son has difficulty writing and spelling

The neuropsych eval should be revealing. He has some of the classic LD “symptoms” although it sounds like they haven’t prevented him from progressing up until this point. We all have different ways of processing information and I don’t believe that you have to remediate or fix every problem. Assistive technology (lap top, alpha smart) may help him with his writing for example.

On the other hand, since you say he’s a slow reader, and a poor speller you may discover some mild language processing or visual processing issues . Its certainly worth trying to help him in that case with an appropriate therapy. But you need to know what deficit you are trying to overcome before jumping in. A good evaluation should point you in the right direction.

He can probably learn to read faster and with less effort, and this will be needed for him to continue doing well in high school and college.
He very likely can learn to write better and this is really a useful life skill; even if you use keyboards you still write notes and memos, and spelling is always an issue, and an appearance used to judge you. At Grade 6 he still is physically maturing and his habits are not quite permanent; changing handwriting will not be easy or fast, but can be successful with time and steady effort a little bit a day.
Spelling can also improve greatly by following a logical sequence step by step, one little step a day.

Working with kids like this — he seems from your description to fit the general category of gifted dyslexic and/or what we jokingly call dysteachia — it is extremely common to find that they have surprisingly weak decoding (phonics) skills. A student can be reading Grade 6 work by expending immense amounts of time and energy on guessing and backtracking, because he has Grade 2 decoding ability. A further complication which I am seeing more and more of every year is simple lack of teaching of handwriting, leading to directionality confusion since the student writes every which way, leading to spelling and reading confusion because the student doesn’t track over letters in order and gets alphabet soup. Filling in these two gaps can often help the giftedness to blossom out. Schools tend to teach minimal amounts of phonics and less handwriting skills and stop after Grade 3, so he is unlikely to get help there

Go ahead with the evaluation, and if you decide to tutor him, feel free to email me for my how-to-tutor notes at [email protected]

I guess my question would be if the notes that he writes he can read? If he can read his writing then that should be sufficient for the notetaking end of it. My dh is very smart (31 on ACT) but my dd’s 2nd grade teacher wouldn’t accept notes signed by him thinking the kids forged the signature. He is one teacher who doesn’t hound on penmanship- he has NO room to talk.

Other ways to possibly help him study- get permission for a tape recorder. That way he can take the notes at the pace he is able to. Also it may help him understand better. Just some thoughts. Good luck!

Thanks so much for the tips and thoughts. We are working on getting a copy of another kid’s notes for Adam to suppliment his own, and are working on some note taking basics to help him improve his speed.

Often, he cannot read his own writing, but has to figure out what a word or sentence is by reading in context with other clearer words. I copied info from this site (fact sheets) and gave to his teachers, and they know of the upcoming appointment with the neuropsychologist.

This site has certainly has helped us not feel so alone. Thanks!

At your child’s age, it is highly unlikely that he will experience great improvement in handwriting, even with interventions. Teach him to type and get him a laptop or an alphasmart, along with a software program called Inspiration. Inspiration is very useful for in class notetaking, as is Microsoft Word, which has a built-in outline feature . Also look into word predictions software like Co:Writer. If he has trouble recognizing what he has misspelled orleft out he might benefit from using a program like Write Outloud that reads back what you have typed. Draft Builder is another good writing program that helps kids organize their thoughts. Consider a developmental vision evaluation, as it is possible that vision issues could produce the symptoms you describe. Be careful with this last option as there are many charlatans out there. Be aware that there is very little objective research showing that vision therapy is effective, but it may be worth a shot anyway if you can find a truly qualified person.

Dysgraphia is a distinct possibility and from your description of his spelling difficulties, dyslexia is another possibility. He may have dyspraxia, which is just a fancy term for being kinds uncoordinated. You may also see it called developmental coordination disorder. It is good you are having him tested — he sounds like almost the poster boy for gt/ld. Many of these children can do alright for years using their great strengths to compensate for their weaknesses. I don’t agree that “dysteachia” is an accurate description of a child who is truly gifted and dyslexic., although there are certainly children who fail to progress because they have not been properly taught. I have child whose IQ is stratospheric, who taught himself to read at age 2 but who is dyslexic. He has zero phonemic awareness and reads entirely by context and recognition, despite a number of years of research-based reading instruction, including Orton Gillingham and Wilson. Even so, he scored in the 99th percentile on his Terra Novas in reading comprehension,. His method of reading, quirky as it is, works for him because he has learned to capitalize on strengths. The boy can’t read outloud to save his life, but he sure can understandwhat he reads.

I strongly disagree with the theory posted above: “He’s never going to learn writing so give up and don’t try to teach him.” Not exactly positive and productive.
Age 11 in Grade 6 he still has plenty of time and he is still in a fairly flexible period of development. Give him a chance before writing him off.
While keyboards and computers can do a lot, it is very cumbersome to have to have the computer with you every minute of the day to do everything.
And directionality in writing can straighten out directionality in spelling, reading, math, and other things — an important sub-skill that many of my students have missed and need to go back and get.
Kids normally spend years learning to write, from pre-k through to at least Grade 4. You can’t make this up in a couple of lessons or just hoping he’ll pick it up. You have to take time and put in some effort, over a period of months or even years. But the results are worth having in many fields.

I’m sorry, but I disagree that you should give up on printing/handwriting in Gr. 7. YES, you can begin to use typing for long assignments — but this does not replace the ability to write, and doing so sends an inappropriate message to a 7th grader, IMO. I had some major illegibility problems solved by MY grade 7 teacher — how would I have made a living as an office/accounting clerk prior to the computer age if he had not? We’re talking the days when a handwritten application (to check your writing legibility) was the norm…it may not be now, but how do you communicate when the system breaks down?

Legible handwriting is a MUST to get along in the adult world — if a child’s disabilities are such that you MUST accept assistive technology instead of developing skills (as in my nephew, who has Duchennes MD and therefore handwriting at age 11.5 is NOT a possibility for more than the shortest of short notes) fine — but I don’t like the way we automatically ‘give up’ on kids and prescribe ‘accomodations’.

I’m not saying we must all have ‘neat’ printing, or all be able to write cursive (we all need to read it though!) but we all need to be legible…and most jobs require the occasional legible handwritten notation…seems to me a balance, with work to remediate the handwriting to an acceptable level (should be able to read own notes, and print notes that are legible to others even if not ‘neat’ or ‘age appropriate’!) PLUS use of typing for longer assignments or ‘good copies’ is best for most kids…

Sorry folks, but get real! At age 11, he may make small improvements in handwriting, but it will not ever be a comfortable, automatic experience for him. If the problem is writing quickly and legibly enough so that necessary, substantive notes can be taken, typing is the answer. By all means, work on handwriting as well, but don’t expect miracles and don’t disregard typing as at least a temporary accomodation that will help ensure he doesn’t miss out academically. This kid can’t take good notes and so he loses ground all the time on learning the substance of the subjects he is studying. Not only does he lose out when it comes time to study for the test, he misses out everyday in the classroom because he is focusing so hard on forming letters, figuring out how to space them on the page, remembering how to spell words, etc., that he loses track of what the teacher is saying. Learning to type and improving handwriting are not mutually exclusive, in any event. Forcing a kid to struggle through class when he can’t write quickly, legibly or comfortably though certainly excludes a lot of learning opportunities and puts unecessary pressure on the child. Practice handwriting when handwriting is the subject or at home, but don’t force a child with handwriting difficulties to use a pencil when the object of the lesson is history or how to write a paragraph or you may end up with a kid who wins the battle and loses the war.

May I suggest some compromises? handwriting is what lets you write a shopping list or a note to mom that you will be late for dinner and allows you to take a written test. Taking notes is writing at speed lest you miss content material. And content material grows quickly gr 6 and up. I have students with these problems write the rough notes or graphic organizer. ie perform the summarizing of material themseoves. Most dictate the final copy to mom who scribes at the keyboard. I give them more time on tests or test portions orally. I provide copies of notes or study guides as necessary. I ask for some level of legiblity but do not insist on curvise writing. I find that just getting them to write on every other line is a big help in reading their writing.

At grade 6 and above I would weigh whether keyboarding or handwriting was going to be my priority. both take daily practice-in the end many parents choose keyboarding since it handles the volume of work better.

I too have poor handwriting and, as an adult, become interested in calligraphy. I became willing to do the practice. Is your child interested in doing the practice required? Would he be more interested in keyboarding practice? At 6th grade you may have to prioritize especially if homework time is consuming personal and family time.

Good luck

I would also get a developmental vision evaluation and an occupational therapy evaluation.

Regular eye exams do not assess developmental vision. A child can pass a regular eye exam with flying colors and still have severe developmental vision delays (convergence, accommodation, tracking, saccades, etc.). For more information about this, visit http://www.childrensvision.com . If you feel uncomfortable seeing a developmental optometrist, then find an opthalmologist who employs an orthoptician. (Orthoptics is the opthalmology version of the vision therapy developed by developmental optometrists.)

The occupational therapy evaluation is useful not only because of the handwriting issues, but also because he is “a somewhat uncoordinated kid”. This could indicate visual-motor development delays and/or vestibular development delays. (Vestibular development includes balance, rhythm and timing, all important milestones for physical coordination.) An OT can assess this.

Some neuropsychologists will refer for these types of evaluations, but many don’t. They could provide you with a great deal of useful information — both to rule out and identify underlying areas of deficit.

Nancy

Your child sounds much like my GT/LDson, who in 5th grade was diagnosed with a visual processing LD. He reads fine, it is writing that is difficult, and in particular, spelling.

My son is now in high school. He spent his middle school years working with a tutor on writing and spelling issues, and has an IEP during that time. Big things that helped:

1) using a word processor for all written assignments, both in school and at home.

2) using an electronic dictionary to check spelling of words.

3) always having someone proofread his work before handing it in.

4) reading glasses, even though the correction was very mild, and wouldn’t be recommended for a child without visual processing issues.

5) use a small tape recorder to record lecture classes. (Taking notes was actually detrimental to his following the lecture, and we had a few arguements with teachers who insisted he take notes. These arguments were evenutally all resolved through the help of the resource teacher)

We don’t know how he’ll handle the new version of the SAT that he’ll have to take next year because it has the written essay. However, our hope is that if he keeps his grades at As and Bs, then he’ll be able to get into some decent colleges even with below average SAT scores.

I don’t think, at his age, you should give up entirely on writing and small motor skills. One thing my son’s tutor did was teach him calligraphy. Concentrating on writing did help legibility. It didn’t help spelling at all… concentating on phonics helped that. But, make sure your child learns to type. It will be a great help later in life. Since I work with computers, I rarely write anything anymore.

Good luck helping your child!

kayR

My son is also 11. He was seen by a neuro psychologist. His has a non verbal Ld. Sue Thompson has some great web sites. Just do a google search for her or NLD.
Let me know how your son made out. This is easy to deal with if you have help and understanding teachers.
Best of luck.
Julie

Two years ago I was told to not even bother teaching my son cursive by a very good occupational therapist from school.

After 2 years of vision therapy he writes cursive just fine. He can even copy from the board which was almost impossible early on.

If you had his vision checked by an opthamologist you didn’t have his vision tested you had his eyes checked. There is a difference.

You need to have him evaluated by a developmental optometrist.

Everything you described, the slow reading, writing difficulties, difficulty copying, point to an ocular motor problem which will not be detected with a regular eye exam. It could be something else else but you should probably rule this out.

This type of problem is also not detected during an neurodevelopmental exam.