Canchild hwt protocol

Hi everyone.

I think the protocol is great and I will recommend it as a reading next time the 'Language by Hand ' paper is run. However I was disappointed by this statement under the heading of Behavioural Observations page 6. " The impact of attention to task and motivation on handwriting performance has received considerable attention and is beyond the scope of this assessment tool". I was disappointed as they did not lead the reader to be able to follow this line of inquiry.


My thinking about this being.......
Attention is vital to learning as without attending to the task at hand, sensory information does not enter the working memory, and without moving into the working memory knowledge can not then undergo the next step of further processing to then get stored in long term memory.

As many of the children I work with have difficulty with the actual recall of letter shapes, names and sounds, thus connects back to this skill of attending, and memory, more knowledge of these areas could or should be included in a handwriting protocol.

I feel that by increasing my understanding about attention, working memory and storage into long term memory, and then communicating this understanding either through discussions / collaboration with those key workers of the child I'm working with or the child themselves improvement not only to the task of handwriting will occur but also the larger occupation of the child's ability to learn. I also feel that this knowledge affects how I structure my program, therefore improving the effectiveness of handwriting intervention I provide.

Therefore, the task of learning not being included in more detail within the protocol, continues to make this protocol be more motor based rather than literacy and learning based. For New Zealand this emphasis as we discussed in the Language by Hand ' paper is important to the teachers who teach the children we see, especially in these early years of schooling.

Remember to leave a comment........Rita