DYSGRAPHIA

Hi, msb!

I’m new here too. I’ve found the people on this board very helpful and knowledgeable. It might help others if you were to post your child’s test scores, services currently offered, and what you might like to see added. It would also help to know if you have an IEP or a 504.

The schools diagnosed my 4th grader’s dysgraphia this winter. The services offered to him were not contingent on his other scores (pretty high, like 95% for reading and math) nor on how far behind he was (he wasn’t far behind the class, just far below where his IQ suggested he could be).

He is pulled out for remediation by a special ed teacher for 46-60 minutes 5X/week. The spec ed teacher also handles his spelling list. His list is 10 high usage words and if he misses a word on his exam, it appears on the next week’s list. After he ‘gets’ a word, it is dropped from the list but retested about three weeks later. Again, if he misses it, back on the list it goes. Written assignments are graded solely on content. If other students finish writing assignments, they can scribe for David. This doesn’t signal David out as finished students can help any unfinished student. Dave is very quick at math assignments. When he is done, he can elect to work on unfinished writing assignments or help others finish thier math. I understand he is highly sought out as a math helper by the other students! This helps his self-esteem and takes the sting out of having others help him. Any written work still not done can be dictated to me at home. He is given the option of drawing pictures for assignments/exams and explaining them to the teacher and the teacher will accept outlines with David filling in the details orally. It is normal school practice to have an aide grade fill-in-the-blank and math assigments. Because Dave’s handwriting is so bad, and because he writes many numbers backwards making them look like other numbers, all of his work is graded by his teacher. If the teacher can not make out the writing, David is allowed to verbally explain the answer.

Cursive is totally beyond David at this point. We all agree that we have bigger fish to fry so he does the bare minimum.

The school has purchased him an AlphaSmart which is a laptop word processing tool. We are just starting to use this.

Hope this helps!

Barb

ps–

I’m dysgraphic as well.

I learned to write, have a college degree, and hold down a good job.

Don’t ever allow others to limit what your child can do!

I can’t help with the evaluation, but if you would like my outline on how I help kids learn and straighten out handwriting, I’ll be glad to send it. Just email me and tell me what you need.

How does the WIAT assess dysgraphia? I know it measures written expression skills but dysgraphia is more about the physical aspects of handwriting? ADHD children often have difficulty with physical aspects of handwriting…I’m confused

I would recommend that you take a look at his subtests. The school district bases their decisions on the average of the testing to come up with the scores. But if you take a look at his subtests you will see a discrepancy in his scores. Base you child’s needs on his subtests scores. Also if you have a np agency diagnosis they should have provided some recommendations on the methodologies. If they did not then request they provide some guidance. The school district needs to take into consideration the report from the non public agency.

It seems the school district is also focusing on his high scores such as math and reading, well this doesn’t require his writing skills. So they need to focus on where he is delayed not on his high scores.

Good luck

I have two dysgraphic children. Both are also ADHD/Gifted IQ. Big problem with schools is understanding how to teach this kind of kid. In my humble opinion.

The things that have helped my two kids:
Assistive technology,would have to be number one on the list. Alphasmart was not helpful,we tried it, but because of the small screen. For my oldest especially, who has visual spatial issues, it was a very frustrating situation for him. Don’t expect that they will magically be able to type as fast as everyone else can write,this won’t happen for a long time. ( this is the biggest reason most schools claim AT is not needed or is not helpful,because the kid can’t automatically be able to type fast enough)

Accomodations such as,handwriting not being counted if handwriting is not the lesson,same thing for spelling. In other words,if it is a writing assignment about what do you want to be when you grow up,then the teacher needs to grade only on content and not spelling or handwriting. This was invaluable to my youngest who got so bogged down on trying to point the letters in the right direction,that his flow of ideas was damaged further,and his content was that of a kid much younger then him,when in reality his ability was never truely measured adequately. AT really helped this also,because there isn’t that conscience effort needed to make sure the letter point in the right direction.

Occupational Therapy,esp. with an OT certifed in AT training. OT was helpful for my kids in the physical holding of the pencil,directional issues,and keyboarding. They also participated in Interactive metronome program which was very helpful,especially in sustained attention to assignments etc.

Now with that being said,I wouldn’t be me,if I didn’t discuss the legal rights you and your kid has that the school is probably not telling you about:-) It would be very helpful to know at what place you are at in the process,IE are you discussing the issue of whether he is in need of an IEP,special ed services? Or are you now at the IEP and fighting for what services to give?

Assuming by your post,I am going to assume that they are stating by evaluation results that he is not doing poorly enough to warrant services. .

This is a section of a law called 504 you can find the whole thing at :http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCR/know.html ( when you get there click on disability discrimination and then click on 504 antidiscrimination law.

This is what it states the school MUST do. Please pay close attention to B 1,2,and 3 below as you scroll down and read this. This is pertaining specificly to what you have described. They can not use one measure and they must assess based on his difficulty not a general assessment. Most dysgraphic kids have these problems with the schools. They are usually very bright,and they usually have the added problems with attention span.
104.35 Evaluation and placement.

(a) Preplacement evaluation. A recipient that operates a public elementary or secondary education program or activity shall conduct an evaluation in accordance with the requirements of paragraph (b) of this section of any person who, because of handicap, needs or is belived to need special education or related services before taking any action with respect to the initial placement of the person in regular or special education and any subsequent significant change in placement.

(b) Evaluation procedures. A recipient to which this subpart applies shall establish standards and procedures for the evaluation and placement of persons who, because of handicap, need or are believed to need special education or related services which ensure that:

(1) Tests and other evaluation materials have been validated for the specific purpose for which they are used and are administered by trained personnel in conformance with the instructions provided by their producer;

(2) Tests and other evaluation materials include those tailored to assess specific areas of educational need and not merely those which are designed to provide a single general intelligence quotient; and

(3) Tests are selected and administered so as best to ensure that, when a test is administered to a student with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills, the test results accurately reflect the student’s aptitude or achievement level or whatever other factor the test purports to measure, rather than reflecting the student’s impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills (except where those skills are the factors that the test purports to measure).

(c) Placement procedures. In interpreting evaluation data and in making placement decisions, a recipient shall (1) draw upon information from a variety of sources, including aptitude and achievement tests, teacher recommendations, physical condition, social or cultural background, and adaptive behavior, (2) establish procedures to ensure that information obtained from all such sources is documented and carefully considered, (3) ensure that the placement decision is made by a group of persons, including persons knowledgeable about the child, the meaning of the evaluation data, and the placement options, and (4) ensure that the placement decision is made in conformity with §104.34.

Now this is IDEA law sections1414. Now you can read the rest of this law at http://www.edlaw.net/service/ideacont.html

Now pay close attention to A.B.and C. this specificly talks about not using one measure,assessing possible needs to progress through the general ed curriculum,which BY the way is what your child should be helped to do,based on his IQ,right?

2) Conduct of Evaluation. In conducting the evaluation, the local educational agency shall —

(A) use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional and developmental information, including information provided by the parent, that may assist in determining whether the child is a child with a disability and the content of the child’s individualized education program, including information related to enabling the child to be involved in and progress in the general curriculum or, for preschool children, to participate in appropriate activities;
(B) not use any single procedure as the sole criterion for determining whether a child is a child with a disability or determining an appropriate educational program for the child; and

(C) use technically sound instruments that may assess the relative contribution of cognitive and behavioral factors, in addition to physical or developmental factors.

(3) Additional Requirements. Each local educational agency shall ensure that —

(A) tests and other evaluation materials used to assess a child under this section —

(i) are selected and administered so as not to be discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis; and
(ii) are provided and administered in the child’s native language or other mode of communication, unless it is clearly not feasible to do so; and

(B) any standardized tests that are given to the child —

(i) have been validated for the specific purpose for which they are used;
(ii) are administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel; and

(iii) are administered in accordance with any instructions provided by the producer of such tests;

(C) the child is assessed in all areas of suspected disability; and
(D) assessment tools and strategies that provide relevant information that directly assists persons in determining the educational needs of the child are provided.

(4) Determination of Eligibility. Upon completion of administration of tests and other evaluation materials —

(A) the determination of whether the child is a child with a disability as defined in Section 1402(3) shall be made by a team of qualified professionals and the parent of the child in accordance with paragraph (5); and
(B) a copy of the evaluation report and the documentation of determination of eligibility will be given to the parent.

(5) Special Rule for Eligibility Determination. In making a determination of eligibility under paragraph (4)(A), a child shall not be determined to be a child with a disability if the determinant factor for such determination is lack of instruction in reading or math or limited English proficiency

Now that you have all this info what do you do with it?
First thing,you write a letter,asking for futher evaluation. An Occupational therapist should assess him for needs,the assitive technology team should assess him for possible devices.You site the sections above as reason enough to be asikng for this,but as an added treat,I would cite their very comments about based on his testing already done,his needs fall under the related services realm,such as AT and OT. Always,Always Always put everything you ask in writing,and request everything they say in writing. You also need to read IDEA sections called procedural safeguards,which explain what they should be giving you at these meeting,for example if they are refusing to provide something you ask for the must give you Prior written notice. Happy reading,and hope this was helpful.

Poor handwriting, organization and spelling are often found in ADHD, as part of the “output” problems; a formal OT eval. could help with the dysgraphia area. I would push for more evaluation of this area, esp. if you are looking for a diagnosis that will lead to special ed. services, or accomodations under 504.Many 3rd graders still have poor handwriting, as cursive is usually intorduced in 3rd. grade. Is your child already classified for special ed. under OHI for the ADHD?

One thing I’ve noticed is it’s difficult to get help when a child scores “slightly below grade level.” Unfortunately some schools like to wait and see while precious time is wasted. Socks’ post has some GREAT legal information!

Also, find out about local groups for parents of children with LD’s. In addition to the wonderful information I’ve learned here, I’ve also learned a lot from other parents locally. Just start printing, jotting down, and collecting data!

Best of luck to you!

Why would you want your child certified as OHI for ADHD? Special Ed is not always a great label for a child….could you please tell me the benefits you have seen with this? This is new to me.

WIAT wouldn’t adequately assess by itself, Dysgraphia,but the Private NP(neuropsych) would:-)

This kids sounds like he needs further evaluation.