragon simply translates what the child says into typed text. This single focus approach allows learners to focus completely in expressing and articulating their ideas.

NEW WORDS can prove to be pretty intimidating, but the most natural way to learn something is to see it, feel it, smell it, hear it or touch it. The simple application of our 5 senses can immediately do plenty to enhance learning. But don't be surprised to find that pictures cards do little to improve understanding because it may be difficult for some individuals to understand line drawings. Instead, it could be more stimulating to work with real objects or sounds to draw the association between the word and the object. Learning new words this way wouldn’t instantly make it a walk in the park, but it’ll not be an impossible feat – play to their strengths.

Now comes the tricky part. How do you unscramble the COMPLEXITIES OF PREPOSITIONS AND CONJUGATIONS? These words are more difficult to grasp than nouns and adjectives since you can’t exactly use your senses to wrap your head around it. Countless therapy sessions that are widely offered has a whole lot of negative connotation, especially since therapy is associated with mental illness and let's face it, there’s nothing mental about our kids. A more natural way to inject the rigidity of grammar into a spectrum kid’s learning is to use his or her own self-written texts to run it through a grammar checking software. This will break the rigidity of learning the rules of the language as a writer understands best what he or she is trying to express. One such program is Grammarly, an online proofreading software that picks out mistakes from strikingly obvious grammatical errors to subtle inaccuracies of sentence structures. This quickly enables individuals to express themselves accurately. One such program is Grammarly, an online proofreading software that picks out mistakes from strikingly obvious grammatical errors to subtle inaccuracies of sentence structures. This quickly enables individuals to express themselves accurately.

Finally, if you find that words and phrases taught to your child are quickly thrown out the window, try using ABBREVIATION EXPANDER PROGRAMS. These software support learners in saving and generating frequently or recently used words and phrases for their future writings. Children can then quickly refer to what they learned and apply it to their next proud piece of writing.

Adaptability is key in teaching the intricacies of writing. As much as possible, find out how your child learns, and naturally integrate the language one step at a time. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Tell me and I forget, teach me, and I may remember, involve me and I learn.”

By Nikolas Baron

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Bio:

Nikolas Baron discovered his love for the written word in Elementary School, where he started spending his afternoons sprawled across the living room floor devouring one Marc Brown children's novel after the other and writing short stories about daring pirate adventures. After acquiring some experience in various marketing, business development, and hiring roles at internet startups in a few different countries, he decided to re-unite his professional life with his childhood passions by joining Grammarly’s marketing team in San Francisco. He has the pleasure of being tasked with talking to writers, bloggers, teachers, and others about how they use Grammarly’s online proofreading application to improve their writing. His free time is spent biking, traveling, and reading.