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Right now DS's "physically impaired" IEP says something like "handwriting will be limited if DS shows signs of fatigue." I told his new IEP manager that I want it to be more specific. But I guess I don't know how to figure out what's "reasonable". I don't even really care about regular classroom work, unless it really gets obnoxious (which it really doesn't in first grade), but there was an episode where someone pulled him out of class for math assessments and made him write 8 pages at a time (back to back assessments). I looked at these tests, and the writing after the first page or two was illegible chicken scratches. Then it was actually scored! THAT'S the type of thing I want to avoid in the future. The IEP manager told me to talk to his private OT and have her document what she thinks is "reasonable" but she probably won't have much of an opinion. It's not like she has him do schoolwork during his sessions. Can anyone give me suggestions on how to word this in the IEP? Also, I'm not sure about the slant board. Before it said "slant board will be available to use." But the problem was that his last heinous teacher kept saying "it's available for him to use" whenver I asked about it, but never reminded him and didn't seem to care if he used it or tried it. He was 6, and wasn't going to do that on his own! So I asked the new IEP manager to change that as well, not because I don't trust the current teacher but who knows what he'll get in the fall. So now it says: "Slant board will be available at DS's work station, as well as a "portable" slant board that DS can use for writing when away from his work station. He will be encouraged and promoted to use it when writing information of any signficant length so he doesn't fatigue".
This sounds good, but I don't know if the slant board really helps. No one has ever tried it for a long enough period of time to find out. And what is the point of a slant board anyway? Is it to prevent fatigue? I'd like the teacher to be able to try it but if it doesn't help, then discontinue. Do we put in the IEP "try for X amount of time and if IEP team members agree it doesn't help, discontinue use?"

His current teacher is actually really good and I don't have complaints about her. I just want to have a good IEP to prevent problems in the future. I feel bad about nit-picking at it. Today DS brought home double digit multiplication word problems like how many minutes are in 15 hours, and she stapled 2 pages of graph paper onto the worksheet with problems circled that she wanted him to do on the graph paper. So not only is the work at the right level but she actually gave him graph paper! I never asked for any of this, she just did it. I am very impressed. There are good teachers out there!

How much does your DS think he can manage without undue fatigue?

Honestly, while he is young-- he DOES know his own body better than anyone else. What does HE think ought to be a hard limit? Does it need to be an "hourly" kind of limit, an assignment-specific one? Or is it total on the day?

Eh-- well, if the slant-board works, then ideally you'd want to be using one for homework at home, right? Can you BORROW one from the school to try at home for a period prior to writing it in his IEP? It will be a noticeable difference from classmates-- might as well be sure it will help.

Does his OT have one you could try?

They don't have him using a real slant board, it's a 3 ring binder. But I don't understand how that works. Shouldn't there be a clip at the top to hold the paper in place? I'm not really sure if that's an acceptable substitute. He doesn't write much at home (except a few math problems which take 5 minutes) so I haven't tried a binder but I should buy one and watch and see what happens.

As for DS saying how much he can handle, I don't know if he would have an opinion. He doesn't tend to complain about things and isn't very articulate. When he writes, he's very tight and awkward. He also supposedly has tremors. I'll try to have him write today and watch him and see what happens.

It may seem silly and arbitrary, but I'd really request both a page/line limit and a time limit. IE: No more than 15 minutes or 1 pages of writing.

I think that 8 page assignment gives you a good bit of evidence for requesting a single page or less - clearly after that point his writing goes straight downhill.

Blackcat - I don't have tine right this minute but my DS's IEP handwriting limits are very very specific and good. I'm pretty sure I've posted them for someone else so in the meantime search under my name. But I'll sly top back when I get a second and put them on this thread for you

My DD's limits were added bit by bit as needed. In K our private OT suggested use of a slant board. The real ones were collapsible cardboard with clips on top to hold the papers. In school it was a 3 ring binder. She was allowed to use it only if it would be made available for use by all kids in the classroom. They never actually let her use it. We tried it at home but it didn't make a huge difference for her. In school she was regularly punished for not being able to complete writing assignments - i.e. forced to sit for 45 minutes at a time, being kept in from recess, skipping snack, etc and ridiculed for writing only a few words in that time. They knew about her fine motor deficit but would not authorize testing for in school services saying "She would never qualify - she's too smart."

In first she had a fabulous teacher who just naturally modified and accommodated as needed. DD wrote as much as she could in the time allotted for the class. The amount didn't matter. When I attended a parents' participation day for the 100th day of school I saw the problem. DD orally told me an amazing, in depth story in response to the writing prompt but got only the first line or 2 written in the time allotted. This is when I asked for scribing as an accommodation on longer assignments. My position was that she was not able to access the full curriculum if she was not able to fully respond to the questions presented. There was no way to actually measure her mastery if her full answers weren't available to the teacher. Fabulous teacher then started scribing and amazing, creative, really mind blowing stories started coming home. I also asked for keyboarding to be introduced but the school OT was from the school of thought that it was an inappropriate accommodation before 5th grade.

By the end of 1st grade things with the principal had blown up and we brought in our educational consultant who started working with central office. The director of special services, a former school psychologist, seemed to really understand DD's profile and had a good grasp of her needs. He authorized the AT eval and brought in a part time para to scribe for DD. Unfortunately he left for excellent neighboring district at the end of the year so we were left to fight for everything with those that were left.

Through 2nd grade the teacher just could not wrap her head around DD's needs. She totally failed to modify or accommodate and kept asking DD to do more writing than she could reasonably handle. Spec Ed teacher was supposed to modify *every single worksheet* DD was presented. She could not rewrite corrected sentences but could, for example, cross out what was wrong and write a corrected verb tense. Word banks were numbered and she could enter the number of the word she selected rather than write the sentence or word itself. She could draw lines between blanks and her choice to fill it in.

In theory this was a great solution when matched with a part time para to write the longer responses. It didn't work though and teacher kept telling DD to "write as much as you can yourself before you ask for help." It took all year to finally get the AT evaluation done and the AT was never really implemented. They added a full time para to write full time for DD. Because of teacher's inability to comprehend the limitations we had to get very, very specific about how much DD could write. She didn't want to disappoint the teacher so we said she could write as much as she wanted but anything more than 2 lines had to be done outside the classroom. Unlimited writing when working with OT or spec ed teacher. As much as she wanted with the para as long as not in the classroom so teacher could not put inappropriate pressure on her. No near or far point copying tasks.

Now in 3rd grade at OOD there are no limits. Full time spec ed teachers understand her issues and do not put inappropriate pressure on her. As a result she is choosing to write more herself, although it is totally illegible. She has full time access to her iPad and uses it throughout her day. She is being trained with both keyboarding and voice-to-text. She does great as long as there is no pressure on her to perform or concerned about disappointing someone.

This may be way more info than you asked for but hopefully it will be helpful to have the full progression laid out for you or others facing the same issues. Glad to hear the new teacher is working out so well. It makes such a difference when you come across a gem like that!

Thanks for all the input. The thing with my DS is that he can be incredibly lazy and unmotivated. So the last teacher didn't push him to do anything at all and didn't expect anything from him, and he lived up to her expectations. His writing seriously deteriorated over the course of the 5 months he was in that class and at the end looked like preschool writing, when before it was reasonable for his age. I don't think he has dysgraphia, it's more DCD and hypotonia. So when he slows down and puts extra effort into it, he does produce neat handwriting and it will probably get better over time. The teacher is being strict with him and is not putting up with his nonsense, which I think is good, as long as she doesn't over-do it. That kind of method would probably be really bad for a kid who was actually motivated, but just couldn't do it. It's a balance. I don't want him to be forced to over-do it, but he needs some pushing as well because of his laziness and apathy.
The lady from the district has the math assessments. I don't think she knew he is on an IEP. She told me that "he seems slow" (as in physically slow). Duh, lady, he's on a "physically impaired" IEP and you just made him do 3 back-to-back unit tests for math. Good job. No one even told me they were going to pull him out for math tests. I asked DS if he tried his hardest on those tests and he said only on the problems where he didn't have to write much.

Sounds like my DD, blackcat. Yes, we have "pushed" on handwriting, but it's always been our call, which has (only very very seldom) been punitive.

Keyboarding is a good solution-- but only if they offer instruction in keyboarding. Hunt-and-peck didn't make things better for my DD, if only because it came at a cost to ergonomics that impacted her in other ways. Hyperflexibility meant that she developed this WAY weird typing position with her hands. I can't even describe it-- it was this chicken CLAW thing. Augh.

The other thing that has helped is providing opportunities to practice in situations which are not pressured-- either for graded work or for time. Math note-taking was our vehicle in particular. DD was able to use her own handwritten notes on quizzes in AlgebraII, but the rules were quite strict about it, so she HAD a reason to take notes that were legible-- to her, at least. She could do it as slowly as she needed to in order to avoid fatigue or pain, but it had to be done.

KWIM?

A slant board never really helped DD much-- but a CLIP-board did. She still sometimes uses that method-- it's a lot steeper angle than a slant-board and it's held different-- closer to her body-- she often will keep the top of the clipboard (or stiff-backed notebook) on a table surface in front of her, and the bottom of it will rest in her lap.

It's probable about a 45 to 60 degree slant.

I don't know how you'd write any of this up for an IEP. The problem with a child who is both physiologically limited and also a bit unwilling to push him/herself is that it requires a judgment call on the part of someone who both knows and respects your child. {sigh}

There are days when I know that my DD is just being a bit lazy. Then there are days when I (equally) know that she is truly struggling with her physiology.

Maybe the key is to define "signs of fatigue" more clearly.

Training for EVERYONE that works with your child in ways that demand fine-motor tasks-- so that they recognize such signs.

Would that be a way to get at what is actually needed, Blackcat?

Black cat, I think it was from the Eides that I first heard that dysgraphia almost always accompanies DCD. It can occur without DCD but if your child has DCD dysgraphia on some level is there.