The school is probably going on the teacher's perception that it is not a writing skill deficit, but a performance deficit, in which case the primary issue would be anxiety. This is, of course, not necessarily the case. I would agree that a comprehensive eval (even a school-based eval, with some emotional assessment included) makes more sense than attempting to look at one piece at a time. We're not allowed to diagnose anxiety disorders in the schools, so it may be that the school wants an outside licensed person to make the anxiety diagnosis.
Until he gets an anxiety diagnosis, the school won't move forward on an assessment. He is seeing a therapist, BTW, for something else. What I want to know is why he needs the anxiety diagnosis to get an evaluation. The principal suggested an OT take a look but won't budge until the diagnosis. Isn't this backward? Shouldn't they try to determine why the child cannot write?
Is anxiety just focused on writing, or is it present elsewhere?Just about handwriting and school projects where he has to write and draw something for the school hallway.
A lot of kids have anxiety that is directly tied to the disability.It seems like this is the case.
