Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Dysgraphia

I found an article that describes a lot of the difficulties my son had the only year he was in public school. I wish I could make all the elementary school teachers at our public school read it. I wish I could make them understand that children with dysgraphia need patience and understanding and occupational therapy while they are still young enough for it to do some good and it should not be denied just because they are too smart to be at a point where they are failing. People should not have to homeschool their twice exceptional children in order for their child to get an appropriate education. The primary care physicians who are responsible for referring kids to specialists should also read it. I wanted help for my son and could not get it and now he is 12.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/378729/8_signs_your_child_has_dysgraphia_pg3.html?cat=2

At least my son can compensate for the handwriting disability by typing or answering questions orally because we are able to homeschool. He recently started writing his own blog. He sometimes answers questions on answers.yahoo.com and his answers are often rated best answer.

I just don't understand why teachers are not required to learn about disabilities. I want so badly to say something or do something that will help fix this problem in our school. My son is in a musical theater group with the daughter of the special ed director who years ago said it would be too difficult to accommodate my son's learning differences--the reading at 5th grade level in kindergarten, preferring to do mental math without manipulatives or having to write, and absolute hatred of coloring in the lines. I would like to talk to the special ed director's wife who teaches pre-K at the school and definitely the Kindergarten teacher who wanted him to go to a transitional first grade so he would have lots of time to practice coloring in the lines. She thought it would be okay for him to wait another year before going on to first grade because he didn't really need to learn anything since he already read well and could do math. While the teacher was recommending holding him back, I had him tested to see if he could test out of first grade. He almost tested out of first grade but didn't quite make the 90% required to skip the grade. I believe the disability kept my son from making the 90% on the test to skip first grade. They asked him to do some writing and he told them he couldn't write very well. The tester recommended homeschooling, just like the principal and the first grade teacher and mom of gifted sons who I asked for advice. I did talk to the state gifted coordinator and the state special ed department and they told me there was nothing they could do for my son because of the way the laws were written.

At the same time all this was going on, my husband was being treated for cancer and my mother had suddenly become disabled and my dad needed me to help watch her sometimes. I was overwhelmed and just needed a little help and it wasn't there. The only help I got was from people on message boards. Just hearing stories that made me feel like I wasn't the only one going through the problems with the schools helped a lot.

I would feel really bad if I found out another child like my son went into that school and had the same experience and I didn't say anything or do anything to try to change it. I just wish I knew what to do.

I am thankful that my son was finally referred to a neurologist for his migraine headaches. I am thankful that the neurologist actually listened to us and he also finds it strange that my son has dyspraxia but he does not look uncoordinated when he dances in musical theater until the hypotonia and low endurance kick in or when he has a headache. I am going to ask him about the visual differences my son has--the difficulty with seeing size differences--like clock hands, angles, size differences in nickles and quarters that require that he look closely to identify them, yet also the ability to count change easily by the time he started kindergarten because he found ways to compensate. Gifted learners can be gifted at compensating. I hope the neurologist is gifted enough to help us.

I am glad they are looking further at this as being able to dance in musical theater is not at all consistent with a child being truly dispraxic. I hope you get different, and more helpful, information from the neurologist. I suspect you will.

I don't totally agree with the premise of the article posted. It is quite possible for a child to be weak or hypotonic and have all the symptoms listed, but to not really have dysgraphia. Our hypotonic child had problems with every single thing on that list, but with hand and upper body strengthening and a great deal of handwriting practice, his handwriting is acceptable. It is readable and he can write for a reasonable period of time without tiring. He doesn't have problems with sequencing or genuine dygraphia problems. If on the other hand we'd embraced the diagnosis and allowed him to use a keyboard instead he may look dysgraphic at this point.

Even though my son can write legibly, he was diagnosed with dysgraphia because writing is slow for him, way too slow for it to be an efficient means for him to get his thoughts on paper. He also still has occasional letter and number reversals and spacing issues if he tries to write quickly. His handwriting problems never got better, no matter how much time he spent practicing. The neuropsychologist said his dysgraphia was caused by the dyspraxia.

But my son does not have problems with sequencing and he has only a few of the problems that kids with dyspraxia are supposed to have. He does sometimes have bad days and it does seem like his motor skills are affected a little and this shows up in piano lessons, but I think it might be caused by the headaches. I know my ability to think and do things is impaired a little when I have a migraine and several other family members have the same problem. We all learned to compensate for the headaches, we all managed to do well in school and get good jobs and I think my son will too but he also has the hypotonia and scoliosis that we didn't have to deal with. It would be very difficult for him if he were in our public school.

My daughter even noticed that he is not clumsy at all until he has been out walking for a couple of hours and his feet hurt really bad. Then, he sometimes trips over his own feet. The foot pain problem is so bad that he had to leave the anime convention early. He couldn't see all of it because of the pain. This is the problem that seems more like a disability and it is because of the hypotonia. The arches in his feet collapse when he stands. We have tried custom made orthotics twice and they don't help very much. He is still not able to do some of the things he wants to do because of the pain in his feet, the frequent headaches, and the scoliosis brace. My daughter suggested letting him use a wheelchair when the pain gets bad enough to limit his activities but my son won't do it because he worries about what other people will think since he doesn't look like he has a disability. My daughter told him he could lift up his shirt (so they could see the brace) but he won't do it.

The handwriting issue seems very minor to him since he can type well. I just worry about how the handwriting issues will affect his ability to write out math problems quickly when he takes the ACT. My son just wants to be able to enjoy some of the things other kids are able to enjoy without pain.

The physical therapist says our plan to do aquatic therapy in a hot tub is a good one because of his pain issues. Our new exercise room and hot tub room will be ready for my son to use when we get back from vacation. My husband is staying home for the week to get it ready.

Just out of curiosity - were his orthodics hard or soft? Who made them (physical therapist, podiatrist, etc.)?

I ask because every single day of my life I was in foot pain until I finally got the right orthodics. I went through MANY failed attempts over the years to get orthodics that did not help. I'd say I'd probably had five or six pairs that either didn't help or made the problem worse. Finally though when I got the right combination of orthodics, exercises, and footwear it was REVOLUTIONARY. From terrible pain every single day to no pain at all. I'm glad I didn't quit after a couple of pairs because the entire quality of my life for the last twenty years would have been totally different.

Did he have OT for handwriting? What has he done for upper body, hand and finger strengthening? Does he have regular exercises to strengthen his core?

He was fitted for the first pair of orthotics by a physical therapist. They were soft, and they cost $200 and insurance doesn't cover this.

When those didn't work, we mentioned it to the orthotist who fitted him with the scoliosis brace. He genuinely seems to want to help my son. He said he could make a better pair of orthotics for $250. They were hard and seemed to help more with the pronation but they didn't help much with the pain.

I don't know where to go to get the perfect pair of orthotics.

When an OT tested him a few years ago, he was having a good day and she said his handwriting was low normal. She said he needed sensory integration therapy for vestibular and proprioceptive issues. So we got six weeks of that before insurance stopped paying. Nothing for handwriting. We were told to use Handwriting without Tears. We did. Some things got better, but even the OT thought he had a visual problem that was causing some of his issues, but we had already taken him to a developmental optometrist and he said there was nothing more he could do for him.

His upper body strength was always better than lower body strength. He needs to work on core muscle strength. The physical therapist says dancing has helped him but he needs to do more and we can do it at home, but she didn't know if he would ever be able to lift dance partners. He can type 50 wpm but his hands cramp when he writes a lot. I think he could strengthen fingers even more if he practiced piano more. He really wants to learn to play guitar and I think I would rather spend money on something that will help him enjoy life a little more as well as strengthen muscles. I think music is really good for him.

I hope he was given good exercises for core strengthening that are appropriate to his level and that the physical therapist will check in to make sure he stays on track with the exercises. Weak core can make every thing a person does a lot more work. On a daily basis getting that core stronger can really lower fatigue because the more his strength increases the better it can compensate for the low muscle tone.

While lots of PTs make orthodics, unfortunately lots of them are also not very good at it. If you have a good running store anywhere in your area that might be a good place to call to ask for referrals. Unfortunately it can be hit and miss. If someone is good they really should not just sell you a pair of orthodics but commit to adjusting them and trying other options without charging you a bunch more money.