I think that it is great that you finally have the diagnosis so that he can be helped. It makes me very angry that the school is more than happy to label your DS as having an emotional issue rather than sitting back and carefully analyzing their own teaching. The school failed your son by not providing the instruction that he needed; however, be encouraged because with loving kindness, scaffolding, and your encouragement, your boy can put the entire school experience behind him. I'm curious to know what the verb comp and spatial scores were like on the IQ testing. If he likes listening to audio books, I would allow him to select his own "listen and view for pleasure" books. My DD enjoys the How to Train Your Dragon series and listens to those from Audible. DS watched a lot of build it and Myth Buster type shows at that age. He also loved military history and weapons, so I purchased a ton of picture type books from Barnes and Noble. We keep tons of legos, rockets, models of airplanes, and sports cards. Definitely work in the yard and plant things. Build bird feeders and observe. For us, the greatest challenge with dysgraphia was not scaffolding enough. Scribe for him. Talk with him. Ask Socratic type questions. I strongly urge you to seek an OT/pediatric PT eval and have core/hand strength, vestibular, visual perception, motor planning, and primitive reflexes checked. Both of my kids have worked with an OT and PT to address these issues. Swimming has been great for my DD. We took both children to a scuba training center with an indoor pool and the kids worked in a small group with a swim instructor. My DS finally learned to swim with PT work and direct swim instruction. Kuddos again for taking action and getting the testing. Few people understand dysgraphia and inadvertently make things harder on our kiddos. Expect reliance upon technology. Technology has improved and products are much cheaper and available now than 8 years ago when my DS was diagnosed. You son can talk into an Android, Apple, or Kindle device and express himself that way. Voice recognition sw on those devices is better than with Dragon speech to text. Mindmapping sw is just as effective and useful as traditional outlining. Your son will have many options for expressing himself when you embrace technology.

Welcome to the boards! My DS improved static/dynamic balance, posture, and bilateral coordination by working with a pediatric PT who specializes in DCD and dysgraphia. DS used weights, the elliptical, yoga ball, stretch bands, cross body exercises, and agility equipment. Improvements were realized after about 4 weeks of the routine. DS finally learned to swim too. I always stress accuracy over speed, which was a hard concept for my DS to grasp.

Is your child currently enrolled in a public school? 504 and IEPs should not affect college acceptance. I believe that would be against Federal Law (the ADA) for a college or CC to reject a student on the basis of an existing IEP or 504 used in high school. ETA: http://www.campusexplorer.com/college-advice-tips/B6B71A43/College-Advice-For-Students-With-A-504-Plan/

Ladies, thank-you for the encouragement. I really hope that this guy can help DS or point us in the direction of someone else who can.

No, we haven't written down goals yet. DS wants to help himself in the study department. Standardized testing isn't remotely on our radar for improvement. I am concerned about his overall organization within his personal and educational life.

I made an appointment today with a therapist who supposedly works with individuals that have ADHD. We meet with him next week, so who knows how this will turn out? I want the guy to help DS work specifically on weak EF using time tested materials and strategies. DS says he is motivated and willing to try. I want the therapist to help us put structure in place and establish measurable/quantifiable goals. I don't know if that is even possible. Has anyone here used a therapist for helping develop EF? If so, what was the therapy like and how long was it necessary? Was the experience good or bad? Thank-you, ~h

OP, maybe discuss your concerns with your Pastor and study mythology as you and your DH see fit. I do believe that is is entirely possible to have a sensible conversation about world and Ancient religions without leading your child down a pagan path.

Please include me as well.

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: 8Fill, I'm sorry about your friend.

8Fiil, what have you and your DH done as a couple to maintain your relationship with one another? Did your DH ever struggle with your son's differences early on?

I teach best when I meet up with a lady friend for coffee or dinner, every couple of weeks. Once per week, I also speak with another homeschool mom by telephone, and she keeps me grounded by talking about homeschooling her six children. For intense remediation, I hired out the subjects that were adversely affecting the relationship between myself and my son. My house isn't super clean or dirty and could be picked up quickly. My 2e child with multiple SLDs was not even remotely independent until high school. His independence started when he began typing and managing all of his printed works. That process has taken years and started in 4th grade. I pretty much ignore complaints from the 2nd grader. Outside of phonics, I do let her select the order of study. My 10th grader tells me when there is a problem with subjects. His issues revolve getting work completed so that he can go long boarding or attend a movie night with friends. Yes, they grow up eventually.

The first step in applying for ACT accommodations is to register for a test date. I registered for the April exam in the fall and then submiited the accommodations paperwork in January.

That's awesome!

Both of my children have something up. One of them was born with a congenital birth defect that required life saving surgey by 8 weeks of age. DH and I believed we were taking home a healthy baby but that was not the case. Cognitively she is fine. She has some handwriting issues and chronic health issues remain; otherwise, DD is fabulous. DS has learning issues and was diagnosed while attending a very traditional private school. DS was diagnosed when I was pregnant with DD. Starting in 2nd grade, DS worked with a Wilson reading tutor three days per week for 3 years before I saw reading improvement with him. By then, my DD as born, so her care took up a lot of my time. Things went sort of fast. I quit my engineering job and just settled in to taking care of kids full time. Anyhoo.. DS is fabulous too. Presently, the biggest deal with him is executive function, organization, chemistry, and Algebra 1B. I have been googling and talking to people trying to find an Ed Therapist or someone who specializes in EF, but I am having no luck. I never could find a tutor that was trained with dealing with dyscalculia either, so I read a bunch and became the live-in tutor. I guess I wasn't prepared for the life changes that came, but they were necessary and we were happy to make them. I was not prepared for how incompetent the staff was at the school. I am shocked by the lack of mental health professionals in my area. I never imagined I would embrace technology for accommodations. (DS didn't watch TV the first two years of his life.) I have finally accepted the permanence of my children's issues and have chosen to make the best of it. I expect both of the kiddos will keep me up at night long after they have grown up and moved on. I try to trust the LORD for they are ultimately His, not mine.

We applied and received extended time for ACT, and ACT's response was quick. I mailed the application on a Friday and 14 days later received a confirmation email for extended time. With SAT, you have to call them or email requesting the accommodation application. It is quicker to simply email a request for the application at the following addy: ssd@info.collegeboard.org . In the email request, be sure to include your child's name, address, and phone number. We waited about 9 days prior to receiving the SAT application by mail. Apparently, the College Board review process takes 7 weeks. We haven't applied for SAT, so I have no idea what will be the result. :glare:

Nothing prepared me for how awesome my spouse is with the kids. I mean yes, I knew he was great when we married. I just couldn't predict the scale of the AWESOME. It means a lot to have a man that doesn't flinch but stands firm in the face of adversity.

I type and print up spelling and copywork sheets using Start Write software. The font is called New American Cursive. My DD started cursive by learning to write her name, and she practices first using the LOE whiteboard and then by picking up a pencil. She prefers to write in cursive using a slant board, so I adapted and she writes with pencil and paper on top of a 3" wide binder turned sideways.

Well, my first question is whether your son's psychological evaluation is less than three years old because you need one that is less than 3 years old to apply for accommodations at the local CC. In your position, I would call and make an appointment with the local CC to determine what are the certificate options for your son. I would sort that out and then proceed. If there is a basic math course, I would likely grab a copy of the course text and use it to gauge the math he must know.

I have ideas about combining TC and ELTL3, but don't know whether the practice will be as great as my theory. See posts 33 and 34 of the following link: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/239259-bringing-karens-mention-of-essay-writing-to-a-new-thread/?do=findComment&comment=2363522 . My DS is dyslexic/dysgraphic and started homeschooling in 7th grade. 8Fill's writing philosophy and supports align perfectly with all that I have experienced WRT teaching and writing supports and my son. For that reason, I want to use TC with my youngest child. I love ELTL mainly because of the short story/book, fables, and poem selections, so I want to combine those elements of ELTL with TC. If TC becomes too much, I will save it for 4th grade and proceed as usual with ELTL3. Clear as mud?

I taught my son full sentence and topic outlining using something like the Purdue Owl website. We did this four years ago, so I don't recall the precise website. We then discovered mindmapping and Inspiration sw for the iPad and the PC. Inspiration will convert the mindmap into an outline format. DS prefers the Inspiration app for the iPad, and the cost is about $10. He emails himself the outline and cleans it up on the computer.

Singapore 3a/3b CAP's W&R Fable CAP's Well-Ordered Language continue with New American Cursive RS Spelling Violin Ballet Weekly art class MARR Veritas Self-paced History RS4K Building Blocks 3 Reading will be Elson, Phonics Pathways, Reading Street plus her pleasure and audio books Bible. - Starr Meade Training Hearts Teaching Minds

DS wakes at 7am so that he showers and is ready to go by 8am. To get him up that early, he started taking melatonin at bedtime and goes to bed by 9pm. Once the routine was established, he sets his own bedtime; however, I need him up early because there are outside classes and he doesn't like schooling beyond a certain time. If your child is sleeping over 12 hours, you might want to take her to the doctor and ensure her thyroid is OK and make certain that she has no iron or other nutritional deficits.

If the tape is too much for skin, there is always the vest option. IDK, maybe a combo of vest, meds, zones, and behavioral therapy would help. OP, maybe see if the therapist has a vest that he can try on. ETA: At the end of the thread I linked, there was also the full body sensory bag thingie.

Have you tried kinesio taping his back? ETA:http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/562474-duct-tape-your-children/?hl=%2Bkinesio+%2Btape&do=findComment&comment=6553136

Well, when DS was 11yo and 5th grade, he was still memorizing his multiplication tables. Fives years later, he is working his way through Algebra 1B and is currently completing polynomial division. A lot can happen with your kids so don't rule anything out just yet. I hate MM. The gal who designed it is a sweet lady, but I just hate MM. The layout gives me the chills and quite frankly, I don't see anything novel about it other than it is cheap. Others love it, so there you are My DS requires consistent exposure. There was no way that kid could read a clock or handle money at aged 10. As a teenager, he reads clocks no problem and can count accurate change. IDK, a switch went off or something. We work slowly and methodically. We hit the same concept over and over again using multiple approaches. When he forgets, we pick up and reteach. If my child were struggling more severely and couldn't get past multiplication tables, we would have resorted to Semple Math and than branched from there to consumer type math with conceptual type science classes.. OP, I know you want a more specific answer but all I can say is take math one year at a time. I could never have predicted the success my son has had over the last couple of years. He is not a math super star or anything like that, but he is getting the work done. Last year during April and May, I literally laid down every day after working with him. I prayed and wanted to cry but couldn't. Recognize that feeling? We restarted on the same topics 4 months ago and the boy flew through the very same information. It was amazing and I am still stunned.