I think that parents of gifted children have some trouble wrapping our understanding around the need for a LOT-- no, really a LOT-- of practice at some skill when it doesn't really seem like the progress is "worth it" or maybe even happening at all.
OTOH parents of NT kids also usually don't realize that endless repetition isn't necessarily going to produce results for kids who have certain types of LDs. I am not a reading expert so can only speak to dysgraphia - but the whole gist of what dysgraphia is is the inability to develop automaticity - so no matter how many times a child repeats the actual act of writing the letter "t" for instance, it never *ever* becomes automatic - they are always re-thinking in their head how to draw it every time they write it out.
While DD doesn't have any particular diagnosed disability w/r/t writing, it has been a battle of epic proportions for almost a decade. She hates to write, and loathes practicing the skill; naturally, she doesn't do it very well in light of those things. But we are finally (after years and years of firm but compassionate insistence) seeing some results for our intense efforts. It's been slow and unsatisfying, to say the least.
But it is a very different thing to require a child who has the *capability* to learn a skill to work on it as opposed to requiring a child with a diagnosed disability to learn the skill. I *think* (and could be remembering this incorrectly) that fwxtmom's child has been diagnosed with either dyslexia/dysgraphia or a related disability.
Best wishes,
polarbear
