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We saw his teacher at a school carnival last night. Idid not mention the aADHD diagnosis but instead stated we would like him evaluated for possible dysgraphia by the school occupational therapist. First she says she's not familiar with dysgraphia but that there is no therapist on the school grounds as it has never been warranted. Then she makes a comment to our ds saying he needs to stop fighting her when she's only trying to do what's best for him. I secretly couldn't help but snicker at her comment and want to high five my son for "questioning" her. In fact, he "fights" her on the necessity of showing his work when he's clearly gotten the answer right in his head (going back to my dysgraphia concern) or why he has to read rats of NiMH quietly when he's already read it and there is no lesson to be learned by a rat in a war. I'm probably just as childish for giving him kudos for that statement lol.

I would tell them you want him evaluated for disorder of written expression and motor issues related to writing. They have to include that in a comprehensive eval if there are concerns. I hope she is wrong and there is actually an OT who can test him for writing issues. One of our special ed directors didn't even know what dysgraphia was when I was talking about it last year--it's really pathetic. And then if they do know, they will tell you that they are not a neuropsychologist and they can't diagnose anything. So stick with your specific concerns about how his academics are being impacted. They sound about as clueless as the school I was dealing with last year.

And to follow-up on blackcat: sometimes it helps to use the terminology that the school may recognize, such as "specific learning disability in written expression", or "physically impaired/fine motor", or get a DSM diagnosis and use "other health impaired".

Many schools instruct their staff not to make Dxs. That doesn't mean they can't either accept other professionals' Dxs, or make disability determinations based on the IDEIA classifications.