Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional granted IEP but not in area expected, now what

Hi Zoey,

Who diagnosed the dyslexia and dysgraphia? Can you get that person to write a nice meaty report with lots of data to share with the school? Perhaps even get them to come to a meeting? Or find an educational advocate to help you make your case? We've done both of these things.

We have mostly made good headway with the school when we have tons of incontrovertible data that show what the needs are with crystal clarity. Even then, it can take a while.

You can also request in writing that the school re-evaluate him for these particular issues-- don't call them dyslexia and dysgraphia, but describe the issues you see thoroughly (problems with phonological recognition, difficulty sounding out words, fatigues quickly when writing, difficulty producing written work, whatever it is in his case-- describe it). The book From Emotions to Advocacy has explanations of how and why to do this.

Dysgraphia is a tough one-- most schools don't recognize that it exists. At most you can get them to see "disorder of written expression."

Edited to add: I wouldn't get hung up on the IEP classification, though I would agree that Specific Learning Disability will fit better once you have the full picture acknowledged. Still, the category doesn't matter for services-- what matters is that everyone recognizes all the issues and agrees on what is important to remediate.