stealth dyslexia or handwriting issues - how to tell the difference

[summerreading]

I'm feeling so awful. I don't know what to do with my oldest. He's bright, is reading books all the time. I test his comprehension sometimes and it seems fine. His handwriting is an issue as I mentioned before. We have never done fill the blanks type of work, all of stuff has been done orally or on the computer, but I'm really seeing his bad spelling and inconsistent spacing needs to be worked on. He will leave out vowel, even in copying something I wrote. I don't think it's his grasp. I looked up the name for his grasp and he does a quadropod grasp with a thumb wrap. It's not the gold standard tripod, but I don't think it's that bad.

 

But, the big red flag that is making me feel so bad is the has a B in his name and he still does it with a capital unless someone points it out to him. He says he does this because he Bs and Ds are confusing. Ps and 9s also, he has to still think each time how they go. I just keep thinking if he writes more, he will get it. But he's 12, I think he'd have it figured out by now

 

I put a call into the Scottish Rite and I hope they can give him and his younger brother a full eval. I just can't afford an eval at $2,500 per child. Our insurance will only pay for the psych part of an NP eval, so if I could get the education part done through them it would be great. The school district said they won't work with homeschoolers on evals.

 

Idk, this stuff gets overwhelming. Maybe homeschooling is not good for my family. How can I let this kid get to 12 not writing his name properly? This year has been so focused on getting his younger brother through VT, I guess I just figured he was being quirky and would stop doing the capital B thing at some point.

 

ETA family history: his younger has/had many visual diagnoses and his dad was given the dyslexia label in high school. Maybe I should start with a VT eval first?

 

[summerreading]

Aw, don't beat yourself up. Kids like him may be the least likely to be well served by the schools, because he likely performs too well to qualify academically, yet he still has these issues. I have one like this as well, and I know she wouldn't qualify for anything through the schools. Her gifted strengths balance out the LDs, so probably neither would be served. Are you in a state where the schools really don't have to provide evaluations for homeschoolers? It does sound like he has something going on, but evaluations would really be needed to tease out what it is. Now is a good time to do that if you're able to swing it, so that he has a paper trail in place before testing and college.

 

I've looked into it for his younger brother. But now younger is progressing with VT, I think I am less worried he might be dyslexic b/c his reading is picking up.  But I still would be looking at maybe 2 evaluations we are trying to afford. Our school said they won't test them. At the time I asked for his brother, I didn't feel like pushing it. I was going to wait until after the summer to see how he's doing.

 

I just get caught up thinking if I make him write more, then I'll see if it works itself out, but he avoids writing as much as he can.

I will just have to find a way to afford it if Scottish Rite cannot help us.

[PeterPan]

Will your insurance cover an OT eval?

[summerreading]

Will your insurance cover an OT eval?

 

Yes, they will. But when I call the OTs who take my insurance they say they only treat injuries, not "cognitive" as they called it.

 

[OneStepAtATime]

Yes, they will. But when I call the OTs who take my insurance they say they only treat injuries, not "cognitive" as they called it.

 

Well that stinks!

[summerreading]

Well that stinks!

 

It does :) I guess I should call the insurance again. Looking on their website under OTs gives me nothing. Maybe that is why the doctors I called weren't helpful. Maybe they can give me out of network coverage then. If an OT eval shows nothing then, I will know to keep looking.

[PeterPan]

Yes, they will. But when I call the OTs who take my insurance they say they only treat injuries, not "cognitive" as they called it.

 

You're calling the wrong OTs.  You need one who specializes in sensory integration, ASD, etc., kid issues.  Look for referral/practitioner lists of who is popular for ASD and ADHD.  That will get you in the loop.

[diokos]

I've been having some similar issues with my 10 yo son.  We decided to have our eval done by a dyslexia consultant (much, much cheaper!)-you can get a list of names from Susan Barton, upon request.  I realize this will probably not be an official enough diagnosis for SAT/college accomodations, but qualifications for those accomodations have to be done within 3-5 yrs. of taking the SAT or ACT.  This eval has given me an idea of how to best educate him right now.  A starting point of our paper trail.  But, the biggest thing our recent diagnosis has done for me has been to provide peace of mind.  His entire homeschool carreer has been a series of guessing-why isn't he getting this, what am I doing wrong, why isn't he trying harder, what curriculum will spark his interest enough to inspire enough effort to learn something...Now, I know that his difficulties are no one's fault!  It's not that he's refusing to try, or just pulling a bad attitude when he's frustrated.  It's not because I'm the worst teacher on the planet that my 5th grader still struggles so much with writing, or cannot remember his own phone number, or say the months of the year!  Begin with the eval on this child, if that's what you can afford.  You can use dyslexic-recommended resources to teach your younger son as well, even before an official dX.  In a year, or when you've been able to save enough for another eval, have your second son tested.  Trying to do them both at once would be a huge strain on anyone's budget!

 

And, fwiw, it definitely sounds like stealth dyslexia is a real possibility to me.  Get that from someone who knows what they're talking about. :)

[VinNY]

 The school district said they won't work with homeschoolers on evals.

 

 

 

 

Wrong. IDEA child find says ALL students :https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/your-childs-rights/basics-about-childs-rights/child-find-what-it-is-and-how-it-works

[summerreading]

Wrong. IDEA child find says ALL students :https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/your-childs-rights/basics-about-childs-rights/child-find-what-it-is-and-how-it-works

So based on other advice given here before and the info on this link, I think what I'm going to do is give him some time with copywork, dictation and spelling and see how that progresses. If we're getting nowhere, I'll send a certified letter to the school referencing this law and my concerns and that they have so many days to reply.

 

I've read on other threads that some kids come home from ps with terrible handwriting and some time to focus on it made a huge difference. So I want to give it a try.

 

So I would need to have a diagnosis by 8th grade to get SAT accommodations?

[Splash]

Our local hospital has summer classes for dysgraphia/handwriting issues.  Maybe there is something like that in your area. 

[PeterPan]

Summer, I don't really remember your whole situation and I'm just being fast here, but dyslexia is now called SLD Reading for a reason.  They're going to expect some issues with reading (decoding, phonological processing, comprehension, SOMETHING) to get him to that label.  What you've described are vision issues and handwriting issues.  You've mentioned a VT eval, and I hope you're pursuing that.  You've mentioned an OT eval, and that's another thing you should be pursuing.  

 

The screening by our school was so cursory.  They can do it, but you're not necessarily going to get the labels you're suggesting.  They might go ADHD and SLD writing.  That wouldn't be shocking, given what you've described.  They might qualify you for OT, if the OT issues are severe enough.  There's nothing they'll do for vision, even though those are good questions.

 

I'm just saying it's real easy to jump on the "it's stealth dyslexia" thing and miss the elephant in the room.  For dyslexia it's still reading disorder and should still be going back to phonological processing, decoding, comprehension, etc.  It should be there, because that's how it's diagnosed.  All the other, peripheral symptoms (reversals, shoe tying, blah blah, the long lists you read) are not UNIQUE to a dyslexia label but are connected to other things neurologically.  

 

So as far as the letter, I wouldn't bother till you've done your OT and VT evals and actually know what you're trying to get the ps to do. Unless of course you have OT complaints that warrant an OT eval through the ps.  In which case write the formal letter, cite the law, and complain about everything in your list, kwim?