Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional Handwriting limit in IEP

blackcat, it sounds to me like you could use some good professional advice about your ds' handwriting. He's had a neuropsych eval in which he was diagnosed with DCD, but that's been at least a year ago or longer, hasn't it? One thing that might be helpful would be for you to go back to the neuropsych just for an hour of his/her time and ask her questions about what you've observed Ask specifically if they think your ds might have dysgraphia. I had to do this very same thing a year after our ds' first neuropsych eval and it was actually very helpful. The situation in our case was that the word "dysgraphia" was never mentioned in her report although she'd given us a ton of advice on limits and therapies etc to help ds with handwriting. When I tried to research online, everything referred to dysgraphia, but I didn't know for sure if what we were dealing with really was dysgraphia. The neuropsych cleared that up for me right away The other thing that was helpful was I was able to update her on what we'd tried from her original recommendations vs how it worked out, and she was able to make additional recommendations for "where to go from here" - all without re-evaluating ds.

I also consulted with an OT who specifically focused on AT for children with handwriting challenges. I initiated that consult simply because I wanted a good roadmap for AT solutions, but the consult gave me something that was perhaps more valuable long-term. I went into the consult having the majority of my knowledge base on how to accommodate etc built upon my having researched and read about children with traditional dysgraphia. The consultant right away changed my focus and understanding a bit in that she saw ds' handwriting challenges in light of his DCD - which ultimately meant some of the traditional accommodations that work for kids with dysgraphia-only were not going to work (or would not work in the same way) for ds. For instance, the OT saw right away that based on his diagnosis, keyboarding needed to be put in place of handwriting (standard dysgraphia remediation) *but* it wasn't going to ever be fast keyboarding. Little things like that - that added to clarity that was very helpful for understanding how to move forward.


I would be very careful to not automatically assume that refusal to write or do classwork at this point is laziness - until your ds has a method to write that he'd comfortable with and has shown he can use effectively. It might take a few years to get to that point too. The thing is, children who refuse (for whatever reason) to write in the classroom can easily look "lazy" whether or not the reason is laziness or a disability.


Whether or not it's "dysgraphia" or his DCD etc, this is very typical of what happens to my ds who has DCD and associated dysgraphia. He can learn how to shape letters, he can work hard at handwriting and improve his legibility, but he's also had times when he goes without using it frequently and all the gains disappear as if he'd never had the handwriting instruction. The only times that legibility gains really stuck for him were associated with (jmo) times that he had a maturing-spurt - when his body awareness was growing in a way that allowed the gains in handwriting to stick. And it's important to be aware too that for a child who is dysgraphic, legibility alone isn't the reason you move to keyboarding. No matter how neat or readable the child's handwriting is, if the child is dysgraphic, the *act* of handwriting takes up all of their working memory, so they are left with a real deficit in the ability to incorporate spelling, grammar, punctuation *while* handwriting, and more importantly, very little left over for formulating the ideas that they are being asked to express through writing. That's why dysgraphic students need access to AT - not simply a case of legibility. Without the AT, their full voices aren't heard, and as Pemberley mentions, they are therefore not experiencing FAPE.

The other reason I feel strongly that having the insight into your specific child from a qualified professional is important is that the issues you're trying to work your way through at the moment are all in *this* moment, this grade, this point in time - but a child who is dysgraphic or DCD isn't going to magically have those issues disappear when their handwriting looks better or next year when they are a year older etc - they are issues that will most likely be present in one form or another for life. So what you do now isn't just putting a bandaid on what's going on now, it's a step on a long journey toward independence as an older student and adult, and the choices you make (whether or not to push the slant board, push writing long passages, scribing vs keyboarding etc vs putting time into getting used to AT) are going to potentially impact where your child is in terms of independence further down the road.


It sounds like maybe your ds is showing signs of laziness in other areas too - so if laziness and apathy are concerns, I'd focus on getting him past it in some area where you aren't worried about a potential disability.

Best wishes,

polarbear