X Post -- Disgraphia blog entry #2

[Guest]

The second part of a three-part series on dysgraphia is now on SWB's education blog. It is more specific and practical where the first was more philosophical in nature.

 

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/blog

 

Sorry for spelling error in title; I didn't see it before I clicked and can't fix it now!

[PeterPan]

bump! :)

[NotDaMama]

Does anyone know of a good website that describes clinically what dysgraphia is, how to diagnose it, and what to do about it? I used Google and have found a few good sites, but I am interested in others experience with resources.

Thanks.

[NotDaMama]

Oops, I just read the link that was posted and it had more information that I thought it would, so thanks for the post. However, I am still interested in others experiences.

 

Thanks

[PeterPan]

Well I'm not sure you would diagnose my dd as dysgraphic, not to the degree Karen's dd is. The one thing I would say though, having talked with more people and looking back, is the things that seem SMALL but curious when the dc is little don't go away. In other words, trust your gut and don't blow it off. The "my hand hurts" in K5 is the signal, the warning flag that is you could have a snowball later, say 4th or 5th, as the workload increases. I had so many weird things all along that I blew off or misinterpreted because my dd is overall so bright and proficient. Don't do what I did. :)

[OrganicAnn]

What I want to know is when it is just fine motor skills and when is it dysgraphia?

 

My DD has at least fine motor skill issues, but I can't tell if it is more. I've read the definition and some definitely does not apply but some are iffy.

 

Love to hear about kids with this who overcome and don't just have to learn to type to manage.

[PeterPan]

You mean when is it clinical and when is it normal? In retrospect, I'm not sure it is normal to have a 5 yo who won't color, won't cut, and says her hand hurts. My dd was incredibly good at sculpting, so I just thought it was as preference thing, didn't connect the dots. So she's not like Karen's dd with her head on her paper and extreme, but it's still significant.

 

BTW, have you caught Karen's story yet that a summer of horse riding, horse grooming, mucking, etc. made a TREMENDOUS difference in her writing endurance?

[Guest]

My understanding is that problems with fine motor skills define one kind of dysgraphia: the kind where the child has difficulty manipulating or even holding a pencil, cannot sustain writing for many words at a time, and/or has hand pain.

 

An excellent resource is the chapter on handwriting in The Mislabeled Child by Brock and Fern Eide. They break down dysgraphia into various components, discuss its implications, and make suggestions for improvement. You should be able to find this book in most libraries.

[NotDaMama]

Well I'm not sure you would diagnose my dd as dysgraphic, not to the degree Karen's dd is. The one thing I would say though, having talked with more people and looking back, is the things that seem SMALL but curious when the dc is little don't go away. In other words, trust your gut and don't blow it off. The "my hand hurts" in K5 is the signal, the warning flag that is you could have a snowball later, say 4th or 5th, as the workload increases. I had so many weird things all along that I blew off or misinterpreted because my dd is overall so bright and proficient. Don't do what I did. :)

 

Thanks for the comments, I also appreciate your recommendation to keep an eye on indicators that may point to future issues. It is more fun to address things you can help with before you are looking at them in the rear view mirror...

[FairProspects]

You mean when is it clinical and when is it normal? In retrospect, I'm not sure it is normal to have a 5 yo who won't color, won't cut, and says her hand hurts.

 

I'm not sure these are always signs of dysgraphia either, though they are signals that there is a problem.

 

I'm still not sure if ds's writing problems were vision or fine motor related, but after 6 months of both VT and OT, he no longer claims his had hurts and he writes, draws and colors extensively for fun. Obviously, not everyone will experience the same results, but for ds it was like his brain, eyes and hands somehow didn't connect, and with some guided help, the switch just clicked on one day. I'm thinking if he had dysgraphia the improvement would not have been so dramatic so quickly.

 

Anyway, my point is the lack of coloring/cutting/writing may also have a strong visual component and not necessarily be dysgraphia, but that is only my very limited experience with one child:).

[Guest]

I'm not sure these are always signs of dysgraphia either, though they are signals that there is a problem.

 

I'm still not sure if ds's writing problems were vision or fine motor related, but after 6 months of both VT and OT, he no longer claims his had hurts and he writes, draws and colors extensively for fun. Obviously, not everyone will experience the same results, but for ds it was like his brain, eyes and hands somehow didn't connect, and with some guided help, the switch just clicked on one day. I'm thinking if he had dysgraphia the improvement would not have been so dramatic so quickly.

 

Anyway, my point is the lack of coloring/cutting/writing may also have a strong visual component and not necessarily be dysgraphia, but that is only my very limited experience with one child:).

 

From what I have read, there is a physically-based dysgraphia, which itself can have many different causes; my daughter, besides having vision and fine motor problems, also has finger agnosia, or a difficulty registering and processing the sensations from her fingers. The vision and some fine motor things have cleared up, but not the agnosia. This type of physically-grounded dysgraphia is different in cause and therefore in the methods used to treat it from dysgraphia that stems from neurological difficulties in organizing thoughts, or transferring thoughts into words, or getting words to the fingers. Apparently the process can break down at any or all of these points. It's messy and hugely complicated. Then there are a whole slew of issues specific to dyslexic dysgraphia. After all I've read I begin to be amazed that anyone ever learns to write at all!

[PeterPan]

I'm not sure these are always signs of dysgraphia either, though they are signals that there is a problem.

 

I'm still not sure if ds's writing problems were vision or fine motor related, but after 6 months of both VT and OT, he no longer claims his had hurts and he writes, draws and colors extensively for fun. Obviously, not everyone will experience the same results, but for ds it was like his brain, eyes and hands somehow didn't connect, and with some guided help, the switch just clicked on one day. I'm thinking if he had dysgraphia the improvement would not have been so dramatic so quickly.

 

Anyway, my point is the lack of coloring/cutting/writing may also have a strong visual component and not necessarily be dysgraphia, but that is only my very limited experience with one child:).

 

That's what we're getting ready to do. We had our VT evaluation today, start tomorrow. Soonest I can start OT is next month. So yes, those are the things we need. I just have no clue if what she is is called "dysgraphic" or not. And thanks for your little story of success. It's been a long day, and it's good to hear something positive! :)