I'm glad you are getting some answers and that the school is finally taking action.
Just a couple questions for you--why did the neurologist want to check for chiari--as in, why does he suspect there might be one?
Because DS has a borderline one that MRI DOES show but no one has ever told me that has anything to do with his motor issues.
Our kids have very similar issues with the dyspraxia, executive functioning issues, etc. My DD is like your DS in terms of writing fluency. She has obvious ADHD and is medicated. Her handwriting is neater on meds, but she still writes really slow and can't think about what to write. She doesn't have DCD or dyspraxia, just some very mild fine motor coordination issues.
DS does have DCD and his handwriting is fairly fast, just really sloppy. If he writes even somewhat neatly, he has to put a lot of effort into it.
DS's current teacher has been telling me he has major focus issues with math and writing. However, he is perfectly focused if he does math/reading tests on the computer. He did hours worth of assessments on the computer in one day and was focused. Seems odd. I went in and watched him during writing and he looked like a space cadet. The psych went in and watched him and said he was on-task with math (where he had to write, not on the computer) 49 percent of the time and it should be more like 80. We (and teacher) filled out the BASC and the Conners. Teacher versions were very borderline for attention issues, but teacher was adamant that he sits there and daydreams all the time and she has to give him cues to get to work every couple minutes.
The primary care doc looked at everything (including the computerized testing that the neuropsych did last fall--it was also borderline) and said she could make a provisional diagnosis of ADHD and wrote us a prescription for ritalin as a trial. DS has only been on it one day (a low dose), but the teacher called me and said it is like a night and day difference, he was focused with writing the entire time he was medicated, and his writing was a lot neater. I'm curious to know how his other motor skills are, I haven't had a chance to observe that. So if he really does have ADHD as one typically thinks of it, I don't know, but the medication is clearly helping him focus on written work (math and writing). Just thought I'd throw that out there.
