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DS9 (3rd grade) has just completed testing and has been diagnosed with a disorder of written expression/dysgraphia. Recommendations have been made to use keyboarding and voice recognition software as much as possible at school starting next year. I'm wondering if anyone here has used these types of accomodations and if they were successful.

We have used these with my son very successfully, but in a homeschool setting, not a typical classroom setting. Voice recognition software can sometimes be a little tricky to use with younger kids, as most of the software needs to be "trained", and little kid's voices and speech patterns can be pretty variable. Keyboarding was by far the better choice for our son, as then he didn't have to go back and edit out all the incidental comments that he would make to himself while composing. I'm thinking that VR wouldn't be the best choice for in-classroom work, either, because of the need to speak aloud and the probable interference with and from others. You might want to spend the summer getting your DS as fluent as possible on the keyboard.

Any suggestions on programs to teach keyboarding?

Here's one thread, HTH.

DS9 (third grade) has always had poor handwriting, which his teachers have dismissed as "develpmental", saying that he would outgrow it. When I say he has poor handwriting, I mean he forms his letters from the bottom up, reverses letters, does not understand the concept of what parts of letters go above or below the line on the paper, writes some letters big, some small, mispells words, leaves words half written, and cannot organize his thoughts on paper.

Last summer, I also noted that he could not tie his shoes or button buttons, so I took him for an OT eval. He came away with a diagnosis of sensory processing disorder with tactile oversensitivities which delayed his fine motor skills. Well, after a year of OT, we are seeing some improvement in his writing mechanics...I can read what he writes if he is writing anything that does not require any thought, but as soon as he has to think AND write, everything falls apart.

The school is being very cooperative. We are working on a 504 for next year. We already have one for this year for accomodations regarding his need for movement that comes with his SPD (and newly diagnosed ADHD). Luckily, the school is starting a netbook program next year that will require all 5th graders to have netbooks and make it optional for 3rd and 4th graders. The principal has given all of the teachers a directive that the vast majority of work has to be able to be done on the netbooks (although they will not abandon handwriting altogether). This will help tremendously, since DS will not be the only person using a netbook. I am very skeptical of how well VR would work in the school setting, but think it may be helpful at home for long writing assignments.

We just finished a psycho-educational evaluation (private tester) and the psychologist diagnosed the DWE based on writing samples that he did for her and work that I brought in from his writing journal at school. She made the recommendations for keyboarding and VR.

My homeschooled son took a once a week writing composition class that required a lot of writing. Weekly writing assignments were not a problem because he typed those on his netbook or computer at home, but it was a struggle to write the required paragraph in five minutes at the beginning of each class. He has low muscle tone and his hands tire quickly. He did not want to ask for accommodations. He did not want to take a netbook to class. But after he couldn't finish all of the writing on the first semester test I asked the teacher if it would be okay for him to use his iPhone to type out answers to essay questions. None of the kids in the class saw him use it, and he was the first one finished with the test. He emailed it to the teacher at the end of class. It worked really well. He did the amount of writing he could physically do on the test but typed the rest.

He did well enough on the test that he made a 98 for the semester even though he was diagnosed with a disorder of written expression/dysgraphia two years ago.

Since he learned to type well and took the writing comp class he can now write really good poetry and short stories. He would not have been able to do this if he were not allowed to type his work.

My son is extremely dysgraphic and received intense OT from age 2 to grade 3. Typing is difficult for him (he used type to learn program), but at least what he types is legible. I am a huge advocate for key boarding, but I want you to consider the down side.

Students need to attain some level of handwriting functionality. They need to fill out forms, do math problems, jot down notes. Handwriting like any skill is subject to regression if not used. "Use it or loose it". And, if it is a weakness, it is more likely to regress.

Although keyboarding is widely accessible - schools can even down load worksheets so they can be completed on the computer - there are times where a student needs to write. I'm not sure the "right" age to transition to technology, but I do caution to be thoughtful about the timing and the transition itself.

My son began keyboarding in 4th grade, and by 6th grade virtually all written work transitioned to the computer. (except math). He has not used Dragon - as others have mentioned, it is not as easy as it seems. The program needs to be trained (and pubescent voices are a problem), plus the child needs to be able to differentiate from "spoken" and "written" expression. They must also have the organizational, mechanical, grammatical skills in place to use the program. These are the skills my son has been working on and we plan to trial Dragon this summer (rising freshman).

There are Math programs that allow one to use the computer as Master of none mentioned. We haven't tried them yet - DS seems to be able to keep up with handwriting in math - but they are on our radar screen.

But, as always, we try to balance the need for traditional accessibility (ie handwriting) vs moving completely over to the computer.

My dd has a 504 with some writing accommodations. She uses an AlphaSmart Dana as well as MacSpeak on the computers @ school. She's also given a scribe. I think it helps somewhat, but her issues go beyond just the physical act of writing which her accommodations address. Her teacher has been great at getting dd to use assistive technology.