Would learning cursive help my ADHD child focus?

Question

Can learning cursive provide more focus skills?

Answer 1

Introducing cursive writing can be problematic for a child with ADHD due to several reasons:

Requires fine motor skills and children with a diagnosis of ADHD may struggle with these skills, making it challenging for them to form letters correctly and consistently. Children with ADHD may have difficulty maintaining this level of attention, leading to sloppy or incomplete writing.

Working memory or short term memory would be involved when a child is required to use cursive as it would involve memorizing and recalling specific letter formations and connections. Children with ADHD may have weaknesses in working memory, making it harder for them to remember and apply these rules consistently. It may also lead to frustration and decreased motivation for children with ADHD, potentially impacting their overall writing skills and confidence. Sensory processing issues is a challenge for many children with attentional issues making the physical act of writing in cursive (which can involve more pressure and movement) uncomfortable or overwhelming.

In summary, while introducing cursive writing can be beneficial for some children, it may pose challenges for those with ADHD due to difficulties with fine motor skills, attention, working memory, and sensory issues.

Answer 2

It could. However, I would venture to say that with ADHD it is more about how they are being taught than the subject matter. What creates the focus (or lack thereof) is how a lesson is constructed for your child to benefit from that. I'll give you an example.

Let's say I decided to teach a lesson about writing in cursive to a student with ADHD. I would want to scaffold the lesson, making it into tiny chunks. Bringing in some multi-sensory components like writing the selected letters in different colors or having each letter have a different texture (i.e. rough, smooth) would help hone their attention to detail by tracing their figure over the letters with different textures. Also, being flexible with how they look and behave while they are learning is a key piece to how they learn. Many students with ADHD fidget a lot in their seats, work standing up, or do a lap around a space before getting back to work.

Successfully guiding an ADHD child to focus involves patience and a supportive approach, as it presents a distinct challenge that, when addressed effectively, can be overcome.

Answer 3

According to Dr. William Klemm in an article in Psychology Today, "Cursive writing helps train the brain to integrate visual and tactile information, and fine motor dexterity," Researchers have shown that writing in cursive may promote focus by writing things down by hand in cursive. The person and the brain has to slow down to formulate thoughts. As a result, handwritten notes may help the writer with more focus, as well as the ability to recall facts more easily.

More information can be gleaned from the article:

https://cityparent.com/education/pros-and-cons-of-cursive-writing/