Hello all! Well, thanks to you (the forum), as I was reading one of your posts, I came across the term, "dysgraphia" and looked it up. I had never heard of it, but identified it immediately as something my son must be laboring with.
He is highly gifted (WISC IV Full Scale IQ of 149; GAI 154, but as I recall his lowest scores were on processing speed and something else related), and manages all A's in his 7th grade classes. There really are no current school issues, but I think that must be because he overcompensates in many ways.
His handwriting is just awful. His hand grip still looks like a 2 year old using a pencil, and I've never been able to get him to hold the pencil correctly. It is torture watching him cut his meat/use knives properly. He fortunately is a skinny kid, because buttons trouble him so much, he likes to just pull his jeans straight up without unzipping & buttoning! Writing tires him. I am constantly amazed that his teachers can read his writing. I have to say, they've all been very patient and understanding of his handwriting, especially given there is no diagnosis. Personally, I've always thought that it appears he was being lazy & sloppy, but I know he does his best. I do not think he has the most severe case, like some I read about, where it really affects the quality of what he is saying when he writes/the content.
So, what is my question? I guess I'm wondering if it is worth getting this diagnosed officially? First of all, will it make him feel better, to understand there's a reason that he doesn't produce as tidy work as others, etc. Or will it unnecessarily make him feel that there is something really "wrong" with him? I admit, that while using an alphasmart or some of the other accommodations I was just reading about might have been handy for him, I do think that all the writing he's had to do over the years has been helpful, and he has somehow managed. So I'm not sure I'd pursue asking for accommodations (unless there are some that you really recommend that I look into). But also, are there some therapies that really help? Is it worth it at age 12 to do OT? Also, I believe that his slow/poor quality writing hasn't really hindered note-taking so far, largely because he is quite bright and probably just memorizes/understands/listens intently to his teachers, and really doesn't need to study from notes at this point. But, presumably, in high school, note-taking will be more important. So maybe he will suffer more later on, and it might affect his schoolwork. So is it better to have the diagnosis in place now, and save pulling it out until it appears that he truly needs an accommodation?
Sorry for the long post, but this just hit me like a ton of bricks!! Giant "aha!" moment!!
Thanks in advance for any recommendations.
