My ds also has a challenge with written expression. It can really *look* like an initiation challenge, and it appears really uneven. When he writes, he writes really well. It could appear that he's writing when he is engaged because he's interested in a topic, but if you look deeper the issue is more with the type of writing - is he having to make inferences, is the topic open-ended, etc. You mentioned that you're able to get your ds to write once he's made a personal connection. This sounds somewhat reminiscent of what writing is like for my ds - it happens with a lot of support in the form of prompting/work at initiation etc. I don't know if it would benefit your ds at all, but speech therapy focused on writing was *tremendously* helpful for my ds. And a lot of support from me at home with strategies his SLP suggested.
I have wanted to get his language evaluated (and listed that as a concern in eval request), but the school won't do it. I planned to do it through the university, but to tell the truth--between having to be DS' frontal lobe, along with taking him to constant "other" appointments (and his grade in one class being reduced on the basis he was not there to "participate"), I really just hit a wall.
I would not be at all surprised if there is something going on with his language, beyond pragmatics. He just says so many weird things, and is so difficult to communicate with about things that seem pretty basic.
I also wonder about his fine-motor skill. When the school OT did the VMI (?) last year, she noted that his "hand shook" but DS told her that it shakes when he is on meds. He has very messy handwriting (but can make it look very nice, if he's slooooooow), can't snap his fingers, was at least 10 by the time he could tie shoes, button pants, etc. He is very fast at keyboarding, can play multiple instruments, draw, and build Legos. But I guess those are different processes.
I probably should go ahead and have the language evaluation, privately. It's discouraging because I figure, even if he were diagnosed with an SLD, the school would still refuse to evaluate him. I continue to shake my head in disbelief they refused this year, with his history and a very detailed NP report. She did not do anything language oriented, though, except ADOS. As far as I can tell, anyway.
His NP moved out of town and is kaput. I attempted to contact her, earlier this year, for a consult and received no response. I am considering taking the report to another NP to see what they might suggest.
I never feel like I "really know what's up" with DS.
