[quote=OCJD]not only does DS have horrible handwriting/penmanship, it's pathologically bad. Years ago, Polarbear recommended that I seek an eval for him for dysgraphia based upon my description of his efforts. We talked ourselves out of that, which I am regretting. It's not that he's just sloppy but it's that his hands are physically incapable (it seems) of holding a pencil correctly and his hands sort of let loose and can't be kept in check. It's the same with any coloring or (sigh) map coloring (which they do a lot of). I thought MS would include more typing but that's not been the case yet.[quote]
Sorry, I had to quote the polarbear part because it's not everyday I get to quote someone quoting me lol!
Seriously, it's not too late to get that eval
If you have the eval and there is a challenge with handwriting such as dysgraphia, you can get accommodations through a 504 plan... and those accommodations can include keyboarding and/or not having points taken off for sloppy handwriting. JMO, but if it is dysgraphia, there are reasons to get the diagnosis and get accommodations that go beyond just getting an accommodation to avoid penalizing for what looks like sloppy handwriting. Handwriting takes up all of a dysgraphic person's working memory - it's arduous. Think of what it might be like to use handwriting it if wasn't automatic - and then think about what it would feel like to have to redo written work to make it look neater when it's not automatic.
Even it if's not dysgraphia, from your description of his pencil grip and not being able to keep it "in check" it sounds like a work with an OT on handwriting might be beneficial.
Re the Science Olympiad - we didn't have that at my ds' school so I don't know anything about it, but if it's something your ds really wanted to participate in, and he's only been held out of it by one B+ that was due to handwriting, I'd advocate to get him into it. I know that may sound pushy and like you're attempting to get around rules... but that's the way things sometimes work in school districts. We see that a lot in our school district with parents advocating for kids who fall just below cut-offs for things like gifted programming... and parents actually are often successful in advocating. If you don't ask, it won't happen.
And I agree that middle school is the place to learn that it's important to show your work in math and to make your work neat and legible... but if there's a challenge that's preventing handwriting from being legible, middle school is also a great time to find out exactly what's up - before the huge workload that comes with high school is on the horizon. Grades are also meaningful in a larger way once you get to high school because they'll go onto a college application. Middle school grades will fade away into distant memory in just a few short years and chances are no one outside your family and the Science Olympiad crew will ever see them. So - I wouldn't worry too much about his grades so far, I'd get an eval, and I'd advocate to get him into Science Olympiad.
Re typing/keyboarding/computers in middle school - we've found that in our local schools, teachers are still requiring handwriting through high school in many instances. Having accommodations through either a 504 plan or an IEP is really the only way I think you can guarantee getting around handwriting classwork in most school districts.
Best wishes,
polarbear
ps - my ds attended several CTY Intensive Studies summer courses in sciences and he *loved* them.
