What to do with someone who can read beautifully but can’t hardly write?

I agree with Rosebud! In fact I gave him/her a thumbs up.

I am a fairly sharp individual who could be the person you are writing about except I am 44 years old. In fact when I write it is printed out instead or writing cursively. My parents both worked with me as much as they could. I do not know what, why. I just know my writing is terrible! They gave up sooner than they should have I am sure. Mainly because there were others telling them I had the writing of a doctor and I was probably going to med school.

I am sure it is something to do with coordination and dexterity. So in essence practice practice practice and more practice. As Rosebud said make it as entertaining as possible. But do not be too discouraged if he does not progress as much as you would like.

By the way I did not become a doctor. But I still have the handwriting to become one…

Good Luck to your friend!

Aristotle wrote many, many works. I understand there are critics who claim that what we have or Aristotle’s works weren’t really written by him but were, rather, set down by one of his students but I find their supports for this claim flimsy. Socrates never wrote anything but his student, Plato, did and Plato’s works are among the most beautifully written pieces in western literature and philosophy. Before he became Plato the Philosopher he was known as Aristocles son of Ariston and he was a playwright and poet who, upon hearing Socrates teach in the marketplace, burned his works and devoted himself to philosophy. One can see the poet’s hand in his dialogues, whether one reads them in the original or in translation. I consider Plato among the best writers I’ve ever read. Aside from him, I would nominate Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, John Stuart Mill, David Hume (sometimes, when he doesn’t let himself get carried away by himself) and definitely Robert M. Pirsig. I consider Aristotle one of the worst writers I’ve ever read as he beats his point to death repeatedly before moving on to the next. While I respect Spinoza and Heidegger, you’re right, they’re hardly inspired writers. I think most philosophers are too narrowly focused on getting their ideas across to take the time to make the prose live and breathe. This is what first attracted me to Plato, actually – he was an artist first who understood his art well enough to realize it could convey philosophical ideas more clearly and beautifully than a straight essay.

Does he have difficulty with the physical aspects of writing or does he just have a difficult time putting his ideas on paper?

Some easy suggestions:

Give him a topic and have him record his answers verbally on a tape recorder. Then he can reorganize this into a written form.

He may benefit from using a speech to text device that will allow him to speak into it and then it automatically types it for him.

He also may be too concerned with getting everything right on the first try…spelling, grammar, etc. Have him write without worrying about these things. They can be fixed in later drafts.

It’s going to take a long time so first you have to have patience. Start off slow. Writing simple complete sentences eventually reaching more complicated descriptive ones. Work your way towards 3 to 5 sentence paragraphs focusing on one event or subject. Over time, once this is mastered, begin writing simple stories with a Beginning, Middle, and End. A lot of modeling is needed.(In other words, you write and he copies.) Don’t be afraid to work with him and give him ideas and support. Make the writing process very verbal, fun, and interactive. Demonstrate and discuss the skills needed often. Plus, use high interest subjects. I know this is brief,it is a lot more complicated than stated here, but I hope it helps. Write, write, write, and more writing with focus, direction, reflection, and guidance is the rule.

I have a 15 year old daughter who can only write her name cursively. She has learning disabilities one of which is a processing issue and the other is fine motor skill issues so that it’s hard for her to write. Now you don”t state whether you mean the physical act of writing or putting ideas on paper. It would depend on what you mean. If he has trouble writing so that you can’t read his handwriting have his parents get him evaluated by a occupational therapist. If you mean that he has trouble putting ideas on paper than have him evaluated for dyslexia or processing issues. Dyslexia is not only the mixing up of letter or words it’s also having trouble expressing ones’ self in written form.

It sounds like an auditory memory condition.

His reading is fine as he just reads the words, but his stored knowledge has problems coming through so i would spend lots of time building up his stored knowledge by playing memory games. i.e place 10 items under a cloth give him 30 seconds to memories the items then recall what was there, or remove one item and he has to remember which one was taken away. I would also be inclined to have his hearing tested.

good luck

His school is suppose to be helping with this. But they only help if the child is in ‘special ed’. If a child is not in special ed, a school is not legally required to help.

Parent needs to write a letter to district sped director requesting a full educational evaluation to detemine if child can qualfiy for sped services.