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At age 9 I would strongly consider pushing keyboarding skills. Does he have any busywork at school that he could get out of and use the time to practice typing?

More time on tests is good, use of a keyboard once your son knows how to type well helps, Occupational therapy if your school provides it to strengthen little fingers.

Good luck!
Grinity

Hi:

DS11 got an IEP for poor handwriting. Originally, I think the school's fear was that he would not do well on the essay portion of the state NCLB exam. Whatever the motivation, it got him an IEP with OT and a scribe and extra time on the NCLB exam.

We got our IEP the year before any NCLB testing and despite great WIAT scores. We simply showed his essay writing, math writing, etc., and they agreed it was far below grade level. So if they bring up great achievement test scores or IQ scores, try to get them to focus on the specifics of whether his handwriting and writing is up to grade level.

It has been much more of a struggle to get any in-class modifications. What has helped is getting a private psychoeducational evaluation from someone the school board respects. We have now gotten some modifications based on that.

bk