Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Twice Exceptional "I just don't know what to write"

You're right, geofizz, thanks. I've now asked that question - I should know by now not to assume if it's in the IEP it's happening. We're IEP newbies! I hadn't stopped to appreciate the general cognitive benefits of that sort of organizational training. We've been working on imposing more order on daily tasks and it will be interesting to see what cross pollination we get.

IEPs take a lot of a parent's attention. The level of complication is such that the parent really does need to pay attention and step in when necessary.

I just carried DS' 504 to a PTC. Not that the teacher was doing anything all that wrong, but we needed to revising the content to tweak DS' course. As a kid that hasn't been taxing the teacher much, she'd kind of lost track of the details. No biggie, and an easy fix.

Hi CoastalMom,

When my dd was in grade 1 (and before she shifted schools and started to be given work at the appropriate level) she struggled with writing too. At one stage the teacher suggested she was below grade level. I was stumped. She is highly verbal too, was reading all kinds of stuff, could have chewed your ear off for hours telling stories.

The teacher asked her to practice at home and I realised as I watched her she just had no idea what write ... because the topics were just so inane. We talked about it further and I discovered she felt she was either required to write about things she didn't think anyone could possibly be interested in (her weekend, for example) or write about interesting topics on such a superficial level there was little point. Within a term of switching schools and being given work at a more appropriate level her writing went from below grade level to two years beyond. She's developed considerably in the years since.

Others have shared some great ideas in this thread and they may be more on the mark than our experience. But it might be as 'simple' (I say, realising that the simplest accommodations are often the hardest to get) as getting more appropriate work.

:nodding: That has absolutely been part and parcel of DD's problems with writing. If she's given a prompt that is truly on-level for her, and she is allowed to choose FREELY (that is, not be too concerned about picking a "right" or formulaic topic/answer) then her writing level jumps considerably.