Anyone familiar with dysgraphia?

[Shawna in Texas]

I have a daughter (11) who has horrible handwriting. I never thought much about it because my handwriting isn't that great, and I figured I could control it better because I'm older.

 

We've gone through all the Getty Dubay books over the years and instead of endlessly nagging about it, I let it go. I'd rather have a meltdown over CWP than italics. I thought she'd learn to fake it like me :D

 

She does about half of her school on the computer. She types quickly and efficiently and her spelling is nearly perfect. She's never liked coloring, drawing, or painting very much. She's not fond of playing the piano. She does enjoy reading and digital art, though.

 

And really, I would just assume laziness on her part, but it's really starting to cut into math time. I've gone over the last couple year's workbooks and it's almost like she's a mad genius or something; I really should scan some of these. She would get the answers correct, though, so I didn't worry too much. It's come to a head because of LOF Decimals. He makes it to where she has to actually write stuff down because she can't do pi in her head. Doing long multiplication with decimals is torture. She gets a number off and it makes the answer wrong. Conceptually, she gets everything I throw at her. Tomorrow, I'm going out to buy graph paper for her math and I'm hoping that helps. I've told her to the point of nagging to write neater, but it's not getting better. She says she's trying.

 

So, anyone diagnosed with this? How does one know if it's dysgraphia or laziness? Are there any therapies or tips to deal with this?

[Jean in Newcastle]

Ds12.5 is only now starting to be able to write neatly. And even then he can only do it when his entire focus is on letter formation - ie. for handwriting. He is unable to compose a sentence and write neatly at the same time. I was the same. I started to be able to do both when I was about 9th grade.

[Jane]

Yes.

 

For math I recommend graph paper. Also, sit down and show your son how to use it. I had to teach my dd how to write larger and use lots of white space between problems. I'm also very strict about using an eraser when needed. We only did a few problems that day. It took her a full hour to learn the standard. When she was done, I applauded her much improved paper. Then I taped that sheet to the wall above her desk and now use it as her math neatness standard. My point is simply that I found what was *her* highest standard of ability, not some dream book example of writing. It has helped tremendously.

 

HTH.

[tex-mex]

Hubby and son both have dysgraphia. Son was tested about 3 years ago with a Pediatric Neuropsychologist having him do a "grip" test on an instrument. (Don't recall the name of it.) Lots of ways to accomodate. It is actually quite common. When I used to teach the K-6 grades, there would be at least 1 child in 30 who had mild to severe issues with dysgraphia.

 

 

http://www.resourceroom.net/readspell/dysgraphia.asp

 

http://www.ldonline.org/article/What_is_Dysgraphia%3F

 

As a side note, my son too had issues with math. I loved Saxon... he called it "evil". Hated to show his work. Did it all in his head. Math wise, he is very bright and above grade level. But the dysgraphia made seatwork for math so slow and time consuming. I tried many programs. One I loved was EXCEL they are similar to Saxon -- but have pre-printed worksheets. Son did not have to copy off the book. Now we use Teaching Textbooks. Son hates the lecture and reads it by himself. He does great! He NOW WILL SHOW HIS WORK like for Algebra I. (That was like pulling teeth when he was younger. LOL) And now he can show his work in nice neat assignments. We used to have to give him graph paper with squares for problems. But I do have to modify the workload of problems. When it comes to test time, he always scores exceptionally well. Math and science are his strengths. Writing he dislikes. Loves to read, tho'.

 

I am impressed with how son is coming around compared to hubby who never got diagnosed officially. Hubby detests writing, his manuscript is illegible and painful for him to put his thoughts down on paper, and most of his high school/college years were difficult due to this LD. With son, I am working on keyboarding, accomodations, and getting him to enjoy writing (I love to write) using LD techniques. He just did his second freshman essay (took him 2 weeks) and scored a 90% on the rubric I used from a local school. Years ago, that kind of work was impossible. He would melt in a puddle of tears over paperwork. Now he realizes it is just the way God created him and we are dealing with it from a different angle. But he can do it. I tell him nothing is impossible in life. You can reach for your dreams by just hard work! ;)

Edited September 20, 2009 by tex-mex

[Jann in TX]

I was a gifted student--but I was called LAZY way too much--it brings back painful memories!

 

Even in college the comments like "you are a girl, you MUST have good handwriting" really cut me.

 

As an adult I have learned to slow down in order to write legibly (but it will NEVER be pretty)--BUT I still cannot compose at the same time. I NEED to think about each letter...it is painfully slow.

 

I still PRACTICE signing my Christmas Cards!

 

As a teacher I would often send hand-written notes home with my students. If anyone looked in the trash can by my desk they would see at least 3 other ruined notes for every one I sent home. Amazingly I can write on a chalkboard neatly--I think it must involve more of the right brain in that position.

 

Encourage your daughter to do her best--but be kind about it!

[Pamela H in Texas]

I'd be surprised about a person with dysgraphia having good spelling. I've not heard of it. Of course, a lot of people kinda have an issue and don't struggle with all aspects of it. Oftentimes, written grammar and mechanics are also often a common issue. If she's not struggling with any of those things, I think I'd just guess she has poor handwriting, not dysgraphia. Both my children wrote backwards (and upside down) letters and numbers much longer than average also.

 

Here's a link: http://www.ldonline.org/article/What_is_Dysgraphia%3F

[Mom22ns]

There are different types of dysgraphia. My ds has dysgraphia and he is a remarkable speller. If you read about the different forms of dysgraphia, spelling is not impaired with either motor or spacial dysgraphia - only dyslexic dysgraphia.

 

My ds was diagnosed by an OT years ago. He learned to type after first grade and by second grade was typing 30 wpm. It made all the difference. He types more like 45 wpm now. Math has still been a challenge, but between white boards with dry erase markers, and graph paper we have made it work.

 

We reduce pencil and paper tasks when ever possible. It is just as good to answer a question out loud as to write the answer. Typing anything over one sentence saves his hand for when writing is needed. He does still work on handwriting, as its own subject, never as part of writing for content. We have even started working on note taking from a lecture using a laptop. It will be a critical skill for him in college.

[Melissa in Australia]

dyslexic dysgraphia runs in my family. my brother can only print capital letters. he just cannot do lower case letters . My ds15 has HUGE trouble writing at all. He really struggles with writing anything down, and only uses lower case. He doesn't show any workings for his math, does most of it in his head. though he is showing his workings that he does with his graphing calculator now. he writes in very tiny neat figures. so small you almost need a magnifying glass ( exaggeration) he gets about 98% of his math right.

 

my ds 11 has pringing that looks like spider webs. he has a huge problem with his math, and just cannot keep his figures straight. I write his math ( Saxon) out for him to avoid some of the frustration. he then gets only 50% of them right. because he has carried up the wrong number, or written the answer on the wrong problem ETC. I often sit by him and get him to work out the problem, and I write the numbers down. he always gets 10% then he knows how to do the math, just can't write it down right. He finds it Extremely stressful.

 

I did try teaching them writing, and they could do it beautifully, it just had no meaning as words to them, just they could only do it if they were copying from a model, and they were really just drawing.if they were asked to read it, or write something down instead of printing, they were lost.

[Zanyan]

My 15 year old son is dysgraphic, and I have tried just about everything through the years to help him - copy work, learning to type, tape recording his ideas/writing assignments, Handwriting Without Tears (3 times through). He is also very bright, and his dyslexia/dysgraphia has been exceedingly discouraging to him when it comes to pursuing formal academics. (He is now an excellent reader, but his dyslexia makes math difficult because he flips fractions, omits negative signs, skips steps, etc. He understands all math concepts very well, but ends up with B- on assignments and tests because these little mistakes add up).

 

As you can see in my signature line, we are now "basically" unschooling him. He's a kid who will stay up all night reading the U.S. Constitution just because he's interested in it (just did this - his own idea - a few days ago), and he'll discuss it at length, but if asked to write anything down about it, I know from experience that he would instantly shift to total disinterest in the Constitution and any discussion we might have about it. That's how we've ended up unschooling. He is capable of learning and discussing many topics in depth (often displaying surprisingly great insight), but his writing looks like a young child's, his spelling is poor, he skips words, etc. and so he truncates his long, complex thoughts into the the fewest words possible in order to alleviate his writing load.

 

We have tried the Dragon software, and I would recommend it to anyone with a child who has dyslexia/dysgraphia. Unfortunately, for my son it doesn't work. He had surgery on his aorta 13 months ago. The recurrent laryngeal nerve that enervates the larynx wraps around the aorta. My son's recurrent laryngeal nerve was damaged during surgery, and so he has a voice that constantly sounds like he has a horrible case of laryngitis. It's high pitched, scratchy, and breathy. The Dragon software does not respond well to his voice. So, even technology that I thought, when he was younger, would end up helping him with his writing difficulties has turned out to not be of help because of the particular curve balls he's been thrown in his life.

 

I have no idea what this will mean for college. There is still a slight chance that his voice will recover, but we were told that recovery would happen within 6 months. He's now going on 14 months, so.....

 

Anyway - Dragon software, continued copywork, and tape recording writing assignments that are then typed from the recording. If your child will go for that. My son went to a public charter school for his freshman high school year last year, and he would not let me help him with typing his papers. He refused to use a laptop for in class assignments, even though he was encouraged by his teachers to do so, and he refused to do any extra work that would help him continue to improve his handwriting skills, so high school was excruciating for him. He got a 3.5 grade point average, but he did not have a good attitude about high school, and it made our family life pretty miserable. It would take him about 10 hours to write a 3 page paper. Most of that time was spent sitting, staring at the computer screen. It was very frustrating!! I'm very glad he's homeschooling again!

[Shawna in Texas]

Thanks everyone for their experiences. They were ery helpful.

 

After spending the evening going through school stuff, I'm nearly convinced she has spatial dysgraphia. I bought the graph paper today and dh is going to do a bulk of school with her this week to give it fresh eyes. Depending on how well the graph paper and some of the pointers in this thread work, I'm not planning to have her formally diagnosed yet.

 

And Jann, I should have quoted...one of the reasons (I down play it to the point of not acknowledging it) I homeschool was because of my experience in high school. I was gifted, but I had the reputation of being lazy. I think that's one of the reasons that I'm looking into this more. And I totally get you on the cards. The pressure is tremendous. I even let my 2yo doodle on holiday and birthday cards so I'm not as pressured.

[Laurie4b]

Thanks everyone for their experiences. They were ery helpful.

 

After spending the evening going through school stuff, I'm nearly convinced she has spatial dysgraphia. I bought the graph paper today and dh is going to do a bulk of school with her this week to give it fresh eyes. Depending on how well the graph paper and some of the pointers in this thread work, I'm not planning to have her formally diagnosed yet.

 

And Jann, I should have quoted...one of the reasons (I down play it to the point of not acknowledging it) I homeschool was because of my experience in high school. I was gifted, but I had the reputation of being lazy. I think that's one of the reasons that I'm looking into this more. And I totally get you on the cards. The pressure is tremendous. I even let my 2yo doodle on holiday and birthday cards so I'm not as pressured.

 

A reason to get her formally diagnosed is that dysgraphia is very likely to interfere with her SAT scores and it's easier to get accomodations if the paper trail starts before testing time--it's not that far away, though it may seem like it. There is no harm at all in getting testing done now, and an occupational therapist could possibly help her improve.

[Shawna in Texas]

A reason to get her formally diagnosed is that dysgraphia is very likely to interfere with her SAT scores and it's easier to get accomodations if the paper trail starts before testing time--it's not that far away, though it may seem like it. There is no harm at all in getting testing done now, and an occupational therapist could possibly help her improve.

 

I did not even think of that. It really isn't that far away.

[Mom22ns]

I should have posted this before you bought graph paper, but... this is a link to a site that lets you print graph paper. The thing I love about it is that you can set the size of the grid. You can play with it until you get it exactly the size your child currently writes or writes best.

 

http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/plain/

 

I print mine on a color laser printer in light blue. Then it is not hard to see what ds writes on it, even if he writes in very light pencil.

[Shawna in Texas]

I should have posted this before you bought graph paper, but... this is a link to a site that lets you print graph paper. The thing I love about it is that you can set the size of the grid. You can play with it until you get it exactly the size your child currently writes or writes best.

 

http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/plain/

 

I print mine on a color laser printer in light blue. Then it is not hard to see what ds writes on it, even if he writes in very light pencil.

 

We previously printed graph paper for math, but only for graphs. A spiral was was less than $2 at Target, and the squares weren't too small, so we went ahead and did that. I bookmarked the site, though. I like that you can choose the colors. :D