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classroom tips

Handwriting
Challenges to handwriting include holding down the paper and maintaining a good writing posture.  Slant boards raise the writing surface and help the child stay upright, while allowing use of the stabilizing arm.  These are available from  Pocket Full of Therapy, 1-800-PFOT-124.  You can also make your own slant board by simply using a three ring binder on it's side and magnets or clips (although these can be tough to open) to hold down the paper at the top.  Slant top desks may be available at your child's school because many drawing and drafting tables are slanted.

Writing and Spelling from LD Online

Scissors
If your child is left-handed, make sure that you have scissors that are for a left handed child.  Fiskar's makes children's scissors which are left or right handed.

My Paper's Moving!
A great product called the Clayton Board is designed so that children or persons with one hand dysfunction could write, draw, or color without having the problem of having the work slide away.  They move the pencil without the nuisance of tape, weights, or pins. It allows the child to be much more attentive in school. It holds paper where you put it until you want to move it. Jimmy Systems makes this item.

Adaptations during test taking
It's common to include the following in your child's IEP. Allow the student to mark their answers in the actual test booklet and then a neutral bubbler (usually an office aide) will copy the answers onto the answer sheets. Typically children would be able to just mark the right answer directly in the booklet using whichever method is easier - circle or mark through the correct answer.