Typically developing emergent writers and readers spend over 1000 hours actively engaged with print (Heath, 1983). From the very start this includes writing, an essential component in developing fundamental understandings about literacy. These important early writing experiences include drawing, scribbling, pseudo letter formation, early name writing and early sound spelling. Such experiences and resulting understandings are critical for the later development of conventional literacy as students enter elementary school.

For students with significant disabilities who are unable hold a pencil, writing may be laborious and frustrating, and may not even be on the radar. Frequently, more attention is placed on reading. However, writing plays an equally important role, in fact writing supports reading. Writing is an effective way to learn about print because students create print. Thus, for students with significant disabilities who are often observers in life, writing offers a critical way for them to actively engage with print.

Given the importance of writing, this workshop will focus on getting writing ON the radar, without students having to focus on handwriting. The session will begin with a brief overview of emergent writing. A wide variety of meaningful classroom emergent writing activities and strategies will be demonstrated with tools to support student success, such as alternative pencils, augmentative and alternative communication devices and other forms of assistive technology. Videos and writing samples will be shown of real students in the United States with the most significant disabilities in elementary to high school classrooms.

Participants will leave with an understanding of how to give students with significant disabilities opportunities to write from the start!