Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional If not dysgraphia then what?

Hi all,

My DS7 has just skipped 3rd to 4th. His handwriting was always a bit of an issue (I thought not willing) but it has now become a problem. Not the writing itself, which is neat and legible. Not the spelling or punctuation which is fantastic.

It seems to be the process of getting words out of his head and onto the page.
If it helps to interpret, his scores were:
VCI 146
PRI 139
WMI 135
PSI 109
FSIQ 143
GAI 153
on the WIAT II
written expression 88%
spelling 98%

I have researched a bit about dysgraphia but he doesn't seem to completely fit. He received a principal's award for spelling last week when he achieved a high score on the year 5 extension word spelling list.

In his WISC testing, the tester said he was a reluctant writer and his approach to the task was more complex than required (ie combining two sentences into one turned into a short story, developing the characters and providing a lot of information that wasn't asked for).

The other problem is, it hasn't always been this way: it seems to have slowly gotten worse. In year one he was dictacting fantastic presentations for show and tell. They were creative and well structured. His verbal communication has always been way ahead of his peers (so much so that his second grade teacher told me the other kids often had a problem understanding him).

So, if not a learning difficulty then could it be a bad habit as a result of dumbing down?

I have bought him a dictaphone so he can talk the paper first and then write it down. I'm hoping this will take me out of the equation and give him a bit more independence. Being in fourth grade, he now needs to research and write a research paper.

This is keeping him up at night. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

cheers

(thanks if you got this far - just realised how long my post is)

My DD is diagnosed with dysgraphia and her spelling is considered superior on her testing. She now keyboards for creative writing in school. This seems to be helping, although I think she still picks versus types unless it is in the actual typing program. It was explained to me that she can't concentrate on physically writing i.e. making the letters correctly and neatly and the actual mental writing. For my DD it has gotten more pronounced as she has progressed in school and more detail and thought is required in writing.

Her verbal skills are way ahead as well. She does have aspergers and this can impact some of her writing as well.

melmichigan,
That is exactly how they decrscibe it for DS too. If only we could get keyboarding approved...sigh

This also sounds like my child. And I have realized that the "thinking about writing and trying to think at the same time" is unbelievably distracting.

elh0706, get keyboarding approved? In Washington, with an official diagnosis of dysgraphia, I don't have to get keyboarding approved. It is an accomodation recommended for this LD and he keyboards! Fortunately his teacher thinks it's a good idea, but if he didn't, I'd get a 504 plan and the teacher wouldn't have a lot of option. I guess I should be grateful for one less hassle!

Thanks for your replies. Did you get an official diagnosis? I have a meeting with his teacher coming up and will need to discuss this with her.
Last night it took 2 hours for him to write one sentence on his project and then once I picked up the pen and he dictated it to me, he formulated an answer to the question in no time at all. (Turns out the dictaphone I bought is faulty so I need to replace it).
He also needs a lot of encouragement. I think I'm losing my mind. He's at the stage where he's getting little to no free time at home when he has writing tasks to complete and all that happens is we both end up frustrated and unhappy.

He is also learning to type (at a rate of knots - I'm extremely jealous) but I'm wondering why typing helps? Don't you still have to get the information out?

Yes, DS11 was given an official diagnosis of dysgraphia when he was 9 and I took him for some private testing to try to find out what was going on. The psychologist also diagnosed ADHD and thought that was the biggest obstacle to his completing schoolwork, but I now think differently.

Now in 5th grade it is easier to see what's going on. He did his book report one month by dictating it to me, and the next month by writing it out by hand. The dictated report received an A, used fairly sophisticated language and complex sentence structure. The handwritten report received a B- or C, was very short, and used much simpler structure and vocabulary. When there is a large discrepancy between oral & written skills, especially at 11 and given a background in education in English, then it points to something being wrong.

The Eide's book called "The Mislabed Child" has an excellent chapter on dysgraphia and writing. There are different types with different causes. For some people the typing works, for others it doesn't. My son is learning to type at a much slower rate than his older brother did. Our goal this summer is to push the typing and see if this works for him. If not, other accomodations have to be considered.

I know a lot of teachers (and others) believe strongly that children should learn to write pen to paper to develop that hand/brain connection. I think this is true, unless it doesn't work! Then I think that learning and expression have to take priority over our ideals.

BTY, my son's teacher has said that he would still like him to do in class journal writing (which is ungraded) by hand. For him, it doesn't seem like a bad idea right now.

Also look at the Eide's websites. There is some good information there. The piece that really put things together for me was their mention of the incredible emotional strain writing difficulties can put upon a child. I had sometimes thought my son's refusal to write was emotionally based, but now I see that I think I've had things backward.

I am actually planning to take my son to the Eide clinic later this year for testing. Their information on the combination of gifted, dysgraphia, and premature birth is the most complete that I've been able to find.

Sorry this is so long!!