Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Beery VMI and ETCH-manuscript result help please!!

I finally found the 2 graphic representations of dyspraxia and dysgraphia someone here had posted awhile back.

I hope these help you at meetings ahead:

Dyspraxia: http://tutoringduluth.com/2013/06/great-visual/
Dysgraphia: http://tutoringduluth.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/dysgraphia-mind-map.jpg

I wish I had been able to use them in advocacy for my son.

I am another one who was consistently told that the reversals and handwriting problems were "age appropriate" He was consistently TWO YEARS delayed in handwriting and fine motor skills (which they didn't believe until I showed them two different private evals - one from a children's hospital). He wrote a 31 day calendar with every single number reversed. He wrote a paragraph of work starting from the bottom up and going backwards with reversals. It was shocking. They sat there with a straight face and insisted it was normal. My son has dyspraxia and dysgraphia. He also has EDS which causes poor joints and pain in his hands. Now he types everything and has a scribe. I don't even bother the school about dysgraphia/dyspraxia dx anymore, it's useless - I used the EDS to get him accommodations... they seem to be more comfortable with that for some reason. If you search my posts I have posted previously the accommodations for which I successfully advocated. This year the school is teaching DS cursive (seems like it will be much easier for DS - some dysgraphics find cursive easier) and typing.

Does anyone know if there is a "correct" or "best" age for a VMI to be done? ie would a 6 year old who scores average be accurate or would it likely decrease to below average as the writing requirements got harder at school?

mykids, the Beery VMI does not include any handwriting, it is a set of tests that includes drawing and copying - so I wouldn't expect a child's score on the Beery VMI to decrease as writing requirements at school increased. However, what I might expect to see is that a child who scores to be "ok" in early elementary might appear to be functioning ok in school, but their ability to keep up with writing demands as they move up in grades might decrease. Please note - I don't know what the cutoff line for a true "ok" really is - I suspect it varies with each child.

polarbear