Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Homeschool, dysgraphia...advice needed

I started homeschooling DS8 last week. Considering the abrupt start, things are going well. I haven't had time to think about addressing the dysgraphia but I think it's time. I added a simple writing prompt to the morning and it's just not going well. I've asked him to write two sentences and it ends in tears. He resists writing and I feel like this is reinforcing those negative feelings.

My hunch is that I need to work on spelling skills and perhaps incorporate Handwriting Without Tears. He's already working on typing. I guess I need to accommodate the way I wish the school would have. Sorry, thinking out loud here.

Can I let go of the writing for a season? Do any of you have experience with a good spelling resource? I feel like he needs to understand some rules, not just memorize word lists. Finally, is anyone else homeschooling a dysgraphic child? I know each child is different, but I'd love to hear your experiences.

I love All About Spelling. I'm also tempted by the Logic of English, which has a similar OG-inspired design, but integrates handwriting (at the lowest level), reading, and writing, as well, though I'm already so invested in AAS, that I'm not about to change now. Plus, my kiddo is much further ahead in reading than in writing/spelling, so having them separated works better for us, anyway.

We haven't homeschooled, but we've done a *ton* of after schooling to help our dysgraphic ds with writing - both the mechanics and written expression (generating ideas, organizing, summarizing, what is expected on a written assignment etc).

Have you asked your ds what is difficult about the writing prompt assignment? He may be too young to really be able to answer the question, but he might have some insight that would be helpful. Are you having him use handwriting to answer the writing prompt?

The first thing we did when our ds was diagnosed (or at least attempted to do - school didn't cooperate lol).. was to *completely* separate handwriting instruction from written expression instruction. So think through, what is the goal of this exercise? Practicing handwriting or working on building sentences and paragraphs, or creating original written expression. For handwriting, we tried a handwriting-specific program even though our ds had been through one already at school (he was 8 when diagnosed), and ds also went through handwriting OT. The handwriting program we tried at home didn't work because handwriting caused ds pain, so we dropped it and dealt with handwriting only through the 9 months of handwriting OT.

We started ds keyboarding immediately, but keyboarding was also a separate assignment (only to learn keyboarding) until his keyboarding was up to the level it needed to be to respond on writing assignments. While he was learning keyboarding I scribed for him on all assignments that required written answers.

If your ds is a typical dysgraphic, once you've removed handwriting from the equation and he's either keyboarding or you're scribing, he will probably be able to tackle writing assignments and you'll see a big increase in written output. Just remember that "written" doesn't have to mean "handwriting". OTOH, if he's like my dysgraphic ds, you might not see the words flow simply by introducing keyboarding and scribing - in that case you'll want to work on structuring his written expression assignments to target the areas he's struggling in - generating ideas is the first step, organizing ideas next, sentence composition etc - all of these things can be worked on one piece at a time, and for dysgraphic kids, there is sometimes a lack of automaticity in how to do these steps, not just in handwriting - so you need to apply the same philosophy you apply to helping your child learn how to write letters - repeat, repeat, repeat etc.

Hope that helps a little bit!

polarbear

ps - the other thing we did was to prioritize - which skill was most important to tackle first etc. Spelling came out relatively low on the list for us - partly because ds was able to spell when he wasn't in the midst of the writing process - how does your ds' spelling compare/contrast when you ask him to spell a word vs how it's spelled while he's writing? If he can spell well when prompted with just one word, then chances are it's the dysgraphia that's causing spelling errors when writing, and (this is jmo... take it with a grain of salt!)... that's not really a problem that you need to solve. First, it might be something you *can't* solve because your ds is always going to be dysgraphic. Second, with spell correct and word prediction spelling errors drop drastically when keyboarding. Your ds needs to be able to recognize a mis-spelled word when he proof-reads, but he doesn't necessarily have to be able to spell it exactly correctly when writing if he's keyboarding.

All of what Polar said.

Plus this: in an area of struggle, make the task so small and easy first that he is able to succeed with it. Do it that way several times before increasing the difficulty, and increase it in such tiny increments that there is always some success in view.

It can feel ridiculous to give a gifted child a super-easy task, but if he's already deeply anxious and feeling unsuccessful, it really helps to start there.

ITA with DeeDee re the small and easy tasks first!!

Also one I forgot - give the same type of assignment over time - maybe repeat it every other Friday or every Monday morning or whatever. Make it non-identical, doesn't have to be exactly the same, but use the same idea/concept/framework/etc). After a few months it will give you something concrete that you can show your ds to show him how far he's progressed. This was something that was really tough for our ds - when you are the student who is caught up in the midst of working through a challenge daily, it's not easy to see progress over time. Just showing a piece of current work or reassuring our ds that he was making progress really didn't convince him of it - he needed to see how differently he was responding to a repeated type of assignment to realize that yes, he really was making progress.

polarbear

pb, you re-invented effective progress monitoring! (This is how schools are supposed to be monitoring student progress for IEPs or RTI.) You can also use something quantifiable and graph progress (e.g., words written per minute, correctly spelled words written per minute, etc.). Makes it visible, and somehow feels more objective.

I can't speak from a homeschooling perspective, but can only offer some thoughts as to what is keeping us surviving - or not - with our own writing issues.

First thought: I have often seen homeschooling parents on this forum recommend a "detox" period, especially when you've had an abrupt start following a bad school experience. So to your question, "Can I let go of the writing for one season", it may be worth considering if there's really a good reason why you can't. Is there one particular activity that is causing him the most stress, and can you live without that for a month or a term?

Within the school context, we've spent a couple of years trying to figure out what output might look like in non-written form. Our DS doesn't seem dysgraphic, so taking out the handwriting aspect doesn't help him much. For yours, however, that might be a significant and helpful change. As polarbear suggests, there's lots of alternatives to handwriting and spelling, including typing, word recognition and voice recognition software. If any of these help make writing feasible for your DS, they are NOT cheating!

Another option is to look for alternatives to traditional written output. Posters and flowcharts, for example can be good for the visual, non-writing types. Diagrams, drawings, storyboards and comic strips. Build it in lego, popsicle sticks or Minecraft. My DS loves PowerPoint. He's now learning the "Inspiration" software, and using it to brainstorm, capture data, and structure and build presentations. Some day, we'll move to trying to use it to help build text outlines, but, well, maybe not yet today

Are there types of writing that work better for your DS than others? My non-writing DS is inexplicably happy writing poetry that follows strictly-defined patterns, like haiku and pyramids. I haven't yet convinced a teacher to try letting him response in verse to a writing assignment, but I'm working on it. My dyslexic DD, on the other hand, loves to sing, and will improv lyrics on the spot all day long. Again, I'm still trying to convince a teacher to try asking for her response in song rather than on paper...

All that to say, there are so many ways a kid can demonstrate their understanding, analysis and ideas. Perhaps a few months of creative thinking and exploring output in non-(hand)written forms might be just the ticket to ease your transition.

Congrats for taking the plunge - all the best to you. Hope it goes well!

Thank you! He doesn't mind writing single words. The trouble comes with sentence-writing. I think I'll remove this for now and scribe.

I need to take a breath and not try to solve every issue at once. It's a little overwhelming.

I didn't expect to already have to advocate for my DS in regard to writing requirements at a play-based (!) preschool. However, this excellent advice from both Dee Dee and Polar Bear (both in this post and many others) enabled me to work successfully with a teacher confused by the combination of exceptional intelligence with inconsistency of writing skill acquisition. I put a kibosh on "requirement", but guidelines for small incremental skill building as outlined by Dee Dee & Polar Bear. Thank you!

Does anyone know what age dysgraphia can be diagnosed? DS just turned 6 and he struggles with handwriting. The new school year starts next week, and he is accelerating into year 2 at a new school. I am concerned that writing is going to be an issue. We have started OT, but we were on an extended holiday overseas and we struggle with a lot of resistance with practicing writing at home. I am not sure how much is not liking to actually have to work at something, or if there is a real challenge for him.