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    Joined: Aug 2012
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    suevv Offline OP
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    DS has a broken index finger on his right hand. He's right-handed. He's also dyslexic/dysgraphic.

    His classroom teacher is asking him to try his best with writing left-handed, and he is muddling through. He actually doesn't seem to mind too much, possibly because expectations are so much lower.

    I'm just wondering if there is any opportunity here. Or danger. He is definitely thinking hard about the shape of every letter as he writes it. And he's doing a better job than I would have expected. Could this basic thought about the shapes help him once the cast is off? Or is his brain going to be even more muddled when it comes off, so I should ask the teacher to stop requiring him to write?

    His dysgraphia is apparently pretty severe, if that makes any difference. Anybody have thoughts?

    Thanks much,
    Sue

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    Seems like he should be keyboarding or using speech-to-text software anyway, if the dysgraphia is pretty severe. It sounds to me to be unreasonable, unless he is only writing a few letters or words. I'm not sure that it would do any "harm" other than being very frustrating. Not sure if it would do any "good" or not. How does he feel about it? If he doesn't like it, I would advocate for him to be allowed to type or have someone scribe for him. I doubt there is any research on what happens if you force someone with dysgraphia to write with the non-dominant hand.

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    Having had my hand in a cast fairly recently for a broken thumb that required surgery, I agree with the above sentiment. I honestly tried to write with my left hand but I am so strongly right handed it took a LOT of effort. I don't see any harm in having him work on writing with his left hand but I don't think that it would necessary help his disgraphia. What I found that I did get better with my left hand the more I used it on something (fork, doorknobs etc.) and that it is possible to train the other hand. It just takes a lot of time and practice. Since I don't have to hand write anywhere as much a student in school I ended up just finding ways avoid it. Instead I typed everything I could, texted, or had my son fill out forms for me. The only think I "wrote" was signing my name for about 2 months.

    For your son my suggestion is anything he need to write beyond a word or two he should be allowed to use a keyboard or have a scribe. But nothing wrong with practicing to write his name or single digits, as long as the teacher isn't too picky how they end up looking. Another good option for something short where the keyboard would be cumbersome might be stamps, stickers or letter/number tiles.

    Last edited by bluemagic; 10/13/14 04:28 PM.
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    I am not an OT, but have dealt with them a lot re various sensory and processing issues with two of kids, and a theme that has come up repeatedly is that OT's really REALLY want to see definite one side dominance. Distinctly right OR left handed, not both, and ideally if right handed then also right footed and right eyed. So I would absolutely consider this a risk worth checking in with my OT, ESPECIALLY for a kid who has issues like suspected dysgraphia. My non professional opinion is - do not risk messing up what dominance he has without professional advice.

    Last edited by MumOfThree; 10/13/14 04:32 PM.
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    I see it as an opportunity. However, this is from the perspective of having a disgraphic DS who has been trained to write with both hands. Due to significant neurological damage affecting his original dominiant hand, he tires extremely quickly when writing with that hand. By giving him the ability to write with the other hand as well has been helpful.


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