Writing Program for Dysgraphic Teen

[khpinson]

My son is 13 with dysgraphia, prints on 2nd grade level, types good, and I am looking for a writing program that begins the process. He is also visually impaired. When he reads he does not see pictures, when he tries to write paragraphs, etc. it is the same way. He has not had a formal writing program, just been working on dictation, short answers, etc. always typing. Any suggestions? I have looked at many programs Write Jr. Time 4 Writing, I am getting confused and unsure just where to start but back at the beginning. Thank you!

[Indian summer]

Have you considered doing Dianne Crafts therapy for dysgraphia? Not sure if it's a good fit for a child with visual impairment, but you could email Dianne and find out.

[Pen]

Assuming that being visually impaired means he will be allowed to type most things, I'd stick with typing except that maybe a bit more work on printing just to be able to fill in a form well, or the sort of thing that comes up in life when typing is not practical. 

 

For composition, the online class KidsWrite Basic offered by Bravewriter helped to jumpstart my son's writing. And it gave some helpful suggestions and feedback from the online instructor. It is only useful, I think, if you can make it the focus of what you do for as long as the class lasts.

 

If he cannot visualize things, might a writing topic that is to describe something in other terms such as sound, smell, etc. be helpful for him? Or even a topic that is to write about what it is like not to be able to visualize things?

[Heathermomster]

http://support.perkins.org/site/PageNavigator/Webcasts_Writing_Literacy_Communication.html

 

I don't know if that link will help.  

 

I imagine your child's other senses are heightened.  I expect you could scribe while he dictated a story to you.  Maybe, he could speak into a recorder or use a speech to text software.  I don't know...Please share with us when you figure it out.

[Pen]

Two of the first BW Kidswrite exercises, btw, are to draw a simple design (say a kite shape) and to try to describe it orally to someone else so that the other person (who is not allowed to look at the design) can recreate it. The describer can then look at what was done, and try again after noting what went wrong.

 

And the first written one (but yes, it can be dictated or scribed) is to take something, say a cup of hot cocoa experience it in its many sensory aspects, and describe it.

[Janet Sedano]

khpinson, one of the things I like about Time4Writing is that you're working with a live certified writing tutor.  I believe if the level or writing course doesn't work for your child, she may be able make recommendations or adjust the assignments to your child.  I love that the site has so many free resources.  It's a wonderful resource to help you with guidelines in helping your son put his thoughts down on paper.  Do you think that working on reading comprehension as you read books together would help him in his writing?

 

My daughter has several learning challenges. She is 16, but also writes at about a 2nd grade level. She has trouble with comprehension, putting her thoughts down, and sentence structure.  In addition to her writing, she also has trouble with orthography/handwriting.  Her spacing between letters and the size of her letters are inconsistent.  I found a particular notebook paper that has been very helpful for her.  This is the link: http://www.mead.com/meadstore/catalog/productDetail.jsp?prodId=48018

 

This notebook paper has a space for each letter.  It's for 2nd through 5th graders.  We LOVE this notebook paper.  She's been doing a page of copy work a day. This helps her to see the punctuation, capitalization and spelling as she's writing.  Maybe you could alternate between copy work and dictation. And then also have him keep his own journal for free-style writing.  Just have him write 1 paragraph about something familiar to him, like what he did over the weekend, or how he takes care of his pet, or how he felt about a movie he saw, or what he would do if his best friend came to visit.   :)

 

I hope these suggestions help. :)

[Julie of KY]

My severely dysgraphic 9th grader is doing Bravewriter's The Writer's Jungle with success. I'd say it's the first thing he's ever been successful at in writing - it's been a long process. I hope to continue Bravewriter next year. We haven't done a class, just the Writer's Jungle.

[laundrycrisis]

Although it is not written for older grade levels, I would look at the Verticy Composition and Grammar courses.  DS1 did the yellow level last spring and summer and it was very helpful for him.  I'm going to have him start the green level hopefully around April.  There was nothing in the yellow course that felt "young" that would make it feel like kid stuff to an older child.  It is very good instruction in small increments with a lot of practice for each new skill.  It is intended for students with language-based learning differences...IMO this makes it different from other writing programs.  It does not make any giant leaps and just assume the student can make the jump.  The skills are built up slowly.  It helped our son go from being able to barely write a sentence to being able to write paragraphs.  He has both handwriting issues and written expression issues.  I had him do most of the Verticy work on the keyboard so the handwriting issue didn't mess up his efforts to improve his written expression while working on the course. 

[OneStepAtATime]

Along with the above suggestions, you might look at Ginger (on sale through today at the Homeschool Buyer's Co-op).  It is software that takes material you have typed and corrects for grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.  Used consistently with the student seeing the corrections being made (perhaps difficult with a student that is visually impaired but still possibly helpful) it can help them to self correct down the line.  I know two professional tutors that have students use Dragonspeak software coupled with Ginger to increase output.  The students still work on typing skills, but for some things being able to speak thoughts that are converted to typed words, then run those words through Ginger to correct the other writing issues has helped the students find enthusiasm for writing and to seek to hone their writing skills which increased their output and the time they are working to hone these skills (win win circular scenario).

 

Depending on the visual impairment, you might look at Inspiration software, too.  My legally blind niece has just started using it to help her structure outlines for papers (I suggested it to her thanks to recommendations for my own kids from this board) and so far she really likes it a lot.  

[khpinson]

Thank you for all the suggestions, I'm off to look at everything!

[suzziesnowflake]

I second Verticy writing!,

[queen620]

I like Institute for Excellence in Writing, IEW. My 13 yr old takes this as a co-op class. I'm not

sure I understand all of the issues, so this might not apply. My son is likely mildly dyslexic and

definitely dysgraphic. He can write, mechanically, but it is beyond sloppy & looks like 2nd grade

work. He spells phonetically, yet he reads all the time so no problems seeing good language examples. I think the way IEW is so methodical makes it work so well, it is well laid out. It really teaches what is in good writing, not just the usual go write a research paper or creative paragraph. I shows that good writing has consistent things subject/verb/quality adjectives & adverbs. There is variety. Every paragraph he writes has a clear cut purpose. His teacher has a check list of what is to be included--

so many prepositions, or ly adverbs, or so many action verbs or being verbs. It has an extensive list

of banned words-- not b/c they are bad curse words, but b/c they leave ones writing flat or disinteresting. Biggest example I can remember is the word SAID. I lends no emotion to the paragraph, and is often overused, so just don't use it. Use a different word to describe who something was said. Sorry hard to explain the class. There is a lot of great info about IEW on the forum here.

Like I said in the beginning this might not fit your needs, but I really like it.