Dysgraphia | ADHD Information
Has anyone had any experience with this?I read about it in ADD Mag. It's a learning disability that affects handwriting, spelling and the ability to put thoughts down on paper. It commonly accompanies AD/HD.
I am quite sure my son has this. He can sit for 45 min. in class and write 4 sentences of a short story. he gets terribly frustrated. I talked to his teacher about it and she has OK'd me to let him dictate his story to me while I type it out. He then copies it in his own handwriting. He knows what he wants to say yet is unable to get it down. The child is struggling so much with handwriting that he forgets what he is trying to put down on the paper.
Third grade has ALOT of writing, unfortunetly for him.
jfl: Tape the materials for testing.
Lillian: do HW tears which is what most schools rezort to.
My dd struggles with this also. I have always gone to the teachers concerned about her poor handwriting, improper use of margins, not paying attention to the lines on a paper, misuse of capital letters, etc. Always got the same answer, they aren't concerned because soon everything will be done on a computer and good handwriting skills are not necessary. She is now in high school and it has become apparent that she will not receive any special services. She has become self-conscious about her poor handwriting and so she spent a lot of time this summer practicing her writing skills. I have to say, it has helped her tremendously. It is sad though that she is 15 years old and brings me her homework and says, "Look, Mom! See how neat it is!" Don't get me wrong, I am so proud of her efforts and how they have paid off. Just discouraged that it has taken this long to achieve something most children achieve in elementary school. I think her teachers have always diminished how hard little things are for her because she is so bright. She is very intelligent, but little things like that are so much more difficult for her than for other children. If I had things to do over again, I would not have let this school system push her aside like they have. There is help available for them so they do not become as frustrated as my dd has been. Islandmama, AMEN! My son came to live with us as a foster child three years ago, and he started third grade. I have watched my son struggle and struggle with writing, while the "professionals" said, "Oh, it's developmental. He'll catch on. He hasn't had enough education." (He went to school sporadically before moving in with us.) It has taken three years to get him services, and I have a Special Education teaching background!!! From what my son has been through, I believe that getting children interventions for writing is one of the most difficult things to do in Special Education. I really do.WOW, such great information.We are taking my son to a nueropsychologist as soon as I can get him in. Will she do these tests to determin what the EXACT issues are? His only dx thus far has been inattentive ADD. He can't focus and he is VERY unorganized in all areas of his life. I am hoping to get a more exact idea as to what we are dealing with here.
We do not medicate.
[QUOTE=Bailey]My son (almost 9 and in 3rd grade) was evaluated for learning disabilities at the end of 1st grade. He tested average or above in all areas.
But now I am thinking we should retest. He just had MAPS testing and scored Average---Low/Average in most everything. I think he is much brighter than that but I am glad that he is even that high with everything he struggles with. math seems to be his strong suit. and writing his worst. The keyboard idea is great! Now if we can teach him how to type (?) Has anyone tried the Jumpstart program for writing?
[/QUOTE]
Hello! I am very curious...What is MAPS? I think it is interesting that your child scored average to below average on this test, when the tests the previous year showed quite the opposite. If your child is struggling with writing, I would want to know if one test he had was more verbal than another. There are two types of IQ tests--verbal and nonverbal. Verbal tests use language to complete--reading, writing, oral responses. Nonverbal tests do not use language beyond understanding the question of the tester--on some, the child may just point at an answer. When a child scores much higher on the nonverbal tests than the verbal tests, this is a sign of a language disability or some other type of language barrier, such as speaking English as a second language.
When your child was tested, was he given the WISC-IV? To see if your child may have a language disability, look at the Matrix Reasoning score on the WISC-IV. This is a nonverbal IQ test imbedded within the WISC. It was put there because the WISC has received extreme criticism for being highly verbal and discriminating against children who have language disabilities or speak English as a second language. If your child scored much higher on the Matrix Reasoning subtest, that is a possible indication of a language disability.
So, there are a lot of things to consider when looking at the difference in scores between two tests. My son is dyslexic/dysgraphic, and his nonverbal IQ ranges between 30-40 points higher than his verbal.
lillian38655.3224884259My son (ADHD, LD, dysgraphia) has typed homework since 4th grade. Last spring he was ready to use a word processor in class. In 10th grade the handwriting issue became a problem because he could not read his in class notes to review for tests. prior to that he did not take notes unless instructed to copy. Being auditory he could remember most subject information until the amount of information became too much. We purchased a Dana Alphasmart wich has been fantastic. He loves it and takes it everywhere with him. In addition to word processing capabilities it works on a Palm operating system and has all kinds of organizational tools on it. So..the problem of writing in and using a planner is no longer an issue between us. He can send and print documents from it to. I highly recommend it. http://www1.alphasmart.com/O.K., I should have had another cup of coffee before I posted. Getting on the computer first thing in the morning is not a good idea for me!!!
There's a two year spread between tests, not a one year spread, and you are looking at the difference between testing a first grader and a third. Ahhhhh.....Big difference. Duh, on me!!!
If your child has a language disability, and the MAPS is a highly verbal test, the difference in the test scores you are describing is very, very common. Children with language disabilities often have more and more difficulty as time goes on. I definitely would want to have my child re-evaluated, and I would want him evaluated with both a verbal and a non-verbal IQ test, a receptive/expressive language test, and an auditory processing test. After you have the tests done, you can refer to my above post about the WISC.
Geeeezzzzzz, I'm going to get another cup of coffee.
Smallmom and Bailey,My son is also strong in math (three years ahead) with strong verbal scores but the adhd, LD and dysgraphia used to get in the way. Our school district uses a method of teaching essay writing which is just what my son needed. It provided a structured approach for him to be successful. I think it's called Jane Schaffer Method. He is now an excellent writer and received an A last year in Adv English, something I never thought would be possible years ago. My son's low score in visual tracking ability affects his handwriting and reading ability. An educationalpsychologist suggested Audiobooks for him to use while reading. we are waiting to receive his textbooks from RFB&D in the mail now. I hope this helps because he is a very slow reader.
Yes, my 12-year-old son with ADHD and anxiety struggles with dysgraphia. Handwriting is no longer a problem because we began teaching him typing in 2nd grade. He's fast on the keyboard now. His new school (7th grade) allows him to bring a laptop computer to class. And spell check helps him with his horrendous spelling. One of his accommodations at school is to obtain class notes from the teacher or other classmates who take good notes. It helps a lot. Even though he uses a computer to compose, he still struggles with written output because a million ideas are bouncing around in his head and his executive dysfunction makes it a challeng to organize thoughts into coherent sentences and paragraphs. We're considering tutoring for written output before my son enters high school, where the writing demands are quite challenging.
Did your children have an OT evaluation at school?My son (almost 9 and in 3rd grade) was evaluated for learning disabilities at the end of 1st grade. He tested average or above in all areas.
But now I am thinking we should retest. He just had MAPS testing and scored Average---Low/Average in most everything. I think he is much brighter than that but I am glad that he is even that high with everything he struggles with. math seems to be his strong suit. and writing his worst. The keyboard idea is great! Now if we can teach him how to type (?) Has anyone tried the Jumpstart program for writing?
My son had a private OT evaluation in 2nd grade because he was struggling with handwriting. The therapy he received after the evaluation did nothing to help make his handwriting neater, and we gave up after about 12 sessions. We did teach him typing at this point, however. He was dx with ADHD and anxiety by a neuropsychologist in 4th grade. Because he still struggles with written output and has had no testing in almost 3 years, we have just contacted a speech and language pathologist to evaluate him for a language disorder. His neuropsych testing in 4th grade indicated a 38-point spread between verbal IQ and reading comprehension and a 43-point spread between verbal IQ and spelling so we have our suspicions.
My kids' elementary school uses the Type to Learn 3 computer program to teach keyboarding. Both my son (now 7th grade) and my daughter (5th grade) have gotten quite fast using this program.
Bailey, math is definitely my son's strong suit. Throughout elementary school, he was working 2 grade levels ahead in math. In spite of a verbal IQ in the highly gifted range, however, he did not learn to read until nearly age 7. He is a good reader now, and often reads for an hour before bed nightly. But as I said, he struggles terribly with written output. It will be interesting to see what a S/L evaluation shows.
My child can write but i have noticed in her journal everything is messy and sometimes very hard to read. sometimes switches her b and d. Her teacher always leaves notes like "practice handwriteing". She sometimes complains about her hand acheing if shes asked to write her spelling words. I Always thought it was an excuse of getting out of doing it. At school she is way behind in her writeing block assignments, but the teacher only leaves notes like it needs to be completed and that she is behind in doing this. . i was wondering if this may fall into the dysgraphia catergory. Although she loves to draw. she is actually good at this and loves drawing animals. She is a good reader and great in math. Grades at school are great. A and B. I have read so much info on dyslexia and dysgraphia. I want to help my child anyway possible. Im not sure if we have a OT at her school. Im sure there is a speech therapist. would this be the same. i guess they would know who i could ask.
Does anyone know of a site that shows sample writeing of dysgraghia/dyslexia.
jfla2,
Do you know anything about the handwriteing with tears and what it is. How it works and what all it helps teach.
thanks
My son is 5 and can only write the first 3 letters of his name, is this only the start of this problem should he be able to write more?
eliza21,
Hi i couldnt say for sure. My daughter is 7 and writes her whole name. Its just messy and sometimes hard to read esp if she gets in a hurry. Is he just now learning to write. it may just take time to learn.
yeh kinda he has writing his name for some time now but he has no intrest for learning anything elseI implore the parents of children who struggle with writing tasks to visit this site:http://www.pavevision.org/
This site may help you find a lasting solution. It changed our lives.
Ambersmom,
Someone on this forum has recommended HWtears in the past. A search on this forum may help you find those that have used it. Search on google comes up with their website and amazon sells their books. I do not know much more than this about the program.
Good Luck!
http://www.hwtears.com/
According to present test results ds' handwriting problems appear to be motoric and not a visual perceptual problem. Altho I didn't check results of visual memory which the pave website mentions. Considering he does have visual processing weakness, that could be one of the problems, which wouldn't surprise me.
jfla238807.3188078704
It sounds like Vision Therapy. Please direct your questions to Parents Active for Vision Therapy. Here is the contact information:
4135
54th Place, San Diego, CA 92105-2303
*
Telephone (619) 287-0081*
Toll Free (800) PAVE-988 * FAX (619) 287-0084 *
Email info@pavevision.org
Good luck.
Your Welcome! Hope it's helpful! I can't read with a colored filter! I wish I had known about it in school! Dysgraphia update:Altho ds didn't get the okay for an evaluation and the opinions I value weren't there, the OT has contacted the super OT and bringing up ds' problems at her OT meeting so it looks like we will get more heads working on this. I am still interested in getting an eval on this area.
Interesting bit of info: 18-25 year olds seem to make a jump in fine motor skills so this may actually be a good time to try improving.
Tablet PCs though expensive have the ability to take notes and math equations written with a stylus, convert it to text and paste it in a document. That means the student has the opportunity to continue to improve writing and be able to have nice looking homework, report,notes. I'd like to try one out.
[QUOTE=goinsunshine]Poodles, Was the screening for SSS part of the school screening for everyone? I am wondering if the vision specialist that ruled out vision problems on my ds checked for this. Guess I'll start with a search, anyone found a good site on this?[/QUOTE]
I finally found the darn paper on it! It's Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome. 
Irlen Institute-for perceptual and learning development 5380 Village Road, Long Beach, CA 90808 ph# 562-496-2550 fax 562-429-8699 I don't have a web site. The paper I have is 5 years old, so I hope the address and phone # are good.
Our school doesn't screen everyone. The teacher requests it. The color overlays are just colored plastic sheets, shiny on one side and flat on the other. You can use either side to your liking. Our school gave us a few to start and then charged 2.50 for extras. They do get scratched up after a while.
Hmm good idea...I'd really like to try that. On the WYNN demo The voices that come with the demo are not the same as the newer voices that come,I think, on a sperate disc to download when you purchase it. I really like the tan background. and I remember as a kid I like to use a light yellow plastic ruler to read through. An interesting British product that might be easy to duplicate is a transparent "ruler" to read by.I love the poodle pics all over the screen!
jfla238811.9873148148My son's school included "Handwriting without tears" in the curriculum for all students. He still omitted words when writing sentences. He still could not copy a definiton from a reference book such as a dictionary. It turns out he had three vision problems.
Some perspective and then some practical tips to help kids get thoughts from their head to paper.
Perspective. Our kids struggle with A LOT of things in school. But these aren't always things they need for success in life. Most jobs don't require that you sit still for 7 hours a day, listen to a teacher talk, memorize information and then get tested on your ability to recall. 95% of us, including those who do not have difficulty with handwriting, use computers or word processors anyway. My point is that we need to be selective in what we try to "fix"--we don't want our kids' lives becoming an endless pursuit to fix everything that's "wrong with them."
I'll provide some tips in a separate post.