new to ld online

Sounds like possibly some form of dyslexia maybe coupled with some kind of output problem?

Some children have a very hard time producing written language but when asked to talk to discuss something they have a very fluent grasp of language just some problem with setting it to paper. i don’t know the details really of output issues as i don’t have one. But i once knew someone who did. She had to take her tests orally. And she was very succesful that way because she knew the answers was a good reader, could take in anything easily and spit it back out also, she just had trouble writing it out.

Then dyslexia, is about sounding words out. i know because i have dyslexia. It can also manifest in writing. It did for me. I couldn’t write my own first name till i was 10. it can be extremely sickening to go to school and to see how easy these things come to other students while for some reason you just can’t get it. it makes you nervouse because it is embarrassing and humiliating to have others see your written work. Because you know to them it can’t look right and children are mean. Often too teachers are mean as well. Making examples of these errors etc… And as a result it becomes an ordeal to attend school.

If i were you i would look into both those issues. And good luck hope some of this is helpful.

There are several other visual processing issues that could be going on and it needs to be thoroughly checked. Dyslexia could be one. He may also have difficulty with his ability to focus his eyes correctly. This should be checked by an educational optometrist or visual therapist. “Regular” optometrists often miss this. Another thing to check would be Irlen Syndrome (http://www.irlen.com) which can cause visual distortions. He may be more effected by florescent lighting which would make it more difficult for him to see things correctly.

Any of these would make it difficult to read, write and copy. There are therapies and accommodations that can help once you get it figured out.

Thank you both for your information. I have a meeting with his teachers on monday and I plan on disscusing a few of these things with them as well. They dont seem to act like he has that big of an issue but I dont think they really always get to work closley enough with each student to see all the problems or the severity of the effects on the child. I just know how hard it is to watch him get so frustrated every time its homework time. he does do well in school mostly a & b’s. I know that thats great but he works extreamly hard to achive that. An hours worth of home work takes all evening.

I have an 8 yr old with very similiar issues(anxiety, slow fluency, handwriting problems, difficulty copying, motor problems) He also fails the vision screenings at the school yet has perfect “vision”. His current eye doctor said he has visual tracking problems and convergence insufficiency. We are taking him to a new Dr in 2 weeks who specializes in Vision Therapy. My son also has Dyspraxia and NLD. I would suggest that you request (you should make your request in writing) to the school that you suspect your child may have a disability and you are requesting an Mutlifactored Evaluation. Good Luck

The reality is in europe i have seen this with my own 2 eyes mind you, they tend to get no homework at all till atleast middle svchool age. At that time typically, it is required by schools that teachers keep it to just under a half hour in total for all classes combined. The best school system in the western world s actually finland. And there, students virtually NEVER see more than if you are on the slow end 45 minutes of homework a night. American schools show no honor of their student’s rights to want to be children rather than controlled by alot of needless busy work. There is a place for practice. When i was in highschool they used to say i had 2 hours of homework in each class a night. It was more like 3 hours in each subject a night. How was i supposed to do anything else with my day???Schools that show respect and systems of schools that show respect to the humanity and free wills of students tend to be more educational and get higher ratings. That is why Finland’s schools arre number 1 in the western world. Most students in Finland are never even penalized for not doing their homework at all. It is more of a thing they advise you to do, but if you choose not to, oh well… I love the way they do that making the extra practice in some smallw ay available to students while leaving them free to havve time to focus too on issues that are of importance to them rather than just busy work all the time. My husband didn’t do homework at all till university where he got his PHD. When we met, his brother was still in highschool. We would spend months there and months in the usa i can count on 1 hand the number of times his little brother did his homework. He did it because he felt it was proper because he needed some extra time and focuus on what the homework was. But more often he didn’t bother. More often, he read for a couple hours before he went to bed and spent the afternoon at the ice hockey rink playing hockey with his buds to stay physically fit (as finnish schools are entirely academic they have PE classes sure, but they have NO sports teams and such. They are extremely focused on academics.) American schools could and should take a lesson from them. Because they are not number 1 for no reason. So given that, perhaps you should stop sit down one night with his homework and adjust your speed at doing it to what it might be for an average child his age. See how long it will take you. Likely alot longer than the hour they alledge.