dysgraphia

So many ideas come to mind that would be beneficial for your son from an assistive technology perspective. Problems with written expression or written language may be due to a variety of issues. Very often students with written language difficulties benefit from the use of a word processor just to help them brainstorm ideas (possibly also using the brainstorming feature in Inspiration software). That at least helps them get ideas on “paper” which can then be manipulated using cut and paste, spellchecked using spell checkers or phonetic, talking spell checkers, expanded, easily organized, corrected, edited, read back to them to determine if it says what they want it to say using text-to-speech software, and highlighted.
There is a feature in Microsoft Word called Readability Statistics which I find is incredibly motivating for students as they like to have their written work at least correlate with their current grade level (or higher). They persist with all aspects of written work to raise their “Readability” grade level score.
Some students have difficulty initiating written work and tools such as Draft:Builder (don Johnston.com) or Report Writer Interactive (ftcpublishing.com) can be very beneficial for these students.
Ask for an assistive technology assessment with someone knowledgeable about AT for so called “high incidence” disabilities (LDs, cognitive disabilities.etc.)
Good luck. (Do the teachers really get “angry” with your son???)

This sometimes works, and when it does, it works well and fast.

Take the paper (or computer keyboard) away from him. You hang on to it. You ask him what the topic is. Then you ask him what he thinks about it. First probable response is that it is a dumb idea. OK, you ask why it’s dumb. Once you get him to say something about the topic, write down what he says. Then ask him to elaborate on that, or read it back to him and ask him so then what? After a few exchanges he will find that he has something to say, and you just stop him after a sentence so you can write or type it. These pauses give him a little time to think anyway. Then when you have filled a page or two, you present it to him and say “There. These are all your own words. Now you can tidy it up and hand it in.”

Some students only need to do this once to get the hang of it; others take longer, but it is a worthwhile approach to breaking the writing block.

Wow… there is so much out there. Where to start… If you suspect that your son has great ideas, but is not verbalizing them orally or in writing, you might try the Visualizing/ Verbalizing program by Nancy Bell. The manual will walk you through 12 steps working on getting your child to express pictures / story verbally. A multisensory reading teacher may have the entire kit and demonstration videos that you could borrow over the summer. Any LiPS reading tutor would probably be familiar with this program, but don’t be afraid to tackle this on your own. It is fun and the manual even gives sample scripts. Although originally intended to help kids with reding comprehension, I find that all of my kids make noticeable improvement in written language using this program. I would start at the verbal level, generating ideas, move to writing them down (as previous author suggested), then move to son writing brainstorming words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs. If he is artistic, it is easy to work in the drawing step. It is important to make this program interactive. For example, let him ask questions and YOU verbalize then switch roles.

If your son needs to work on writing fluency, mechanics, sentence structure etc. then consider Writing for Special Needs Students by Cynthia Stowe. I am using that program with my twice exceptional ( both gifted and disabled in written language) students, grades 4,5,6 .. We do an intense writing program in small ( 8 or less) group. Her format can be varied depending upon the age and skills of the student. Basically, lesson plans have four parts: Fluency activities such as generating lists of words, phrases, sentences on one topic; the second activity focuses on the structures of sentence or paragraph writing; the third activity may use something produced in activity two to work on a skill such as capitalization, punctuation, grammar, syntax, and integrating writing with real life or other curriculum subjects; finally, the fourth activity involves reading to student to present examples of good writing and stimulate discussion.

Both of these books are available to the general public. Most importantly, be a good role model. Let your son see YOU demonstrating the writing process and have fun! Lots of good writing activities out there.

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Victoria gave me this advice for my highly verbal, dysgraphic (among other things) son. IT WORKS!

When he uses his verbal abilities he is a great writer.

It never made sense to me that he had so much to say but couldn’t write. All great writers have alot to say. It may just be the physical act of writing that is holding them back.

Good luck getting the teachers to use it. I had no such luck.

They are still into giving him visual graphic organizers etc..

The boy does have a ton of visual issues so all of that is counter productive.

I am just a mom so they don’t listen to my input. I tell them to just send home all he doesn’t finish. They are willing to do that at least.

One way to build up writing confidence is to begin by separating the what you are writing about from the skill of writing itself. You can do this by having the child begin by rewriting a paragraph about a topic, preferably one he or she is interested in.

How to do this is described in detail on www.writing-edu.com. On the left side of the homepage, click on “Newsletters.” From the list of articles that then appears, click on “Writing Without Tears.” This is the so-called imitation in writing approach using a key notes concept, which eases in reluctant writers (particularly boys!) by taking the “what should I write about” question away from the writing process.

The website is for the Institute for Excellence in Writing—the author has a series of excellent DVDs and tapes of various kinds for teaching writing. (Including a student intensive that the child himself can do, with the parent providing more practice in the lesson of each video before moving on to the next.) The author, Andrew Pudewa, also conducts parent and student workshops for teaching writing—he is an excellent and amusing teacher whom the kids seem to enjoy. (He also homeschools his own kids.) You can see if he is offering any workshops in your area. I think the site offers video bits of his DVDs.

After practicing a bit with the key notes concept used for rewriting, the program moves on to the traditional retelling a narrative, topic sentences, etc., as well as stylistic techniques, in a way that I understand is very similar to a program many use with success called “Step Up To Writing.”

I really like the IEW materials, but haven’t used Step, as I understand they cover much the same territory. But I don’t think that Step has the key notes ease-in, which can be very valuable in getting the reluctant writer going, particularly when the parent is the one who has to do the prodding.

If he truly has dysgraphia - and it sounds as if he might - it’s a hard one. With my own dysgraphic son and students, I allow them to dictate their answers to me. They talk and I type. Keyboarding on their own does help some dysgraphic children to bypass their block and I’d suggest he’d work on his typing this summer. There are good programs for children. You might also try one of the voice activation programs such as Dragon Naturally Speaking.

Good luck.

Same here. My daughter both types - and if we are in a rush - I type for her. She can write beautifully now, on ADD meds, with no time limits. However board copying, lengthy writing and time limits are a horse of a different color. We are looking into DNS soon.