DS is not technically 2E, but he clearly has some issues. He has really bad handwriting and at most marginal fine motor skills. Anyhow, I requested an evaluation through DS' teacher (who described his handwriting as really bad) at the end of 2nd grade. At that time, the OT conducted an informal evaulation and concluded that while DS had some specific issues such as size/formation/spacing of letters/words, that it was very mild. She also essentially blamed any problems on his hand's inability to keep up with the output from his brain because he was so very bright. I let it go.
This year (4th grade), his pre-algebra teacher expressed concerns regarding his handwriting and fine motor skills. I reaquested another evaulation. The school is required to provide an "informal" evaluation but does not need to take it any further (convene IEP meeting to authorize full evaulation) if the OT opines that it is not warranted. Of course, the OT did not find any problems. She also quoted his 4th grade teacher (not his pre-algebra teacher), who does not think there is a problem. In retrospect, I probably should have gone through his 4th grade teacher, but I was just used to communicating with the administration directly and I had not spoken to or met with his 4th grade teacher at all this whole year. I also just really respect DS' pre-algebra teacher, who I communicate with regularly. Anyhow, according to the OT and/or his 4th grade teacher, DS doesn't have a problem because he is "very bright" and writes at a speed "faster than average" and has no problem finishing his work, etc.
To be fair, he writes a bit neater on his classwork for his 4th grade teacher so it is more legible than the stuff that his pre-algebra teacher sees. However, he also has problems writing small enough to fit into designated spaces, which becomes more of an issue in higher grades. In fact, his 3rd grade teacher last year was concerned that it would negatively impact his state testing. I am confident that it did based on comparisions with his twin and all their other test results, but since he still scored above the "advance" threshold, nobody is going to care.
Sorry for the rambling, but I am trying to figure out how to proceed. DS knows that he has a problem. He has explicitly said to me, "Mommy, I have really bad handwriting. How can I make it better?" It is also clear that his handwriting continues to impact the quality of his writing, but because his writing is still at the top of his class so far. . .
I let it go two years ago, thinking that it might simply improve with maturity like the problem with letter reversals. However, he is now a 4th grader and should not contnue to have issues with letter size/formation/spacing. I did not necessary think that they would be willing to provide him with OT, but I wanted to make sure that if he needed accomodations (i.e., typing versus writing), that I have it set up before middle school where it would be much easier for kids to get lost and where they tend to be less caring than the elementary schoool staff.
Perhaps it may still get better with time? The letter reversals finally stopped about two years ago. While it isn't unusual for Kindergarteners through 2nd graders to reverse their p's and q's, I always found it bizarre that he could read Harry Potter fluently at age 6, but still had trouble distinguishing some of his letters. On the other hand, I am still waiting for him to master left and right. He still has to use one of several elaborate methods to deduce left from right but it is getting quicker and may some day approach automatic. Having been blessed with exceptional fine motor and graphomotor skills, I just don't know how to help him on the handwriting issue.
