Asperger and ADHD child. My 6th grade child is refusing to do any writing in school and home. He would rather sit in a corner, miss dinner, scrub the baseboards with a toothbrush than do writing assignments - even is all he has to do is copy a definition from a book word for word. He draws and does math without a problem. I read an article at [url]http://www.cdl.org/resource-library/articles/graphomotor.php [/url] which descrips him to a T (he doesn’t have the deficits in Visual-Motor Coordination - he plays gameboy and halo. In a Halo match between my husband and my son, my son could watch both images on the split screan and tell exactly were dady was - we can’t do that.). If he writes very slowly, he can write neatly.
But I also think he’s having cognitive troubles. His language arts class is going over metephore, similes, and figure of speach by having them read a book and decipher what the author means in a paraghraph.
The assessments that the school does useless. I need to know the names of specific assessment test so that I can get them to test him properly. I also have no more money that I can spend on getting tested. We’ve maxed out all our cards and gotten no where.
Also, I’ve heard something about improving kinesthetic sensitivity by using a task other than writing to - any idea what these task are?
Re: ASD and ADHD child need proper assessment
Thank you Annette,
What can you suggest for testing to see if it’s a handwriting LD instead of a cognitive?
Our school psychologist did a psycho-educational test on my son. This test would cost $1100 going privately.
Assessment methods include: review of record, parent teacher and student interviews, student observations and testing behaviors and :
Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (BASC-2) or use the Weickart. This test checks for short term memory, planning, visual processing, long-term retrieval, crystallized ability and fluid crystallized intelligence. This is the total cognitive ability of your child.
Jerry John’s Early Literacy Assessment, Jerry John’s Reading Inventory, Behavioral Assessment System for Children (BASC-2), Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functioning (BRIEF), Review of interventions, review of group standardized testing, error analysis of standardized assessment, checklists, surveys and rating forms.
Other testing includes a speech and language evaluation and occupational therapy evaluation for fine motor coordination.
Keep in mind that the higher grades require more analytical thinking, abstract thinking, and visual and /or auditory skills. It’s probably more important to overcompensate with good auditory skills and note taking or visual skills and note taking.
My son also has vision therapy. Even though his vision is 20/20, his both eyes do not work together to read accross the page. A good book to read is “when a child struggles; the myth of 20/20 vision” by Dr. David Cook. Other great books are “The myth of Laziness” and “A mind at a time” by Dr. Mel Levine.
I hope the school can give you the proper evaluations and assessments. After all, our tax dollars pay for it. Let us know how things go.