Re the questions above about when to switch from remediation to accommodation, the decision is going to be very individual of course. but fwiw, we started working with accommodations right away after diagnosis (ds was 8 and in 2nd grade). I don't mean that he had access to them at school right away - that took quite a bit of advocating! But we let him start using learn-to-type programs immediately (this was on the laptop, he was in school pre-iPad - wow, if he's sounding old I must be *ancient* lol!).
His exact neuropsych recommendation was to first try Handwriting without Tears at home so that he could learn how to form his letters consistently as best he could - that was a total fail. He was in too much pain to be able to sit down and work on it, plus it was beyond frustrating for an 8 year old to be told to make his hands do something that they just wouldn't do. His handwriting looked significantly better after his OT in 3rd grade, but it just looked better - he was still dysgraphic. He's had two neurospych evals now (one in 2nd grade, one in 5th) and both state very specifically that he can not rely on handwriting to show his knowledge.
So again, jmo, but for any child who's dysgraphic, I would not put off incorporating AT into their school work no matter how young they are. If anything, I think it helps starting out younger.
I also think it's important to not focus on scribing as anything more than a short-term accommodation. Our kids need to be learning how to be independent, not dependent on others. And having access to a scribe isn't always easy at school.
School put Panther Math Paper on the ipads for him and see how that goes; but, unfortunately the panther math app does not seem to allow one to pdf worksheets, which they are disappointed about (God forbid we do something other than worksheets!).?
OK, I realize this isn't *totally* convenient, but is there a reason that the school can't either:
a) Let your ds write and store his answers in a Panther format file? Is it really critical that he write directly in the boxes below the problem explanation on the worksheet?
or b) Is there some reason they don't want to scan the worksheets in as pdfs? If they do that, your ds could cut and paste his answers into the worksheets... although that's a bit much to expect a young student to do.
BTW, if that sounded like I was lecturing you, I wasn't! I was simply annoyed at your school
ETA I routinely find other students work in my son's school bag (apparently my kid is not the only with EF issues
This made me giggle! Back in 2nd-5th grade my ds' teachers were soooo all over how incredibly unorganized he was (as if they wanted everyone to forget about the dysgraphia)... I really didn't have enough of a snapshot into the other student's lives at his school to get a glimpse of how "out there" my ds' lack of EF skills was... and then when he moved on to middle school and all the kids had lockers and hung out in the hall talking after school and suddenly I could see (and hear about).. the general level of EF among the "typical" kids at school... and fwiw, I am occasionally surprised that over 75% of the class does't need help with EF skills :lol:
Anyway, just tonight I got found another classmates writing in my sons bag. This student wrote about 6 or sentences - a whole paragraph .. beautifully (I mean clearly written by a 7 or 8 year old but really nice) - no reversals, nothing. MY DS could NEVER accomplish that. Unbelievable. I shudder to think how bad off he'd be if he had no accommodations.
By the time my ds was midway through 2nd grade, he was clearly the only child still making reversals. None of the kids except ds were making reversals in 3rd grade. I'd really strongly suggest for any of the new parents here (suspecting dysgraphia) - if you have your suspicions and are still seeing reversals etc in 2nd grade, and your child's teacher is still saying "oh, that's normal!", *ask* to see other children's written work and compare for yourself.
polarbear
