Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Dysgraphia- when to accommodate???

My DD (8) is recently diagnosed 2E with ADD and mild dyslexia. Frankly, I think it's more of a dysgraphia as she has all the symptoms and is "reading" without too much difficulty 2 grades above where she's at. So, my question is this: If dysgraphia doesn't really improve long term with more practice writing, at what age should we start accommodations? I asked her reading specialist (DD is seeing her for lessons in Orton-Gillingham) and she seemed to think I should wait. I'm torn--I don't want her NOT to practice her hand-writing, but it's such a battle every time and she's really going hard-core with her avoidance behaviors (tantrums, constant chattering and topic changing, absolute refusal to write more for the reading specialist, etc). I doubt she's getting much from the practicing at this point, and I keep thinking that if I provide some sort of accommodation it might reduce the overall stress of writing for her. Do you think this might provide too much of a "crutch"? ***Being new to this, I also posted this in another thread. "polarbear" recommended I start my own thread and also asked for some clarifications...DD was diagnosed by a child neuropsych at our request. She has yet to provide us with formal results, but I hear she's VERY slow in getting her reports done. Our reading specialist was an instructor at the Orton Gillingham school for Dyslexics in Indiana and has several degrees in teaching/special ed. She has witnessed some of DD struggles, but I will ask her directly what she thinks/knows about dysgraphia specifically. I like the idea of OT for her pencil grip, which is awkward--she curls her hand down and writes beneath her fingers. The things I see that make me suspect dysgraphia are: capitals and lowercase letters mixed throughout writing, letters are all different sizes, she won't drop letters like p,y,g, or j below the line, difficulty with word spacing (all the words run together), writing "downhill" even on lined paper, starting out at the left hand margin but keeps moving each subsequent line a bit to the right until she's starting the line in the middle of the page, and no matter how much instruction she receives she still forms her letters oddly. I can definitely see the mild dyslexia as well. She has a terrible time with spelling, reversals in both letters and numbers, and her comprehension is far below her reading ability (only if she's read the passage herself, however). Luckily, she's making some improvements in spelling with the orton-gillingham lessons. Just looking for some input...