Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Handwriting limit in IEP

My DD's limits were added bit by bit as needed. In K our private OT suggested use of a slant board. The real ones were collapsible cardboard with clips on top to hold the papers. In school it was a 3 ring binder. She was allowed to use it only if it would be made available for use by all kids in the classroom. They never actually let her use it. We tried it at home but it didn't make a huge difference for her. In school she was regularly punished for not being able to complete writing assignments - i.e. forced to sit for 45 minutes at a time, being kept in from recess, skipping snack, etc and ridiculed for writing only a few words in that time. They knew about her fine motor deficit but would not authorize testing for in school services saying "She would never qualify - she's too smart."

In first she had a fabulous teacher who just naturally modified and accommodated as needed. DD wrote as much as she could in the time allotted for the class. The amount didn't matter. When I attended a parents' participation day for the 100th day of school I saw the problem. DD orally told me an amazing, in depth story in response to the writing prompt but got only the first line or 2 written in the time allotted. This is when I asked for scribing as an accommodation on longer assignments. My position was that she was not able to access the full curriculum if she was not able to fully respond to the questions presented. There was no way to actually measure her mastery if her full answers weren't available to the teacher. Fabulous teacher then started scribing and amazing, creative, really mind blowing stories started coming home. I also asked for keyboarding to be introduced but the school OT was from the school of thought that it was an inappropriate accommodation before 5th grade.

By the end of 1st grade things with the principal had blown up and we brought in our educational consultant who started working with central office. The director of special services, a former school psychologist, seemed to really understand DD's profile and had a good grasp of her needs. He authorized the AT eval and brought in a part time para to scribe for DD. Unfortunately he left for excellent neighboring district at the end of the year so we were left to fight for everything with those that were left.

Through 2nd grade the teacher just could not wrap her head around DD's needs. She totally failed to modify or accommodate and kept asking DD to do more writing than she could reasonably handle. Spec Ed teacher was supposed to modify *every single worksheet* DD was presented. She could not rewrite corrected sentences but could, for example, cross out what was wrong and write a corrected verb tense. Word banks were numbered and she could enter the number of the word she selected rather than write the sentence or word itself. She could draw lines between blanks and her choice to fill it in.

In theory this was a great solution when matched with a part time para to write the longer responses. It didn't work though and teacher kept telling DD to "write as much as you can yourself before you ask for help." It took all year to finally get the AT evaluation done and the AT was never really implemented. They added a full time para to write full time for DD. Because of teacher's inability to comprehend the limitations we had to get very, very specific about how much DD could write. She didn't want to disappoint the teacher so we said she could write as much as she wanted but anything more than 2 lines had to be done outside the classroom. Unlimited writing when working with OT or spec ed teacher. As much as she wanted with the para as long as not in the classroom so teacher could not put inappropriate pressure on her. No near or far point copying tasks.

Now in 3rd grade at OOD there are no limits. Full time spec ed teachers understand her issues and do not put inappropriate pressure on her. As a result she is choosing to write more herself, although it is totally illegible. She has full time access to her iPad and uses it throughout her day. She is being trained with both keyboarding and voice-to-text. She does great as long as there is no pressure on her to perform or concerned about disappointing someone.

This may be way more info than you asked for but hopefully it will be helpful to have the full progression laid out for you or others facing the same issues. Glad to hear the new teacher is working out so well. It makes such a difference when you come across a gem like that!