Hi all. I'm new here. Trying to figure some things out...
Could I ask who would be best to diagnose dysgraphia?
My son who is 7.5 has very neat handwriting and is an above average speller but just hates having to write. He'll sometimes write in really tiny
print or he'll just stare at the page and cry that it's just so boring. He'll start to write and then fling his pencil across the room. He'll choose one word answers just to avoid a sentence. He reads and comprehends at a gifted level but when he is required to write he hits a wall. Literally & Figuratively. Could that still be dysgraphia?
Ethinx, it's possible it could be dysgraphia, but often with dysgraphia a child will have poor legibility of handwriting, an odd pencil grip, will hold their wrist or sit in an odd position while writing, have uneven pencil pressure, mix caps and lower case, can't spell while writing etc. There are different types of dysgraphia which you can read about by googling and see if any seem to fit.
That said, another thing that *might* be at play (and please understand, I'm a mom, not a professional!)... is that he's having difficulty with forming the expressive language needed to write. My dysgraphic ds also has challenges with expressive writing, and his behavior when tasked with a writing assignment at the same age was very similar, although he had the added issue of obvious dysgraphia. One thing you might try at home (if you haven't already) is to have him scribe his writing to you or use a keyboard and see if his total volume of output increases and if his stress/frustration/refusal to write decreases. If it *doesn't* I'd suggest seeking out an evaluation through a Speech Language Pathologist and also ask that he be evaluated using the Test of Written Language (TOWL) - this is a test that is widely used by schools when evaluating for writing LDs.
Best wishes,
polarbear
