Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Dysgraphia Interventions

Hi,

I'm so grateful to see these topics lately about dysgraphia, developmental coordination disorder (Ds's diagnosis and also hypotonia), etc.

DS6 has had OT the last year and daily HWT, with a little improvement, but honestly not very much. When I look at his letters they are anything but smooth, each example is different from the next, there are just random movements in there. The school seems to think he has a learning disability style problem, ie that more practice or help would be good. Whereas I feel the opposite is true, that above a certain point practice is just damaging to his self esteem. So that's not going well.

A question along the lines of this thread is has anyone seen a physical therapist rather than an OT, for motor skills of the type that kids with dysgraphia or DCD have?

Do they ever do fine motor skills work? What tasks did they teach? The OT DS has seen is very focused on writing but now that DS has started school with PE class I am realizing he has had no work at all on sportsy type things and is further behind in those areas than I realized. Do PTs do things like learning to catch a ball, or is that exclusively a OT thing and we just happen to have a OT obsessed with handwriting?

Part of me feels like if we were seeing a PT rather than an OT perhaps that would help the school to get the point that there is real motor disability. I'm not sure how to convince them that actual accommodations are needed, since he's technically speaking at grade level on writing.