My older son's test results

[Lecka]

I am still digesting my older son's (just turned 10, a rising 5th grader) test results (from a neuropsychologist).

 

We went in looking for dysgraphia, and came out with dysgraphia.  

 

For reading though -- I am pleased.  He is my son who was in a lot of speech therapy, and who did a lot of reading remediation with me.

 

He got a 92 in Word Reading (30th percentile), 93 in Pseudoword Decoding (32nd percentile), and 94 in Spelling (34th percentile).  

 

But, in Reading Comprehension he got 112 (79th percentile).  

 

The note says "also, relative to his reading comprehension, he had weaknesses in phonetic decoding of both real and nonsense words, mild residuals of his earlier reading problems, now largely resolved."  

 

He really does read well now.  He will stay up reading when he is reading a series he likes.  He has got his own taste in books.  

 

I am honestly sad about what she had to say about his handwriting.  She dos not think that he has automatic letter formation.  I can't believe I have a 10-year-old now and maybe he doesn't have automatic letter formation.  (I have been hearing this since he was 7 and he went into OT.)  She also, besides typing, wants him to do some minimal handwriting b/c she thinks he is at risk to have his handwriting deteriorate if he goes too long (aka over summer vacation) without review/practice.  

 

 

[kbutton]

That's great comprehension given the difficulty with reading related tasks!

 

I'm sorry the handwriting isn't automatic. Thankfully, we live in a day where there are more options. If it makes you feel better, my husband considers handwriting to be the equivalent of drawing letters, and he's functional. He uses dictation software at work. But yes, it's sad to think that something so "simple" as handwriting will never be typical. I have my dysgraphic kid write. I just reduce the load, and we are working on typing. He is kind of like my husband--it's too much effort to do it well, but he can write and get words out if it doesn't matter how it looks. 

[FairProspects]

Did he come out with dyslexia too or no because he had been remediated?

 

We don't have automatic letter formation either (at least I don't think). It doesn't seem to be that big of an issue because of typing, thankfully.

[Lecka]

He didn't come back with dyslexia.  

 

I tried and gave up on typing last summer.  Last summer was math facts, though.  

 

This summer is going to be typing.  

 

He is motivated now because he wants to type messages to people in Minecraft.  Last summer he did not really care.  

 

Probably this is maturity -- but I do think he is getting (after much explanation on my part) that it is worth typing using all fingers.  Last summer (and fall) he was wanting to just use his two pointer fingers, and didn't want to suffer through trying to use his other fingers.  

 

He asked for the testing, too (or at least assented when I brought it up).  Before he was not interested, he was very into being "done" with speech and OT.  There were logistical challenges for us, too.

 

He has had really nice teachers the past two years, they did not hassle him about his handwriting or his slow speed.  So he is in a decent/good place with his self-esteem.  (His self-esteem about his reading is very good, and his self-esteem about his class participation ---- so this adds up to some very good areas for him.)  He does see for himself it takes him longer than it should, and he cares now that he can't go back and read what he has written a lot of the time.  

 

Last year he had little investment in typing etc, it was just something I was making him do.  

 

It is so nice to know he is not the only one in this boat!  I do not know anyone else locally. 

 

I think of you guys' kids as smart and on-the-ball kids, too, so that helps ;)

[prairiewindmomma]

Lecka--we are in the same place.  Interestingly, Minecraft has also been my son's only internal motivation to learn typing.

[PeterPan]

Dd's handwriting was not automatic when she had her psych eval at 11/12 (I forget, brain getting fuzzy, wow), but now at 16 the OT says her writing IS automatic.  It still looks like elven chicken scratch, but it is considered legible and automatic.  For typing she had to go to Dvorak.  I highly, highly, highly recommend it.  Did I mention what a miracle it was for her?  Totally eliminated hunt and peck, because they can't SEE the labels on the keys.  ;)   And Dvorak is more efficient, requiring less moves, which is why it could work for her when her fingers were not having it come together.

 

So don't give up hope.  Not saying the dysgraphia is going away, but he'll still change and mature.  

[OneStepAtATime]

Lecka, could you put him in a typing program like Type to Learn 4, where it is honestly more fun than just typing to type or most typing programs?  Would he like being a secret agent?  Saving bits of information?

[Lecka]

I have ordered Type to Learn 4 for him, and the disc just came in the mail a couple of days ago.  I have not gotten it installed yet.  It looks like something up his alley.

 

We were planning to go to Texas this week but that is not happening now with the flooding, so I hope to get that done by the end of the week.  

 

Fingers crossed! 

[OneStepAtATime]

Uh, yeah, wait on the Texas trip. :)

 

I didn't know there was a disc version of TTL4. I got the online version through homeschool buyer's coop. It is the version used in schools. I wonder how they compare.

 

Yours might be better since you can probably adjust the settings yourself. I strongly urge you to set the w.p.m to 5 and accuracy to 95%. Work really really hard on establishing proper posture, finger position and stroke position from the get go and keep emphasizing those things until they are automatic. And definitely work on accuracy of his typing way way above speed. Speed will come eventually if he can master accurate key strokes. Speed may never come if he pushes for speed over accuracy and never gets proper key strokes down smoothly.

[Heathermomster]

DS learned to type when he was 11 yo old. I could never get DS to practice typing while sitting in a classroom.  Homework took forever, so when the homework was completed, he stopped himself mentally and just checked out.  Once out of the classroom and homeschooling, son's motivation depended upon my motivation.  I had to be deliberate with the teaching to type and opted to make a huge deal out of it.

 

Since your son is in school, maybe establish a learning timeline with a beginning, middle, and end. (I set aside 5 months.)  Involve your child and set up a reward system.  Pick a time of day when he can practice.  Perhaps set aside 15 minutes and use an especially made by you/him monthly calendar to check off dates.  Whatever the case, be consistent, write up a contract with a plan in place, sign the contract with DS, and just do it.

 

If motor planning is a significant issue, you will need to be patient and adjust.  He may need to use the DVORAK keyboard layout.  He may work better with typing and a speech to text software combo.  Consider everything and good luck!

 

While teaching DS, I covered his hands.  He could not see the keyboard as he typed.