Ideas 4 Motivation-Task Avoidance-Attentiveness-Cooperation- Endurance

[exercise_guru]

Please share your ideas. I have worked through so many reward charts I need fresh ideas. How can I build fluency in Writing, listening? My son fatigues quickly and checks out and he has developed  a habit of shutting down if he feels discouraged. If he does a task then he fades quickly. I want to create a strategy to help him build endurance in tasks that are difficult for him. These are things he can do once or twice but over and over again are very hard for him.

 

I have a son who has CAPD. He has developed a lot of splinter skills and I have had quite a bit of success in helping him improve. the challenge Is when he knows he is going to have to do something he is not good at ( for my son it is writing a paragraph and getting a sentence on paper) or focusing on guitar when the teacher is teaching and then doing. Listen and Do wears him out. 

 

I have had success in a one on one cheerleader setting where I reward heavily and praise progress. Unfortunately my mom juice is wearing out and I need some more ideas. Is there a trick you have figured out to help your child be more resilant and keep trying when something is very hard for them?

 

As a background 

Kindergarten poor fine motor just really challenged to write with a pencil or crayon. I worked with an OT 

1st grade very frustrated with people "talking at him" this is when I stepped in and supplemented and taught him to read. This continued through

2nd grade where he took off in reading because his mom invented, created and sewed together strategies once that happened he just took off with reading

3rd grade handwriting still can't get him to hold a pencil so I pursued both Vision Therapy and Integrated Listening Systems.  Both helped immensely.  At the end of the sessions suddenly my sons handwriting started to fall into place. He also started articulating and focusing far more than I had ever experienced. 

He now can write clearly but gets so discouraged and has a hard time finding the words to write. I had his expressive and receptive language tested  its fine. I know there is a "glitch" in the words to paper  but we keep working on it. 

 

4th grade now we are working on Aural listening therapy. Again I am stringing things together with computer programs, SLP and "MOM THERAPY" my hope is to help him to "get" more of the information.

My son has quite a high IQ and has been tested ten ways to Sunday. I feel like I have a PHD in motivation strategies but I am running out of gas. 

 

I would love to collaborate on ideas you found to motivate and help your child with the challenges of getting them to stick with a task long enough to re-mediate it. All links suggestions ideas welcome

 

from one Mom Therapist Teacher to another. 

 

Edited November 1, 2017 by exercise_guru

[PeterPan]

So this is one child or more? Just checking. If you've had psych evals, then was ADHD comorbid with the CAPD? If it was, you could consider meds. He's at an age where he could be maxing out his ability to cover on his own. 

 

I think I might distinguish *grit* and some of the other terms you used. Like endurance, that's an interesting concept. Grit is mainly the character side of it, like are you able to tell yourself to do something you don't want to do. But endurance, that's more physical, like maybe the task isn't even appropriate, maybe it needs smaller chunks... Like to me, having to endure something implies a key was missing in bringing the task more into reach. That's when I say ok, if it's not just the grit, the character component, then what else is missing? If it's the attention piece, then let's bring in some attention supports, maybe even meds. If it's an EF or anxiety thing, like he's getting overwhelmed, maybe use some chunking strategies a la 360 Thinking.

 

You've got a lot of words like fading out, enduring, wearing out... At some point, it sounds like he's doing a lot of hard things! And I get it, like there are kids for whom EVERYTHING is hard and EVERYTHING seems to suck. But is there a way to flip that dynamic? One strategy can be to work on that balance of what sucks and what is awesome for him. It may be that what is awesome isn't even school, but maybe doing more of it, whatever it is, would be motivating. Like if you're looking for motivators, that's what they're going to do, they're going to look for what makes the child perk and do more of the targeted behavior. If you're getting more of the targeted behavior, you've found a motivator. 

 

For my ds9, motivators are pretty simple. He really likes to play catch. Like if you've alternate things that suck with PLAYING CATCH WITH A BALL, my ds is over the moon. They used to play beanie wars with him. Like it just takes very little to motivate him, kwim? 

 

Are his evals up to date so you have the SLDs addressed?

 

So for the record, we don't stick long at a task. We do teeny tiny increments of things, like 2-3 minutes, 5 minutes, and we work bang bang bang, over and over. We have a pile or use folders, so he knows when we'll be done. And inbetween sessions of working fast like that, we'll do something that is motivating to him. He's allowed and encouraged to ask for breaks.

Edited October 31, 2017 by OhElizabeth

[Heathermomster]

I need more information. I see CAPD and developmental vision issues. Was he diagnosed with dysgraphia or ADHD?

Edited October 31, 2017 by Heathermomster

[exercise_guru]

I would welcome some insight into my sons story. I have been reading different parents stories for some light bulbs to go on. Like everyone on this board I suspect a diagnosis only gets us so far as parents. I am familiar with classical education in working with my daughter but she is crazy smart and academically everything is a piece of cake for her. Its hard for me to contrast this with her younger brother.  If you guys don't mind I will share my story but with my son if you weren't looking for the glitch he has you wouldn't recognize it. He is a great reader, good speller and can focus with good attention if he isn't in a noisy  Chaotic environment. My son was diagnosed with CAPD by accident. He tests well , reads well and spells well and if I never let him go to school and spoke clearly with him at home its not apparent.  I knew he had some challenges. He most definitely has Dysgraphia.  I have worked with in fine motor and handwriting since he was very young.  .  I can't really homeschool this child  in a traditional classical sense as I work but I spend a great deal of time before and after school giving him encouragement and doing what I call "Home Therapy".  I have used a lot of classical homeschooling techniques with a twist. Through a lot of help from my friends who are homeschooling moms we have worked through the pencil and sensory motor stuff/  Retained Reflexes ( Moro & Spinal Gallant)  and yes Vision Therapy.  With Vision therapy it was borderline because it only shows up in his handwriting but we pursued it anyway and it very much made a difference. We also pursued Integrated Listening System Therapy ( also borderline but his SLP felt it would help and so did this at home for 100 hours) This made a a huge difference. We tried an intensive handwriting homeschool over the summer and suddenly things improved by leaps and bounds.  This school year  his new teachers said that she can read his handwriting just fine. He still hates it and cries when he gets started but once he pushes through the first sentence it gets better.  Think of the worst writers block you have ever had and that is where my son is. He "loses his words" and has a hard time keeping them in his mind long enough to get them on paper and at times to express them orally. Also lacks the motor/vision skills to get things on paper and fatigues quickly.    What I am trying to figure out is how can I help him to have some fun practice games to help build his stamina and reduce his discouragement. He has acquired the skill but he is 10 years old and his confidence in Writing is shot. He just got an A on a very good report on the national parks but it was an emotional two weeks of encouraging him to write things down. He came home with a sheet of notes he had made and I was floored. It was legible and the most I had ever seen him write on a piece of paper. I feel like the tide is turning but he needs encouragement and practice succeeding. Eventually he will get better at typing but even that is challenging so I am not pushing that. I have also tried Talk to text but he has some R pronunciation we are working on. All of the therapy we do is private. I have found some wonderful people who work with us on a cash bases or through our stupid work insurance. They mostly give us homework and train me. I work with my son 30 minutes a day sometimes a little more if he doesn't wear out. 

 

The diagnosis of CAPD  came by accident. He has a high IQ and his other tests place him out of range for any kind of special help and would never qualify for an IEP.   In First grade He was in a classroom that was chaotic and sitting in a square configuration not facing the board. His teacher talked across the room and didn't write things down.  He developed a lot of habits of checking out and laying his head down. When we tested him for GATE(the gifted program) we had a fantastic lady who found that everything was high except auditory working memory. So they sent us to an audiologist and SLP. Everything is high or at least average except the CAPD profile ( listening in noise, dichotic digits, Binarual listening and gaps in sound) As a mom I know he struggles with understanding information in noise and also expressing himself .  The other siblings talk so much he can't get a word in edgewise and there is a lot of jumbled conversations at our house.   From testing you  wouldn't know this because the SLP tested him like crazy and said he has average to high average expressive and receptive language. So I moved him to a small more traditional school with a clear teacher and sat him on the front row. This has helped A lot but again his confidence is shot and he has developed a lot of avoidance strategies and nodding his head or being quiet so people don't know he missed information. 

 

Definitely not ADHD or ADD he is fine as long as its a quite environment. We did do all the testing and teacher submissions for it but this was at his old school and really they had ADHD it was so poorly ran. There is inattentiveness but the audiologist, GATE psychologist and SLP think  this is because of the CAPD and trying to filter information. 

 

We have a very good school  teacher and knock on wood we are doing well. With my kids I have home-schooled them before and after and and  on fridays(They don't have school). I started this to supplement & fill the gaps in our public school system. It works great for my other kids.  For my son I am moving my energy away from home school materials and moving my focus to home therapy to help remediate the CAPD issues/ sensory / & motor issues.  His symptoms are very subtle but enough to wreck this poor kids life when he gets into his teen years.  We live in an area with very little help for this diagnosis but I have an SLP who is coaching me and we plan on giving my son a year of Mom Aural Therapy(MAT) There are a few computer programs that we are using and lots of games and activities to get him hearing, processing, and expressing. We still work on Visual Motor through music/Rhythm therapy and sports. 

 

I appreciate any feedback and suggestions. I am not a kid person. I am looking for ways to motivate my son, encourage him and create opportunities to help him build confidence in his ability to chain smaller tasks into longer tasks. 

 

For example with writing. He watched a lot of videos on his favorite magician. He would also be more than willing to read books for information.  I wanted to help him write down a few sentences and brought my cheerleader mom. He stalled and stalled and cried. I bribed I cajoled I encouraged and said lets just spend 5 minutes. Finally he engaged and wrote some clear sentences. Then I praised. What do I do about that? We were there 45 minutes to get 3 sentences on a piece of paper and when he does engage the work is quite good.

 

With Auditory memory we have been doing Hearbuilder but only the Auditory Memory as that is where he is low. When it goes up a level for example memorizing 6 digits he just starts to cry. He says " I will never be able to do this" I wish the program would give more turns on a level of mastery so he can build confidence but he gets so discouraged so easily. I have to put the program aside and invent games for us to do together to give him more practice. If anyone has ideas that would be awesome. 

 

With all the Mom time & therapy he is making big progress. It kind of sloggs along for awhile and then he hits a developmental spurt and takes off but its never easy and if you have tried a skill  that discourages you its hard to get excited about doing it once you have aquired some competency in the skill. I am optimistic but I think I have maxed out all my "motivation" ideas.  I like to hear some ideas from others. I just have this one little tree in a big forest. I take care of this little tree and I am trying to be an expert in my little tree but I don't know anything about trees in general to be honest. 

 

 

[Heathermomster]

Did your child recieve a full educational eval from a licensed neuropsychologist, or was the testing given by a school official and SLP?

 

The NP diagnosis helped my DS considerably and enabled me to locate materials that suited his learning.

[Pen]

If people in his grade take notes, can he sit where he can see the notes someone else is taking or get copies of other kids' notes afterwards?

 

How about a Livescribe pen and notebooks so that he only has to write a little and other parts get recorded and get be listened to later (I've not see one in person, just hear they can help)?

 

I think perhaps a Bravewriter style of writing composition where at this stage you might scribe for him to separate physical writing issues from composing thoughts, might help--maybe you could take a Kidswrite Basic class online this next summer?  It could put you in position of being his ally, and not getting worn out so much, and both of you might get ideas for an approach that he can do better.  I think it is too much to do on top of regular school--unless you could work out with in school teachers that he would use BW class to work on some writing for school, with the school teacher being willing to accept whatever he does on BW in lieu of her/his own assignments for the time the BW class goes for.

 

Typing might help.

 

Would wearing sound blocking ear covers help when he needs to focus?

 

If guitar is very frustrating to him, maybe he could drop that?  Try an easier instrument, or maybe not have an instrument?  It seems like he also needs some areas where he is able to soar rather than be frustrated.  What are his strong areas and does he have outlets in those? Physical activity outlets? Sports? 

[exercise_guru]

I just barely found out about livescribe pen a week ago so cool that you suggested it. 

 

Also good point about him being tested privately or by the school. Everything I have done is private its a long story but the school system here only helps the most extreme cases ( I personally think they do a crappy job of that) and I learned from another child to only let the school have the information that was relevant and ensure that its accurate. 

 

He was tested by a very good clinical psychologist and she employed 8-9 tests including the IQ test.  She strongly recommended the Audiologist because of the Auditory memory that uncovered the CAPD. We also had follow up testing for vision therapy and with two separate SLP.  Sometimes I think kiddos don't present with the diagnostic criteria. My son has CAPD but he is an amazing reader and can spell shockingly well. I have more focused on where the glitches are and tried to help him either work around them or improve them. 

 

you make a great point about the guiltar and sports or what have you but probably like a lot of parents who have kids with glitches even if 90% of something is easy there are times it hits the bruise. He likes soccer and has a coach that knows to make sure he is looking at him or he will miss some of the information especially on a windy day. 

 

He has great moments in the guitar and a fantastic teacher who caters the lesson to CAPD but there are parts of auditory processing that it hits the glitch and can be frustrating. we work around it or through it.

 

I am not one of those parents who is totally against a ADD or inattentive ADD diagnosis It just has not been indicated at all. Every specialist that has looked at his situation and his teachers do not feel that this plays into it. He more has behavior like you would see in a child with poor hearing.If some brain chemistry is present in my sons case it is very mild. It really presents itself as CAPD obviously with some dysgraphia/sensorymotor issues. 

 

I am going to look into the writing suggestions above as well. He has very legible handwriting now even though it is difficult for him. a Writing specialist gave me an outstanding program and when combined with Vision Therapy we can now write smoothly and legibly. Now its a matter of WHAT to write. This has been a huge achievement in and of itself. 

Edited November 1, 2017 by exercise_guru

[Heathermomster]

Scribe..scribe...scribe...When your child has writing assignments, ask him Socratic style questions and scribe for him. Three sentences in 45 minutes is too long. Look into mindmapping and using Inspiration sw on the Ipad. Scribe it all for him.

 

If he has word retrieval issues, maybe speak with your SLP friend.

 

Keeping 2e children in an unaccommodated classroom is soul sucking for them. Seriously consider homechooling this child. Pen is correct. These kids require school time, but they also require time to have fun and be successful at something they enjoy. You can manage the remediation better if he has time with you during the day instead of sitting in a classroom without supports and then being after-schooled. His motivation sounds excellent when all things are considered.

[PeterPan]

Your ds would be a good candidate for Learning RX, some cognitive therapy, or working with a tutor who is experienced in his disabilities. 

 

6 digits is a LOT btw. I agree on the implacability of software. That's why I'm saying I would be looking for someone to do cognitive therapies with him in person.

 

I would review your documentation to make sure there aren't reasons he's so overwhelmed and crying. Kids that age usually want to please, so the demands may be too high or the materials may not be addressing his deficits to enable him to do the task. I would do more with games and work to keep it more positive.

[PeterPan]

Think Talk Laugh is really good for word retrieval. If he's at that level of need, try an SLP. They hit language. 

 

I'm sort of skimming at this point, honestly. I'm just saying at some point it's nice to bring in professional help. It's more like what can you make happen with funding. Sometimes an SLP can be a really, really good friend for CAPD. That's their gig, helping someone improve how they process language.

[Pen]

I'm sort of thinking that since you cannot homeschool right now due to your work, maybe for this school year since he is frustrated and you are feeling worn out, ease off of the after and before school remediation. Instead, try to find what supports you can that might help him (Livescribe perhaps etc.), and let it be a low pressure year--it probably really does not matter much what grades he gets in 4th grade.  Tell him you will work together on a writing program this summer (try Bravewriter Kidswrite Basic--which tends to be very encouraging!!!) when there is more time / less pressure.  Maybe you could have an amount of time expected for things like a writing assignment (5 min per day? 10 min per day? a short amount that seems doable to him, maybe even a time where he could do more than it is, rather than feeling like it is a terrible long slog) , and ask him to do as much as he can in that time.

 

Practice starting, since that seems to be an issue.  "On your mark, get set, start!"  Whatever it is, writing, guitar.  Get good at starting.  Then later (summer?) he could work on sustaining after the start.  But for a while, maybe just start and then 1 minute of the activity, 5 times.

 

If typing might help, the programs my ds used were first www.talkingfingers.com Read Write Type, followed by Typing Instructor Platinum for kids (bought via Amazon).  My ds found them both fun.  (Mine has dyslexia/dysgraphia not CAPD, but has focus and other similar issues, is also 2E.)

 

My ds used to wear headphones in some school situations (such as tests) to help be able to focus on his own work.  Since he was obviously in headphones, teachers knew they had to go right up to him to get his attention when they actually wanted it.

 

Your son may be able to use some speech to text program to help also, maybe his SLP could help figure that out.  Even if he had some parts that needed fixing due to his pronunciation of some sounds being off, it still might make for a lot less to fix up what he has done speech to text than to be crying through trying to write by hand.

 

Maybe ask him what is hardest for him, and what HE thinks might help him. 

 

One thing to say is that my ds is now an age where he does not want to seem different than others, so if you can use this time to find useful supports such as perhaps Livescribe, it might be a good time to do it when your ds may be less opposed, less concerned about what peers will think, before teen and adolescence adds into difficulties.

[exercise_guru]

One thing to say is that my ds is now an age where he does not want to seem different than others, so if you can use this time to find useful supports such as perhaps Livescribe, it might be a good time to do it when your ds may be less opposed, less concerned about what peers will think, before teen and adolescence adds into difficulties.

 

 

 I am so appreciative of all of this feedback . Getting good at starting something is spot on. Also this is the year my son finally realized he couldn't just blend in and nod his head when he was missing information and livescribe is definitely something I am going to push for over the summer.  I am going to encourage him to let me be his scribe he might find more success with dragontalk and livescribe as his articulation improves. 

 

I do have an awesome SLP through the hearing center that understands CAPD. Because of how stupid our insurance is she trains me and collaborates with me. They are good people.  We meet biweekly to coach us and give us "tasks or homework that will help with skills". We have been able to preview Hearbuilder, Fast forword, Earobics, and Auditory Gym. My SLP tells us which games to focus on and helps coach my son on how to recognize information he is missing and how to self advocate in class. Cognitive therapy would help my son but its in a very specific area its how to "gather his thoughts and get them out" I suspect this is where the CAPD is butting up against the Dysgraphia and that is why there is so much frusteration and tears. If there is a a timed test or just if he can't find the words he says " I am panicking!!!" then he kind of shuts down and loses his thoughts. The SLP isn't sure how to help with this but she sees it when she is working with him and I see it when we are working at home. I encourage him to take a big breath and tell himself that he can do it and to cheer himself on and focus. I do all I can to keep it positive and chunk it.  His vision therapist told me my son is his own worst enemy because if he is unsure of something he spirals off. This is the behavior I am trying to help sort out.  If I can help him build strategies to calm down when he feels frustrated and panics with little skills at home maybe it will help him with bigger things at school and life. 

 

I also love the idea on just practicing getting started, breaking things smaller, rewards like playing ball.  We have a writing jar we put pennies in every time he writes things and does his therapy. It adds up and we cash it in at the end of each quarter or when he finishes up a goal defined task. It adds up and he loves getting the reward and pat on the back. I am a computer programmer by profession so I have NO experience working and motivating children. I took on this role because I have found it is very difficult to get help for a child  with a diagnosis who tests too high to qualify for help but has real challenges that would benefit from support and coaching. I have had to fight my insurance tooth and nail just get the testing and the therapy he does get. They limit visits to 20 a year so I have to make sure that those 20 visits count. 

 

Thank you everyone for giving me ideas, suggestion... insight! I am learning a ton.  I have read much of this thread to my husband we have been looking for ways to help encourage & motivate my son . I welcome all ideas and am eager to try some new things to get us out of this rut. 

[Pen]

You may be able to get him out of timed tests based on his dx. Maybe something worked out with teachers so that he gets marked on what he is able to do in the time allotted, but not docked for not being able to finish.

 

Regular meditation or CBT or similar approaches might help with anxiety.

 

You might try breaking down the thought gathering to first just trying to get out a word (or a few words) that come to mind based on a prompt.  It could possibly be a game:

 

like you pick up a book, he closes his eyes and points to a random word on page, and then you see how many words related to or sparked by that word,  first you can say aloud in 10 seconds, and then how many he can say in 30 seconds (repeating ones you already said would be fine, or saying ones you didn't).  Adjust the time you get and the time he gets to make it a reasonably close challenge of whether you or he can say more words.  And possibly give extra points for ...   whatever you want to give extra points for.

 

There's a book called something like Games for Writing that might have other games that he might find less anxiety producing to work on writing than a regular school assignment.

[Storygirl]

You say that he has not been tested through the schools, and it sounds like you don't trust the schools to have all of his diagnostic information, for some reason?

 

The difficulty is that he may qualify for help from the schools, but he won't get it if you don't go through the process. Just because he has a high IQ does not mean that he will not qualify for an IEP. Someone can have Specific Learning Disability in written expression (dysgraphia) and also have a high IQ. You don't have to have a lower IQ to get an IEP.

 

I have two kids with SLD written expression, and they get a ton of accommodations and modifications in their IEPs to help with their writing.

 

I hate to hear that he is so frustrated. If he has to be in school, I really recommend working with the school to get him help while he is there. Although the private and home therapies are good, they are not going to "fix" the dysgraphia and enable him to overcome his difficulties. He likely needs support and accommodations in the classroom.

[Pen]

You say that he has not been tested through the schools, and it sounds like you don't trust the schools to have all of his diagnostic information, for some reason?

 

The difficulty is that he may qualify for help from the schools, but he won't get it if you don't go through the process. Just because he has a high IQ does not mean that he will not qualify for an IEP. Someone can have Specific Learning Disability in written expression (dysgraphia) and also have a high IQ. You don't have to have a lower IQ to get an IEP.

 

I have two kids with SLD written expression, and they get a ton of accommodations and modifications in their IEPs to help with their writing.

 

I hate to hear that he is so frustrated. If he has to be in school, I really recommend working with the school to get him help while he is there. Although the private and home therapies are good, they are not going to "fix" the dysgraphia and enable him to overcome his difficulties. He likely needs support and accommodations in the classroom.

 

 

This is really important to point out.

 

I assumed that he was not qualifying  because he is up to benchmark and could not get services. But you are right that it may be that he could get some services and help at the school.

 

He may at least be able to get accommodations that would reduce his stress and anxiety.

[PeterPan]

The school may decide to look at discrepancy, and they *will* take anxiety pretty seriously. In the US, that alone will be a pretty big thing. In our state, that's tier 2 for disabling conditions. So Story is correct that a dc struggling in school needs to go through the IEP process. The NOLO book, which you can get through your library, is AWESOME for explaining how it works. 

 

The IEP process is a pain in the butt. Enough of us have gone through it here that we know, sigh. But none of us think it was not worthwhile. It's just hard work, sigh.

 

Fwiw, if you think you won't get anything because the district is not well to do (just tossing that out, I have no clue), I wouldn't assume that. It can be just the opposite, because poor districts get special funding and may have more resources or be more willing to identify disabilities than their more shi-shi counterparts. Around here that's DEFINITELY the case. There's a culture AGAINST identifying disabilities in the rich school district, whereas the poorer school district is more likely to label. Ironically, the rich district does intervene and intervene more generous, but there's just a culture there of whether they label, blah blah. 

 

So there's the possibility the school would be helpful. It's a good move to try.

[exercise_guru]

Sorry just to clarify. I test my son privately and provide the relevent data to the school but there is much you find out from private testing that helps a parent but doesn't necessarily translate to more services through the school. 

 

My son does get accomodations such as sitting in the front of class. If needed extra time to write and finish essays and assignments. Eventually he may need extra time for tests. In our area Students can get accomodations with medical documentation and the school is good about following through with this. I am actually fine about his school set up. He doesn't get speach or special ed or any extra effort from the ESL department etc. He doesn't need that though as it just is not set up to help unless some significant interventions are needed. Our insurance does cover excellent articulation therapy(separately from other therapy) far beyond what he would get in school. His grades are good that is not the concern. My concern is with the upper level writing and essay work that will be coming soon. I would like to help him now so that he doesn't crash and burn in his preteen years. 

 

I appreciate suggestions for school accomodations because maybe I haven't thought about something but really I am looking more at helping my son at home and ideas there. I know its not everyones strategy but I look at it as giving my son 30 minutes of extra therapy and specialized help at home each day. Also I had looked at hiring outside help it isn't something I have found the right solution for.  I am looking for ways to empower myself to work with my son. 

 

I am going to look into the kidwrite program. Has anyone on the board completed this? I would very much like to pm them and get more information. Next summer I plan to have a writing camp to make it more positive when school isn't taking so much time. In the meantime we are pursuing Aural Therapy through a combination of listening programs and activities. 

Edited November 3, 2017 by exercise_guru

[Heathermomster]

It’s very difficult to afterschool subjects when the child has been sitting in a classroom using an entirely different language program. You will be relying on your child’s ability to generalize the subject that he is in the process of learning. You don’t want that.

 

I’m going to suggest that you speak with the teacher and discover what writing program they are using to teach in the classroom. Since you plan on keeping him at the school, use their materials so that you are using the same academic language as the teacher. If you can partner with the teacher, she may be able to send writing assignments home early so that you can prep him prior to class. When my child was sitting in the classroom, he always pre-read his literature so that he had more time to write about the subject in class. My DS started carrying a portable wp (Neo Alphasmart) in class during the 4th grade. We provided the teacher a printer so that DS could print his work. DS attended a private school without IEP 8 years ago. Since you use the public system, ymmv.

Edited November 3, 2017 by Heathermomster

[Heathermomster]

I want to mention a webinar that I think would benefit you and your son. The pay side of the Dyslexic Advantage blog has a webinar that was given by Dr. Charles Haynes. The webinar specifically addresses the process of writing and provides specific examples for helping with word retrieval issues. I personally found the webinar to be very insightful with understanding my son’s writing difficulties.

 

http://www.dyslexicadvantage.org/teaching-writing-to-dyslexic-students/

Edited November 3, 2017 by Heathermomster

[Pen]

...

1) My son does get accomodations such as sitting in the front of class. If needed extra time to write and finish essays and assignments. Eventually he may need extra time for tests.

 

 

In our area Students can get accomodations with medical documentation and the school is good about following through with this. I am actually fine about his school set up.

 

2) He doesn't get speach or special ed or any extra effort from the ESL department etc. He doesn't need that though as it just is not set up to help unless some significant interventions are needed. ...

 

 

3) My concern is with the upper level writing and essay work that will be coming soon. I would like to help him now so that he doesn't crash and burn in his preteen years. 

 

...

4) I am going to look into the kidwrite program. Has anyone on the board completed this? ...

 

 

1) This is typical.  Alas, my ds does not WANT more time to have to work on essays and assignments--he wants to be able to have less work to have to do, which yours may also want, but that is harder to get.

 

medical and LD usually follow different paths...   

 

2) ESL?  English as a Second Language?  Is that what you actually mean?

 

3)  It will be coming "soon," but at same time, remember that he is only in 4th grade.  Algebra will be coming soon too, but if you push for something whether math or writing too soon, you may increase the anxiety level, more than helping the subject matter.

 

4) My ds took both Kidswrite Basic and Kidswrite Intermediate from Bravewriter.  I can PM you my phone number to ask me more on phone if you like.  I also posted a good bit about the Basic level my ds did.  Try searching this forum using "Viking Longships" as search terms.  Doing a site search via google may work better since I think the internal search engine here is not very good.

 

 

 

Another thing my ds did was make submissions to Stone Soup magazine (as part of our homeschooling).  He had a number of rejections, but also 2 things published and 2 (I think) on honor roll, or whatever they call their version of an honorable mention.  Particularly, I think, his work on book reviews for Stone Soup has made writing  in 9th grade (in BMS now) somewhat easier for him.  

[Pen]

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/453417-if-you-had-to-do-a-formal-composition-program/?hl=%20longships

[exercise_guru]

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/453417-if-you-had-to-do-a-formal-composition-program/?hl=%20longships

Thanks I will watch this and post back

 

I am going to spend some time going through these suggestions. Thank you so much everyone for trying to taking the time to help keep nudging me forword.  I hope to follow up and get more help.  :001_smile: 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2017 by exercise_guru