My son, who is 10, has so much difficulty with remembering to capitalize words. When I read his submissions to school I am appalled. These are short assignments or responses my son is typing into Seesaw for distance learning, not formal essays. When he writes something longer he's better about capitalization but forgets about 1/3 of the time in his first draft. It seems like carelessness to me but I wonder if it's actually some clue that he is struggling with something.

Other issues that may or may not be related: my son has difficulty with handwriting but is doing much better with keyboarding. He has some trouble with organizing and planning his writing and written work reflects much less complexity than his thinking and speaking. Oddly enough, his teachers report that he is an excellent poet but I have noticed that longer pieces of writing that are more conventional often use odd turns of phrase. Again, using a keyboard has made a big difference but his writing is only at grade level, which one wouldn't expect of a kid with verbal scores in the 140s.

He has Tourettes Syndrome and anxiety. He is socially awkward and not clumsy but definitely physically awkward. Sometimes I wonder if he has dysgraphia but we haven't had him tested because the local testing center said it would cost $5-7,000 and insurance won't pay for it. I have not yet been convinced that there is an issue that justifies spending that much money on testing when none of his teachers have expressed concern. Other potential data points: his handwriting is a bit labored but not particularly messy or hard to read. His spelling is excellent. He understands the rules of capitalization but is inconsistent with using them. If I prompt him, he will go back and edit and fix the errors. But he consistently makes them no matter how many times I remind him this is an issue and that he needs to double check before submitting work. Is this just careless typing or should I dig deeper?


Last edited by Lepa; 09/01/20 11:31 PM.