How to Get a Diagnosis

[elizam]

Hi, I haven't been around in a while, havin glost all my favorites on this computer!

My ds is 14 and in 9th grade. he still has a terrible time with handwriting. He made a bad grade in English, partly due to her taking off for all handwriting issues. He was devastated. She did comment that his handwriting improved in her class, so would that disprove the dysgraphia theory? It was so hard to watch him do any work for that class--the handwriting factor was painstakingly obvious! It would take him forever to write a simple assignment, and then he'd still get marked off for not having enough words up to the margin, or having an "a" look like an "o", or having words/letters too close together.

I homeschooled him 2-6th. He had a time with handwriting in K and first. He did better at home, but in middle school it was a problem again. Maybe it is homeschooling's fault? :-( That's what my mom would tell me!

COuld he even be tested for dysgraphia at this age and what could they do for him if he did have it?

BTW, he does have a dx of ADHD and I understand taht the two go hand in hand.

[lcdc1]

I am not an expert at any of this school stuff at all, just a parent with a kid that has an LD and has to deal with the school more than I want to.

I know if you or anyone else suspects that a kid or your kid has an LD or some issue that will make it so they cannot be succesful in the regular ciriculum, you can request that the school test them to see. I had one year ago approached the school to state my concerns, requested testing and found out a lot of stuff and now my kid is on an IEP even though she does OK in school til now.

I wonder why, if he had a dx and you know of his issue, the school makes his handwrite and grades him on that? I guess handwriting is part of the regular stuff, but Rans school allows them to type major stuff and does not have a handwriting requirement in 8th grade, she is also 14.

If you get testing and he is found to be eligible for assistance that is one thing you could ask for, typed stuff for him to turn in.

There are a lot of people on here that know a ton more than me, so I am sure you will get some good advice. Back in my day in school, they allowed me to print and not have to do cursive because of a lot of issues with language and processing.

[charliegirl]

Does he currently have a 504 or IEP for his ADHD? You may be able to get some accoms put in place before you get a diagnosis. Often kids with ADHD have problems with handwriting but not dysgraphia so they should be willing to consider that.

Its never too late to get a diagnosis and start getting help. The first thing you can do is get it put in his IEP that he won't be graded on handwriting for any courses, that he can use assistive technology, etc.

Glad to see you back!

[bugsmom]

Oh, Elizam...I hear you on the handwriting issue! My son's handwriting is Terrible! His printing is no better. We struggle with this EVERYDAY. I also thought my son had dysgraphia, but I think its more of a speeding through his work problem. He CAN do it when he takes the time, but refuses to do so. I can't tell you how many papers I have had him re-write. It's pure torture for him and me!

I think if you suspect dysgraphia you should certainly get him tested. Like CG said, its never too late. Let us know what your outcome is and welcome back to the board!

[jmb3]

No, just because his handwriting is improving doesn't mean he does not have dysgraphia.

My son has some dysgraphia too. For whatever reason, my son just can't start writing at the left hand margin. His lines slide to the right about the same amount from the line before. As far as we can tell it isn't a visual issues.

We have tried putting a yellow line at the edge to have him always start there. We have tried graph paper one letter per box. We have tried putting a finger space between words. We have tried writing on every other line.

What does work when he has time is for him to do "ART" letters. But that takes too much effort for everyday work.

Since most stuff is on computers now a days, he types what he can and they accept his writing as is. It is in his IEP.

It might just take so much effort just to think of the word, how to spell it, and then what is coming next that writing neatly too is just too much.

No, homeschooling isn't the cause. It's just the way your child is born. Have you tried to read your doctors RX writing?

You could try different pencil grips, erasable pens, there is special paper for handwriting which has raised lines.

I would get an evaluation. That way you child's teachers shouldn't mark off for "neatness" when your child can't help it. Yes, writing is a specific disability and can go into an IEP. They can allow his work to be typed as a result of writing ability. You might even notice better work, if it is typed because it's less stressful.

If your child can't type, I would consider that a priority in H.S.

Patience... Once step at a time.

[lillian]

Elizam,

There are eight categories of LD under IDEA 2004. One of those categories is Written Expression. In order to get an IEP for writing, your child will need to qualify for a Disorder of Written Expression. A Disorder of Written Expression covers much more than handwriting. The student has weaknesses in spelling, organizing ideas in writing, grammar, punctuation, and handwriting, but the latter is not a qualification. You can have beautiful handwriting and still have a Disorder of Written Expression. To have your child evaluated for a Disorder of Written Expression, the following tests and information should be used:

A basic achievement test, such as the Woodcock Johnson Test of Academic Achievement or the WIAT, that evaluates written expression and spelling. I strongly advise that you try to assure that the evaluator uses the WIAT because the Woodcock Johnson just tests the student's ability to write sentences. At your son's age, this is not adequate, at all. If the evaluator uses the Woodcock Johnson, then the child will need an additional writing test that requires the student to write a paragraph or more, and The Test of Written Language (TOWL) is a good one to use. Personally, I really like the TOWL and think it tells a great deal about the student's writing difficulties.

A complete Occupational Therapy evaluation. The student needs to be assessed for his ability to form letters, write on the line of the paper, write within the margins of the paper, pencil grip, eye tracking, copying off the board and the overhead, and visual/motor integration. The latter is tested through a norm-referenced test, such as the Beery.

Many classroom examples. Judging a student's ability to write is extremely subjective, so the evaluator needs to look at many writing samples across the curriculum when doing a complete writing evaluation. As the parent, it is very important that you make sure the evaluator sees samples produced from the English class, where your son's grades were severely marked down because of handwriting, and any other papers from his core or elective classes that were severely marked down because of handwriting or any other writing issues (such as spelling). The school often will try to present the very best samples for evaluation, and you will need to present the others.

If it is decided after the evaluation that your child does not qualify for a Disorder of Written Expression, but he does have great difficulties with handwriting (dysgraphia), then your son can still receive a 504 for dysgraphia, and he can receive Assistive Technology with a 504. Because your son has ADHD, then he has even more reason to qualify for a 504 because, yes, you are correct, poor handwriting and ADHD often go hand-in-hand.

Is your son having any additional ADHD isssues that are impairing his ability to do well in school or to access the curriculum? Is he counted down severely because of organization, memory, and/or attention issues? If he is doing poorly in school, and attention, organization, memory and handwriting are the culprits, he may be able to qualify for an IEP under OHI for ADHD. I will be honest with you and tell you that the trend I am seeing is that it is becoming more and more difficult to get an IEP in high school. If a student doesn't have one by the time he reaches high school, then it's tough to get one. This does not mean it can't be done, but you may need a good advocate to help you.

[bugsmom]

Lillian...thank you so much for the information above. I have long thought that Josh had problems in this area, but have brushed it off as lazyiness, becuase at times I see wonderful work.

The way you have discribed the Disorder of Written expression is Josh to a tee! I feel so foolish. These are our BIG problem areas:

*Spelling: will spell a word wrong, not phonictically, just way off crazy.
*Grammer: uses "way out" forms of writing...totally off, forgets to use capitols, periods.
*Handwriting: forget it, takes a very long time to remember how a letter is formed.
*Coping any type of text either from the board or a book: misses letters, words, unable to read.

He CAN do it, but I have to be sitting right beside him guiding him all the way. When he has writing assignments I make him do it all on his own and then I edit. I swear, I have to mark up the whole paper with spelling errors, mis-formed sentences, no paragraphs at all, and not a period in sight. When I show him his errors, he seems to know what he's done wrong, yet he isn't able to do it on his own. It scares me to death because he's almost 12 and he knows what he should be doing, yet he can't get it on a piece of paper.

I've written down the tests you suggested to elizam and I'm going to talk to his psych tonight (he has an appt). We focas so much on his behavior that this kind of stuff just gets lost in the shuffle. I want to get an IEP in place now, because high school is in two more years. With him at a private school we do all testing on our own...I really got to get moving on this.

Thanks for the great info!

[charliegirl]

Bugsmom,

Something you can do for Josh now is to either scribe for him or let him type his written work such as paragraphs, reports, etc. Once his words are down, have him read what he said and tell you what corrections to make. Once everything is the way he wants it, have him copy it in his own writing.

If that works then you can ask the teachers to allow him to type his written assignments whenever possible. When my son's teacher did this, we were able to see what he wanted to say and that he had a great creative ability. He was able to learn and practice the skills of writing a sentence, paragraph, story, etc without the physical mechanics getting in his way.

It helped my son immensely. If it hadn't, that would have been one more piece of the puzzle for me to hand over if he had to be evaluated.

[bugsmom]

CG...that is a great idea! I'm going to talk to his English teacher tomorrow. That is the one class where his writing is the most effected.

I had a great chat with his psychiatrist tonight. She is finally in total agreement about having him tested in this area. I took examples of his work in and also printed out some e-mails from a few of his teachers and she really believes that we are dealing with some LD's. She thinks a lot of his anxiety and behavior issues may be stemming from his frustration from his work load at school. Duh...I've been telling her that forever.

The good news is that Josh's psychiatrist is a Department Head at the University and she said she will call me on Friday to let me know if the Head of the Educational Psychology Department will personally test him! Hot Dog! It will be out of pocket, but at this point I don't care. She loves Josh and I'm so excited that shes going the extra mile to make sure his evaluation is correct. I don't know how long we would have to wait, but I'm hoping with her connections, it won't take to long.