Handwriting woes still at 14 and his spelling is atrocious but,

[mama25angels]

he has no other problems at least none that I can see. He's a little behind in math but has been catching up nicely. He does not hold his pencil properly despite efforts to correct it. Would it be worth it to have him evaluated for dysgraphia?

[maize]

The local school OT was not concerned about my dd's non-standard pencil grip.

 

Can he write quickly? Can he read his own handwriting and could a teacher grading a test read his handwriting? Those are the issues I would be concerned with. If the answer to both or either is no then it might be worth seeking evaluation as he will need remediation and/or documented accommodations.

Edited December 9, 2016 by maize

[historically accurate]

My 14 yo was tested earlier this year, not specifically for dysgraphia (though I had assumed that was part of the issue). Honestly, it hasn't changed much in her schooling, but it has given her peace. She knows that she isn't just stupid now; she'd never seemed to show that she thought that, but apparently she did. She's more willing to work on her spelling (she did switch to Apples and Pears from All About Spelling) and her writing now that she knows she CAN do it, it's just going to take her longer to get where she wants to be. Overall, it was a pleasant change.

[OneStepAtATime]

The local school OT was not concerned about my dd's non-standard pencil grip.

 

Can he write quickly? Can he read his own handwriting and could a teacher grading a test read his handwriting? Those are the issues I would be concerned with. If the answer to both or either is no then it might be worth seeking evaluation as he will need remediation and/or documented accommodations.

 

Agree with Maize.  Honestly, an evaluation MIGHT help for various reasons.  There may be comorbid issues that you are not even aware of that an eval could tweak out.  But if your child is relatively functional, even if handwriting and spelling are not great, it may not net that much.  Hard to know ahead of time, unfortunately.

 

1. Can he can write relatively close to normal speed (meaning he could write within a sort of reasonable time frame)?  Or does it take an extremely long time to write out anything?

 

2.  Is his handwriting truly illegible or just really messy?  Can he read it?  Can you?

 

3.  And whether you get an evaluation or not, does he know how to type accurately and at least 20 words per minute?  (15 in a pinch).

 

4.  Is it affecting his self-esteem?

 

5.  Is he needing a lot of extra time to complete tests?

 

6.  When reading aloud, does he skip small words?  Guess at words based on the first part of the word he is trying to decode?  

 

7.  Are his writing issues mainly with the physical act of forming the letters and spelling the words or does he also struggle with getting his thoughts out?  How well does he do with getting thoughts out if someone scribes for him?

 

8.  What have you used to help remediate the spelling issues?

 

9.  Have you ever had his vision checked with an eye doctor?  Has he ever been screened for a developmental vision issue (different from a visual acuity screening and developmental vision issues frequently do not show up in a standard eye screening)?

 

 

FWIW, several of my family members have atrocious handwriting.  One in particular has literally illegible handwriting.  Completely illegible.  Typing nearly everything has been their salvation.  4.0 in college.  DH also has abysmal handwriting.  He's a very successful engineer.  My dad couldn't and DH can't spell well at all.  My dad went on to write a professionally published manual and DH has written hundreds of reports for his company CEO and others.  Poor handwriting is inconvenient but especially in today's day and age it is something that can be dealt with.  Technology is your son's friend.  Whether you seek an evaluation or not, keep pursuing ways technology can help.

[mama25angels]

Agree with Maize. Honestly, an evaluation MIGHT help for various reasons. There may be comorbid issues that you are not even aware of that an eval could tweak out. But if your child is relatively functional, even if handwriting and spelling are not great, it may not net that much. Hard to know ahead of time, unfortunately.

 

1. Can he can write relatively close to normal speed (meaning he could write within a sort of reasonable time frame)? Or does it take an extremely long time to write out anything?

 

It does take him a while to write things but not too long.

 

2. Is his handwriting truly illegible or just really messy? Can he read it? Can you?

 

His writing is illegible if he rushes, I can read it most of the time

 

3. And whether you get an evaluation or not, does he know how to type accurately and at least 20 words per minute? (15 in a pinch).

 

No

 

4. Is it affecting his self-esteem? No

 

5. Is he needing a lot of extra time to complete tests? No

 

6. When reading aloud, does he skip small words? Guess at words based on the first part of the word he is trying to decode? Not anymore

 

 

7. Are his writing issues mainly with the physical act of forming the letters and spelling the words or does he also struggle with getting his thoughts out? How well does he do with getting thoughts out if someone scribes for him?

 

It's the physical act and sometimes he does struggle with getting his thoughts out.

 

8. What have you used to help remediate the spelling issues? Spelling Power and right now we're using How to Teach Spelling

 

9. Have you ever had his vision checked with an eye doctor? Has he ever been screened for a developmental vision issue (different from a visual acuity screening and developmental vision issues frequently do not show up in a standard eye screening)?

 

Yes his vision has been checked and he needs glasses for nearsightedness. He also sees an optometrist twice yearly to check his eye pressures because he's a glaucoma suspect/candidate.

 

FWIW, several of my family members have atrocious handwriting. One in particular has literally illegible handwriting. Completely illegible. Typing nearly everything has been their salvation. 4.0 in college. DH also has abysmal handwriting. He's a very successful engineer. My dad couldn't and DH can't spell well at all. My dad went on to write a professionally published manual and DH has written hundreds of reports for his company CEO and others. Poor handwriting is inconvenient but especially in today's day and age it is something that can be dealt with. Technology is your son's friend. Whether you seek an evaluation or not, keep pursuing ways technology can help.

I answered your questions inside the post. I do plan to teach him to type but I'm also thinking of using Dianne Craft's BIT manual to see if it would help his writing even a tiny bit. I'm also thinking of trying MP's Teach Yourself Cursive with him to see if would help any. Edited December 9, 2016 by mama25angels

[OneStepAtATime]

You can do both. Start typing lessons in January. Like right after Christmas break, if you take a break at that time, start him with a typing program. I recommend using something like Touch Type Read Spell since that may also help with spelling some. It may take months and months or even years for him to be able to type well if he does have dysgraphia. He needs time to build up muscle and procedural memory. Start typing ASAP. Give him time to develop that skill.

 

You can still work on handwriting. Find whatever you think might work or even seek out help from an occupational therapist and maybe get an eye exam. FWIW, there can be many underlying issues that can cause struggles with handwriting. Just practicing forming letters may not net much if it hasn't helped so far and he is already 14.

 

If you really feel worried about his handwriting then try to determine why it is so bad. what are the underlying causes? That might help you help him.

 

 

In the meantime, get him typing. He won't be able to use typing as the primary output for quite a while but the sooner he starts learning the better off he will be. In the world at large there are zillions of situations where being able to function well with a keyboard, even if his handwriting were perfect, will be a very important skill.

 

Also, and I cannot emphasize this enough, make certain when he starts learning to type that you emphasize accurate finger placement and posture every.single.lesson. It won't feel natural and he may fight you on it or default to weird ways of typing. Keep his finger placement consistent. It will be MUCH harder and the skill will develop far more slowly if he isn't consistent with finger placement. And poor posture can cause a lot of strain and make typing unpleasant.

 

Oh, Touch Type Read Spell is usually on sale at Homeschool Buyer's co-op. Lessons are short so it is a fairly painless program. The student can customize a lot of the settings, including the voice of the instructor, so they can make it their own.

Edited December 9, 2016 by OneStepAtATime

[mama25angels]

You can do both. Start typing lessons in January. Like right after Christmas break, if you take a break at that time, start him with a typing program. I recommend using something like Touch Type Read Spell since that may also help with spelling some. It may take months and months or even years for him to be able to type well if he does have dysgraphia. He needs time to build up muscle and procedural memory. Start typing ASAP. Give him time to develop that skill.

 

You can still work on handwriting. Find whatever you think might work or even seek out help from an occupational therapist and maybe get an eye exam. FWIW, there can be many underlying issues that can cause struggles with handwriting. Just practicing forming letters may not net much if it hasn't helped so far and he is already 14.

 

If you really feel worried about his handwriting then try to determine why it is so bad. what are the underlying causes? That might help you help him.

 

 

In the meantime, get him typing. He won't be able to use typing as the primary output for quite a while but the sooner he starts learning the better off he will be. In the world at large there are zillions of situations where being able to function well with a keyboard, even if his handwriting were perfect, will be a very important skill.

 

Also, and I cannot emphasize this enough, make certain when he starts learning to type that you emphasize accurate finger placement and posture every.single.lesson. It won't feel natural and he may fight you on it or default to weird ways of typing. Keep his finger placement consistent. It will be MUCH harder and the skill will develop far more slowly if he isn't consistent with finger placement. And poor posture can cause a lot of strain and make typing unpleasant.

 

Oh, Touch Type Read Spell is usually on sale at Homeschool Buyer's co-op. Lessons are short so it is a fairly painless program. The student can customize a lot of the settings, including the voice of the instructor, so they can make it their own.

 

 

Thank you so much for your response, it has been very helpful!! Would he need another eye exam? We know he's farsighted and he has glasses to correct that, when he wears them and he sees an eye specialist already. Could I have them look for other problems with his eyes or would they not be trained for that?

[OneStepAtATime]

Thank you so much for your response, it has been very helpful!! Would he need another eye exam? We know he's farsighted and he has glasses to correct that, when he wears them and he sees an eye specialist already. Could I have them look for other problems with his eyes or would they not be trained for that?

It depends.  Is your eye doctor listed with the COVD?  http://www.covd.org/

 

A child can need glasses for visual acuity issues (such as farsightedness) but also have developmental vision issues that often do not show up in a normal eye exam.  And a child can actually have perfect visual acuity and have developmental vision issues that do not show up in a normal eye exam.  

 

My son, daughter and I all have developmental vision issues that were not caught in standard eye exams.  Mine is fairly severe in that I see a kaleidoscope of images.  Thankfully my glasses correct for a lot of that, but not all.

 

With DS, he passed every eye exam with flying colors.  However, he does have developmental vision issues.  Until we sought out a developmental vision screening, we didn't know what the problem was since his visual acuity was perfect.  The vision issues manifested as being slightly clutzy, struggling to do things like pour without spilling, write legibly within lines, etc.  Once we had a full exam, the doctor was able to show me exactly what was happening with his eyes from moment to moment in real time.  It was amazing.  There are a lot of things that are NOT working quite right but I won't go into detail.  Suffice it to say, his eyes do not work well together.  

 

My daughter's eyes work together only for about 15-20 minutes before they start to fatigue and stop working as well as a team.  At that point she isn't actually looking directly at whatever she is trying to read.  Her eyes are both slightly off from target and get more so with each passing moment unless she can rest her eyes, look at something far off for a bit.  She wears glasses because she is near sighted but the glasses do not address the developmental vision issues.

 

We all need Vision Therapy but our insurance doesn't cover it so I am focusing on trying to get the kids help first.  For various reasons we ran into snags and have not had the opportunity to start VT yet.  I am hoping to do so this coming summer.  

[OneStepAtATime]

ETA: got interrupted, sorry.

 

I wanted to add that our issue is that the nearest COVD doc is over 4 hours away, so besides the cost of VT we would be adding the cost of travel and living expenses (and up until just a few weeks ago we would have been in an extremely unreliable van going back and forth). If it were local we would already be doing it.

 

Sometimes you can get a preliminary developmental screening for very little just to see if a full evaluation is needed. Anyway, I thought I would mention this since not one eye doctor I took my kids to ever did. They didn't have the training or know how. I don't really blame them. This is a fairly recent field and the knowledge and equipment for these types of tests is not all that wide spread yet.

 

VT has helped a LOT of board members' kids, by the way. There have been many threads . Just make sure you do your research. Not all COVD docs are created equal. And your child may not need VT. Getting a preliminary screening might help you with getting answers, though.

Edited December 9, 2016 by OneStepAtATime

[mama25angels]

ETA: got interrupted, sorry.

 

I wanted to add that our issue is that the nearest COVD doc is over 4 hours away, so besides the cost of VT we would be adding the cost of travel and living expenses (and up until just a few weeks ago we would have been in an extremely unreliable van going back and forth). If it were local we would already be doing it.

 

Sometimes you can get a preliminary developmental screening for very little just to see if a full evaluation is needed. Anyway, I thought I would mention this since not one eye doctor I took my kids to ever did. They didn't have the training or know how. I don't really blame them. This is a fairly recent field and the knowledge and equipment for these types of tests is not all that wide spread yet.

 

VT has helped a LOT of board members' kids, by the way. There have been many threads . Just make sure you do your research. Not all COVD docs are created equal. And your child may not need VT. Getting a preliminary screening might help you with getting answers, though.

Thank you again! I will begin teaching him to type in January and will make him an appointment with the COVD in our area.

[OneStepAtATime]

Thank you again! I will begin teaching him to type in January and will make him an appointment with the COVD in our area.

FWIW, neither of my kids was comfortable typing at first and griped about it. I chose to use a program so it was the computer they could gripe at but also for the consistency. What helped the most, though, was having them do a short typing lesson every single weekday. Every single one. It became such a part of the routine they still do it as one of the first things each morning even though they don't have to. They don't need the daily practice anymore but it is a good warm up and helps them get into the groove of school. They like doing it now.

Edited December 9, 2016 by OneStepAtATime