Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional An excuse or dysgraphia, how to know?

The further into the school year we get, the more my son has been complaining about his hands when he writes. All of his teachers allow him to use a computer if his assignment requires more than a paragraph's worth of writing. Now, he starts complaining by the second sentence.

How do I determine if there is an issue or if he's just trying to get on the computer?

If he complains about his hand when he writes to the point where his teachers allow him accommodations, there is an issue there. If it is getting progressively worse, I would definitely get it checked out. It could be something as simple as tendonitis from overuse or poor pencil grip, the kind of thing that is generally treatable and not necessarily related to dysgraphia. It could be a consequence of dysgraphia, but I would rule out other reasons for his hand pain and fatigue first.

It's awesome that your son's teachers are letting him keyboard. When my 'summer birthday' boy had his first official grade skip into a private school with higher than average 'output demands' the writing was an issue. Both because his hands hurt, and also because he was embarrassed to have little-kid-looking paper. Also because keeping track of what he wanted to say+writing it by hand+grammar and spelling was too much, and, I think, led to him really squeezing that pencil.

Given my personality, I went to the private school INSISTING, that they treat him 'as if' he had dysgraphia. They even let him 'annotate his literature book' on a spreadsheet. And so he didn't write for 2 years. During that time we spent 3 15 minute sessions with 'Handwriting without tears' so that DS could intellectually break down the components to 'pretty writing.' Toward the end of the 7th grade, they taught 'note taking' as a skill. He came home with beautiful handwritten notes, and has been able to 'write pretty' at will ever since.

Of course in High School the teachers want the assignments typed, and even collect them digitally so they can be checked for cheating.

So my advice would be hot house typing if necessary and not worry about even the 'minimal amount of writing.' If you have a wonderful professional, sure, a trip to rule out any physical problems is probably worth the hassle.

Best Wishes,
Grinity

I used to wonder about that because my son loved doing things on the computer and he was not officially diagnosed with dysgraphia until he was 11 and we were told that the dysgraphia was somehow part of the dyspraxia he was also diagnosed with. He first saw a developmental pediatrician and was evaluated by an OT at age 7 but he was not diagnosed with dysgraphia at that time. His spelling was always really good, but his hands tired quickly and the more tired his hands were, the worse his handwriting looked. He would occasionally write letters backwards, but not the same letters and he didn't do it all the time. He never did it when he was being tested.

He always had to write slowly in order to write legibly. He used to misjudge how much room he had left on the page to write words so that he had half a word written at the end and had to erase it and start the word over on the next line. He hated to have to erase. It slowed him down even more.

Writing was not automatic for a long time and he hated practicing writing. He crossed out the word "out" on Handwriting without Tears so that it was Handwriting with Tears but I continued making him practice.

Writing by hand was just not a good way for him to get his thoughts on paper and because I insisted that he do a lot of his writing by hand, he hated writing, and he also hated math when I made him show his work. After he learned to type (on his own, without really using a typing program) I saw there was a huge difference between what he would write by hand and what he would write if he were allowed to type. He used the much higher level vocabulary that he used in his speech. He could get his thoughts down on paper before they disappeared in the depths of frustration. He is very good at writing when allowed to type.

I looked at a three page test he took recently that had a lot of essay questions on it and his writing is legible but he writes bigger when he is in a hurry and he kept running out of room. He didn't have time to go back and make sure he had written capital letters at the beginning of each sentence (this is not a problem when he types) and the teacher counted off for that. It was the reason he made a high B instead of an A on the test, but I didn't care. We never told the teacher he has dysgraphia. We didn't ask for accommodations, but I am the parent volunteer for the class and I take notes for him to allow him more time to complete his in-class writing assignments and she tells everyone to keep writing if they are not finished while she starts the lesson. He always gets the maximum number of points for his in-class writing assignments. He needs the extra time to allow for the slow handwriting.

My son does a lot more math now that I let him do most of it on the computer and I encourage him to use mental math as much as possible. He was always very fast and accurate with mental math, much faster and more accurate than I am.

Here's some rambling thoughts about having to work at legible handwriting.

Back when I was worried about DS, I ordered -
http://shopping.hwtears.com/product/The_Print_Tool/assessments

I really really like it - I've worked through it with DS and a nephew, just picking up what I could from reading the booklet, and it's a very straightforward way to analyse:

"What is it about my handwriting that makes it looks so bad!?!"

So many things in life, having a vocabulary to bring the unconsious to consiousness makes all the difference. Without vocabulary, there is a limit to the level of thinking that can me done. That's why I'm always creating or popularizing cute phrases to use here. I've been sensitive to this observation since reading Suzette Hadyn Elgin's 'Native Tounge' back in my early 20s.

What I noticed about my son's handwriting at 'back to school night' in 3rd grade was that his 'sloppy copy' work was about the same as everyone else's 'sloppy copy' - it was just that their 'final draft' was so much neater, but his was exactly the same.

Love and More Love,
Grinity

My DS9 has tourette;s and when he is high ticcing his muscles tire easily. His written responses become nonexistent with minimal details. I am not saying your child has tourettes but many kids do go through a tic phase ( I didn't know that before) just another thought on the subject. My son sees the OT at school for some strenghtening exercises.