I have a 10 year old who is being tested for dyslexia this week by a Dyslexia testing Specialist (Barton). Her father is dyslexic and it looks like my daughter is also. We had her tested last year by the school and she does have a IEP for ADHD. I’m at the point where I’m not even sure she is ADHD. We tried medication this year with no changes. She focuses very well for us at home.
I never really paid much attention to what dysgraphia was. I just did not think that was a possibility for my daughter until last week when I did some reading on it. I was shocked when I saw my 10 year old write. I can’t believe I never noticed this before but she holds her pencil completely different from anyone else in the family. It takes her 2 hours to write a page and a half essay. Copying vocabulary words from a book take her forever.
Does anyone here have a child with dysgraphia? I’m just curious and would like to know how you dealt with it and if you needed outside help? I have not drawn any attention to the way she is writing at this point since she is being tested this week. She knows all about dyslexia because of her father and it does not bother her one bit. She tells me all the time she can’t spell but she know she is very smart.
dyslexia and dysgraphia experience
Yes, my dd is dyslexic and dysgrapic, along with a few others just for good measure. :) For the dysgraphia she uses a laptop with specialized programs. This helps with her ability to put her thoughts on the paper and also helps with the spelling issue because the program has word prediction. Assistive Tech can really help a lot and there are many different program to choose from.
dyslexia and dysgraphia experience
I am not for sure it’s dysgraphia or not. She does not do it everytime. I noticed at church on Sunday that the erasure tip was facing away from her while everyone else had it facing more towards them. Then yesterday when she was writing out valentines she was holding it more normal. I’m still not sure. It still was slightly different. She is very artistic and loves to draw. Cursive is easier for her and she likes to write stories. But it may take her 2 hours to write a page and a half. Is it really noticeable in your dd or is it something that was hard to see. We looked at a picture of a pencil grip in “the mislabeled child” and one picture was exactly how my daughter was holding her pencil when writing.
dyslexia and dysgraphia experience
Dysgraphia is more than pencil grip. If it were just the grip, that can be corrected with OT. Dysgraphia also effects the ability to get thoughts down on paper quickly. Having to go through all the processes of writing slows things down. Cursive tends to be easier because it is more flowing, less pick-up with the pencil.
Dysgraphics do tend to be very artistic. The act of drawing is a very different process from the process of writing.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/dysgraphia/dysgraphia.htm
http://www.as.wvu.edu/~scidis/dysgraphia.html
With my dd it really effected her work output. It would take her forever to write anything, her writing was sloppy and difficult to read and her spelling was almost strictly phonetic. She hated writing for a long time because it was so difficult for her. (She has a fairly severe form of dysgraphia.) She took a year of gymnastics which strengthened her muscles and made writing easier and neater. (Huge difference!) After that we worked on getting her some assistive tech (AT) which boosted her confidence. Now she prefers to write by hand but still uses AT for longer projects. She has a program with word prediction which helps with spelling. She also uses an electronic dictionary.
I hope this helps.
dyslexia and dysgraphia experience
She has a very hard time getting her thoughts down on paper. She always has. She is very creative in her thoughts but the act of getting them down quickly has never been a easy process for her. Her writing is a little sloppy but not hard to read. Her spelling his horrible. She can’t spell simple words.
I have always thought her to be a pretty coordinated child. She does bow and arrow and is a good shot. She played softball and was average.
I am not sure what to think. We see someone on Friday who can tell us more. The person who is doing her testing said that her handwriting showed some signs but she really could not tell until she sees her.
Thanks!
dyslexia and dysgraphia experience
Its not a matter of coordination but of muscle strength both in the smaller muscles of the hand and the arms/shoulders. Remember that writing is a FINE motor skill, not a GROSS motor skill. Strengthening the hands, arms and shoulders can improve the fine motor skills.
Go over to http://millermom.proboards107.com and ask there.