Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional question about OT

The thing is, he already mastered functional handwriting in first grade. He was writing on the lines, it was legible, and if anyone had seen it and compared it to the other kids it probably would have been in the lowest third of the class but no obvious disability. But he was getting OT at that time which worked on practicing the letters and writing fluency. Since he's not doing that anymore, I think he is forgetting the motor sequences involved in writing. At age 4 he learned how to skip. But I don't think he could do it anymore, or it would look awkward, because he doesn't do it regularly.

I found this article, which I will share w/ them. Talks about student needing remediation and practice, not just accommodations.

http://www.ldonline.org/article/5890/

What they did, is they taught him the skill but as soon as he learned it, they dropped it. Then he forgot it.

He had DCD before the brain injury but I suspect the brain injury caused a regression. For instance at age 2 he could hang from a bar. But since the TBI he has not been able to do that. At age 4 or 5 he could do sit ups. They are still working on that in DAPE. It is hard to say what exactly the regression was because he was tested on two different tests before and after. But he had been exited from private PT before the TBI because he was testing in the average range. When he qualified as PI a year later, he was, I think, below the 2nd percentile for gross and fine motor. Fine motor, as in putting pegs into a board, was horrific, like .0001 percentile. I don't think he could do it at all. That was 5 months after the TBI.

He is Ok with buttons but the shoes are never tied quite right.

When he holds a pencil, he is not holding it near the tip. He is holding it about 2 inches above the lead. Not exactly conducive to good penmanship, IMO. I have tried to address this with them. I have asked about 10 times for them to give him short pencils and have offered to saw pencils in half and bring them in. They are simply not going to give him these pencils or make sure he uses them. In his IEP it is always "he will have access to modified pencils" (however if I asked DS where these pencils are, he would have no idea what I'm talking about).

i don't know if i mentioned in my messages that i arranged for the conciliation conference to be just me, Dh the case manager (special ed teacher) and principal. I am going to tell them what I know, tell them that one way or another he is going to need services from someone who knows what they are doing, and see what their response is.

The SLP seems very resistant to the fact that we want to drop social skills group so I'm guessing it's not an across the board "get kids off services" but it's quite possible the OT has too many kids on her caseload or they are worried about staffing next year.

Just to piggyback on Polarbear and spaghetti...

I started asking in 2nd grade if it was a good use of time to keep working on DD's handwriting when it was clear this would never be her primary means of communication. To me it seemed like the time, energy and resources would be better spent getting her up to speed as quickly as possible on AT. OT was adamant - and the rest of the school team backed her up - that they had to push handwriting in the early grades or she would never have the opportunity or incentive to learn it. I asked again in 4th grade but DD herself insisted at this point that she felt she needed to be able to write at least a brief note in case she ever found herself in a situation where she didn't have access to technology. Everyone's eyes filled with tears when she said "Mom you can't run away from your problems. You do understand that - right?"

So it's a balancing act. Yes they need functionality but really as technology continues to improve handwriting will become less and less of a skill set needed to function in everyday life. Just yesterday something came through my Facebook feed along the lines of "Cursive - one day soon it will be the secret language of older generations."

Oh and to spaghetti's point - I am most definitely the squeky wheel who gets the oil. Frankly I barely have to squeak at all anymore - I just ask questions. I don't fight for trivial things and I have proven myself over and over again. Some fear me. Some despise me. Some are entertained by me. But I think all respect me and the battle I have fought for my child. As awful as our situation was with the horrible principal and the district being in chaos allowing her behavior to go unchecked it all really worked out to our benefit. They behaved SO badly - and I reported it to DOE - they couldn't defend themselves. No one - not them and not me - wants to go down that path again. Now people who know me or DD's story are telling me that the district is approaching them with 2E identifications and offers of services. But the key was research, tenacity and not blinking.

If your district already has 4 lawsuits pending things could get very interesting. Check out Darien, Connecticut. A few years ago 24 families joined together to sue and were able to demonstrate an intentional plan to circumvent special Ed laws and keep parents out of the process. State and federal DOE intervened. If those 4 families in your district are using the same lawyer it could be worth a phone call. You can usually get a free consult and your story might bolster one of their cases...

They aren't actual individuals, they are actually parent groups fighting school closings that are taking place because of corruption, and in one case a disability advocacy organization is filing a suit on behalf of multiple parents in terms of special ed. We are past the statute of limitations (unless you count the possible violation with them not making an eligibility decision after the IEE). The district has a terrible track record in terms of filed complaints.

Anyway, I told DS to write a story here at home to see what it is he can actually do. I gave him a simple template with things like characters, setting, problem, etc. His written draft of the story is very poorly done and illegible. I told him to proofread it, make some changes and type it. He needed a few prompts or reminders like "Do you have all the capital letters you need?" but the final product was a couple paragraphs and nicely done. Took maybe 30 min. from start to finish. So given that info, I decided to try to write some goals. Their goal for him is to write a paragraph w/ a main idea, details, 3/5 times with 3 or less prompts but that comes across as kind of ridiculously easy to me.
Can anyone help me write some goals? Because I will obviously have to write the IEP.

Written Expression:
--DS should independently complete a graphic organizer for each assignment requiring organization of ideas on 4/5 trials with 1 or no adult prompts. (graphic organizers should be expected for each assignment, not optional).

--DS's written work of one or more paragraphs should be typed, proofread, and edited for correct punctuation, spelling, and capitalization, and spacing on 4/5 trials with 1 or no adult prompts.

--DS's will improve his alphabet writing fluency with legible, correctly formed letters to 40 letters per minute on 4/5 measured occasions.

--DS will increase his typing speed to 20 wpm using correct finger placement on 4/5 measured occasions.

Functional:
--DS will use modified paper such as graph paper or lined paper turned sideways to do math calculations (those that are inappropriate be done mentally or with a calculator) with 1 or no teacher prompts on 4/5 measured opportunities unless other assistive technology is used for this purpose.

(can math worksheets or tests with space to write be copied onto modified paper?)

--DS will begin his assignment in the regular classroom within 5 minutes with 1 or no adult prompts on 4/5 measured opportunities.

--DS will continue working for 10 minutes with 1 or no adult prompts in 4/5 measured opportunities.

spaghetti, I don't think it is as automatic as it should be. When I observed his alphabet writing he was fine for the first 10 letters or so, then it was like his brain shut down. I am wondering if it will become more automatic if he practices more, but since first grade, no one has done anything with him. His cursive writing is painful to look at so I'm debating asking if they can put that on hold and focus on the printing again. Just a few minutes at a time. I just feel like we are giving up too soon, considering no one has had any expectations of him in the last two years and he really hasn't been working on handwriting other than a couple words in his planner each day and a worsheet here or there.