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    bmoore4 #221705 09/02/15 12:58 PM
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    My son has dysgraphia pretty severely. I could really see he was not like the other kids when I volunteered in the classroom as early as pre-K and kindergarten. Really started being obvious to me (and to him) in kindergarten. Teachers kept telling me it was "normal" but I thought it was very obvious when I would go in and volunteer ... yeah, some of the kids wrote a few letters backwards but not to the extent of my son. Very few of the other children seemed to find writing so difficult and arduous. Knowing how bright he was also was a factor... I think the teachers thought he was just average and a slow in some areas (writing). Some thought it was just plain behavioral and oppositional. My son actually was the one who brought it to head for me when he laid down on the floor and said extremely upset, "what is wrong with me?!?! I know what an 'A' looks like and what it is, but I can not get my hand to make one... all of the other kids can do it easily and I can't. I feel like I am much smarter than them - they did not even know what the word 'pollute' means, but they can easily make letters and I can not! Something is really very wrong with me."

    bmoore4 #221719 09/02/15 03:56 PM
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    DS9 is dysgraphic and when he was your DD's age and undiagnosed I could not understand why copying down one brief sentence in a thank you card was such a difficulty. Thank you cards took weeks post birthdays (we send e-cards, now that we know what's going on). He also resisted writing, quite vigorously, and would crumple up his work and tear up worksheets. Like Irena's DS, he knew he was different from the other children and asked for help 'to get his work finished on time' in class.

    'Boring' has the same expansive definition in our house that other posters have mentioned and was a frequent explanation for disinterest in writing activities pre-diagnosis.

    bmoore4 #221804 09/03/15 07:00 PM
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    What kind of specialist does testing for dysgraphia?
    I too, thought that since my DD10 could draw (exceptionally well) that wasn't the issue. BUT, unless she really takes her time her handwriting is illegible. She can't even read her own handwriting sometimes, and it is soooo small. She writes stories all the time though, particularly cartoons. She can flip out a paper in a nanosecond but can't spell to save her life. She's also ADHD (inattentive). Any connection? Oh, I just remembered, she loves to do calligraphy with her pen and ink. Sorry to butt into this conversation, but I am very curious as well.

    bmoore4 #221808 09/03/15 08:12 PM
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    Search, and I think I have posts in another thread on dysgraphia/dyslexia evals. But in brief, you'll be looking for a psych (neuro, school, or clinical), and an OT. The OT documents and diagnoses the fine motor coordination aspect of dysgraphia. The psych documents the cognitive and achievement profile of weaknesses in automaticity, often processing speed or working memory (though not always both), and written expression deficits.


    ...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...
    blackcat #222470 09/17/15 01:38 PM
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    Originally Posted by blackcat
    If she's copying, she probably shouldn't be writing them backwards. Otherwise, I agree it's normal at that age. I think you should definitely keep an eye on this. DS has some pretty severe writing issues (at age 8, his writing is still very hard to read), he has an IEP and is pulled for services, including OT and written expression, but he didn't have problems to the degree you are describing in K or 1st grade. In the beginning of K he was able to copy sentences, just more messy and slowly than the other kids. I would talk to the teacher and see what he/she says about it, and whether she acts the same way in class.

    I just got this response from her teacher:
    "I looked again at her writing and it is very typical for this time of year. They all need to practice spacing and not writing capitals in the middle of words. They all need to practice using lines and forming their letters correctly. I go over this every day by modeling and leaving it on the Smartboard. Is there something about it that you are troubled about? Again, her writing is very average for the time of school year. Hope this helps!"

    Do you think based on what I mentioned before and this response, I should just 'wait and see'?

    bmoore4 #222474 09/17/15 02:23 PM
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    Bmoore4, I don't want to alarm you or be the type of person who, because my son has an issue, thinks everyone has that issue smile . BUT I would definitely caution you not to rely much on the teacher in your assessment of the situation and whether or not to look more into it. I know that sounds wrong but my son's teachers insisted he was average, insisted his writing was normal for his age, insisted they was nothing wrong other than behavioral, maybe manipulation, maybe adhd (isn't focused enough to write), maybe PDD-NOS...

    Mostly, they insisted he was completely average and typical. I would volunteer often in the classroom and felt it was really VERY blatant that there were big issues with his writing. One school OT spoke up and said 'yes reversals are normal at this age but the extent and the amount' that my son does/did them is not normal. She gently and quietly encouraged me to keep going. The next school OT insisted he was normal.

    My son has pretty severe dysgraphia. He is 10 and STILL routinely reverses most number and a few letters.

    So, I guess my advice is go with gut feeling and get her looked at specifically for a writing disorder (if that is your gut feeling) and do not let the teacher's opinion hold much sway. If I had listened to my son's teachers the dysgraphia may never have been discovered!

    ETA I don't have time now to do it but I have in the past posted the specific tests used to diagnose my son. I had to request specifically that the school test for writing disorder/dysgraphia and I had to specifically request specific tests otherwise they would do evals that were mostly adhd evals and behavioral issues evals.

    Last edited by Irena; 09/17/15 02:26 PM.
    bmoore4 #222508 09/18/15 09:15 AM
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    My experience has been that (1) most teachers have so much less training/ awareness of LDs than you would ever imagine, and (2) parents are far better judges of when there is something different with their kid. If you think there is something wrong, trust your instincts and don't wait for the teachers to catch up. If there actually is something, the sooner you support it, the better.

    Add in the ability of gifted kids to compensate and hide disabilities, and what I see again and again is kids who start to break down with anxiety in the classroom long before teachers have any clue what it is costing that child to try and keep up with their classmates every day.

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