Hi all need more advice... This time it's easier
DS (in 1st grade) is very frustrated in math. He likes to work ahead but allegedly "gets in trouble" for doing so. Apparently, the way the teacher disciplines him for this is she makes him "go back and fix his numbers" because he writes all of them backwards. Now, we have an iep for a writing disability/hypotonia. [Between you and me, the neurologists at CHOP and I, think his writing problems are due more to some sort of dyslexia/dysgraphia (and I strongly suspect based on the scores of his recent eval it's dysgraphia).] Anyway, I am trying to get the dysgraphia pinpointed. But, in the meantime, he does have an iep for hypotonia which includes the same accommodations one would have for dysgraphia. He is supposed to be able to give oral answers and have a scribe ect. I have explained to them more than once, that when DS is required to write, he takes so much more time and energy (both physical and mental) than his peers to accomplish just basic writing tasks and that even though he "can" write forcing him to do so is so hard for him it is like saying that a paraplegic IS able to move around the classroom by crawling so why let him use his wheelchair? Never mind the effort expended and the calluses and sores it causes, or his limited vantage point from the floor.
Anyway, this is ticking me off. During his recent eval at the school the OT evals and tests and the Bender Gesalt test show that he has extreme difficulty writing. Years of OT seem to not be changing this. I think it is wrong to make him go back and "fix" his letters. To use the paraplegic analogy again - I think it's like making a paraplegic go back and re-do a route by crawling because he got to his destination too quickly and that annoys us.
I am guilty somewhat of the same thing and have learned my lesson. I was forcing him to write his homework instead of scribing for him which was resulting in homework taking 2 or 3 times as long and him all pissed-off. When I scribe for him - it takes ten minutes and he is happy and doesn't mind doing it. He clearly knows the material really well. Also I have stopped making him correct his letters numbers. It's just not right... no amount of making him do it over changes the fact that he can't remember which way it goes. No amount. It's ridiculous to keep doing this to him - it makes hi self-esteem low, he's frustrated, etc. I figure he has OT twice a week he works on that stuff then - plus at vision therapy they work on the left-right processing. It will come; maybe... until then it's just ridiculous to hurt him like this.
Anyway, I don't want to be too much of a witch about this but I do want it to stop. He is sooo good at math and loves it but HATES math class at this point. What should I say to the teacher to ‘nicely’ stop this?
