My DS11 was diagnosed with dysgraphia by a psychologist when he was 9. His handwriting is not messy, his spelling is good, but the output is limited. When he was 9 I was not entirely convinced that he wouldn't "grow" out of it. By 11 the discrepancy between his verbal output and written output had become several years (writing at about 3rd grade level, speaking at ?? - huge, sophisticated vocab, voracious reader, no organizational or cohesion problems in speaking).
His diagnosis is based upon the large discrepancy between verbal and written output. In our case, the teacher is allowing accomodations (using computer in class, dictating some work, not writing complete sentences on math homework). After this next year, we may have to go back to a 504 plan to get the accommodations.
I found interesting discussions regarding the complexity of the writing process in Mel Levine's book "The Myth of Laziness." There are numerous factors involved in writing and therefore many causes for dysgraphia. I would definitely try to begin the process of finding out where the difficulties are because some issues may respond to therapy, whereas others really do not.
Whatever happens, don't let the teachers call him lazy or stubborn! If I could go back in time I would change those dynamics.
