Jump to content

Menu

Dysgraphia?


Miss Tick
 Share

Recommended Posts

DS has terrible handwriting. It is clearly not something he can control, writing slowly helps not at all, we've tried a few different fonts and cursive, lots of practice, etc. Nothing seems to budge it. On advice from here, we saw a Vision Therapist over the summer. She said his eyes don't operate well together, but he compensates so we'll that there isn't anything she can do. She suggested an Occupational Therapist. I haven't made an appointment.

Yesterday I started wondering if he would qualify to be diagnosed with dysgraphia. I don't really know what that would involve, or what kind of medical professional would do that. Can you point me in the right direction?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, SusanC said:

DS has terrible handwriting. It is clearly not something he can control, writing slowly helps not at all, we've tried a few different fonts and cursive, lots of practice, etc. Nothing seems to budge it. On advice from here, we saw a Vision Therapist over the summer. She said his eyes don't operate well together, but he compensates so we'll that there isn't anything she can do. She suggested an Occupational Therapist. I haven't made an appointment.

Yesterday I started wondering if he would qualify to be diagnosed with dysgraphia. I don't really know what that would involve, or what kind of medical professional would do that. Can you point me in the right direction?

My DD's diagnosis was given by a neuropsychologist. We actually had her tested for autism but the testing came back with dysgraphia and a couple of other things. I don't know if OT's can also diagnose.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recently, I confirmed with a Speech Language Pathologist that a SLP cannot diagnose Dyslexia.  So by extension, I’d assume an OT can’t diagnose dysgraphia.   
 

I’m not an expert, but I’d guess you would want a Neuropsychologist in order to get a diagnosis (which you’d need for accommodations at academic institutions).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ime dysgraphia may (depending on age and stuff) be treated by OT but diagnosed by a neuropsychologist.

Here OT was helpful and worth doing, but my son still has dysgraphia.

Depending on age and various factors — you could start with OT and see how much improvement is made.

 

Or you could start with a neuropsychologist and be looking more at accommodations.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, domestic_engineer said:

I’m not an expert, but I’d guess you would want a Neuropsychologist in order to get a diagnosis (which you’d need for accommodations at academic institutions).

Thanks, you have clarified something I wasn't even ready to ask yet!

1 hour ago, Lecka said:

Depending on age and various factors — you could start with OT and see how much improvement is made.

DS is coming up on 16, so I think "old". He is always borderline on legibility, so it could be worse. He also writes without complaint, so again I recognize that it could be worse.

He is ready-going and compliant, but if I make too many appointments he feels pressured and criticized, and I can almost see his jaw set and his eyes get a hard glint of simmering discontent. 😄

I think I will see how hard it is to get a neuropsychology appointment and then decide my next move.

Thanks to all of you for your responses. I've been struggling with how to approach this and your explanations have made the next step look very straightforward.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, domestic_engineer said:

Recently, I confirmed with a Speech Language Pathologist that a SLP cannot diagnose Dyslexia.  So by extension, I’d assume an OT can’t diagnose dysgraphia.  

I guess the SLP forgot to ask ASHA.

10 hours ago, SusanC said:

She said his eyes don't operate well together, but he compensates so we'll that there isn't anything she can do. She suggested an Occupational Therapist.

It sound like you need a new optometrist. Yes he probably has OT issues but sometimes the VT doc is passing the buck on things they could/should do. You should go ahead and get a good OT eval, but what the optometrist is saying probably needs a 2nd opinion. I think you could get a different answer from a doc.

10 hours ago, SusanC said:

Yesterday I started wondering if he would qualify to be diagnosed with dysgraphia. I don't really know what that would involve, or what kind of medical professional would do that.

Yes, while there are all kinds of things that happen (SLPs diagnosing dyslexia and even autism, which ASHA in fact allows for, OTs diagnosing ADHD, etc. etc.), reality is at this point you're going to need a psych eval as well. It won't tell you the limits of what can be done, but it will quantify things and make good paper trail.

For the OT, I suggest you google for an OT who specializes in assistive technology. Technically your ps should be able to do this eval. You just actually have to go in and say that his disability is affecting his ability to access his education and that you want assistive technology evals. That will tell the OT to spend more time and really, really dig in. Our ps spent multiple hours with ds, which really surprised me. Or you can get that done privately. In our area that would mean a drive to the big city for the OT who seems to be the *go to* for IEP fights. Remember, if someone disputes their ps evals, the ps ends up paying for private evals. So when you find the OT those people go to, you may have a winner. There is detailed testing that OT can do to assess where he's at, what can improve, and what accommodations should happen. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

So when you find the OT those people go to, you may have a winner.

I will have to see if I can find that out. Preferably without actually speaking to anyone in the ps. I have my own issues in this regard.

13 minutes ago, PeterPan said:

There is detailed testing that OT can do to assess where he's at, what can improve, and what accommodations should happen. 

This would be great! Knowing that it is possible, when we get to this point I will know what to insist on.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes, OTs are kind of a funny bunch. There's some basic testing they'll all do, and then there's the extra testing these assistive technology specialists will do. It means they're doing it enough that they've *invested* the $$$$$$ for the extra tests.

So as with the psych and everything else, take your time to find the person who has what you need. Anyone will take your money but you might get generic answers and less detail than with someone who specializes in your issue. It woudl be worth a drive of 2-3 hours, because you're only going to do it ONCE, kwim?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I'll just through this out there in my shot #2 delirium. (not really, but I'm pretty grouchy and a little achy) I took ds to the developmental optometrist because he STILL was not reading and I was like TEST THIS CHILD. The only, only, only thing they came back with was "visual motor integration." And in a way it's like slap me, hello, that's what you should fix! But same gig, they wanted to refer to OT. And of course even with our generous state funding OT is still a bottomless pit. And there was no tele at the time.

So I went to Therapro and got https://www.therapro.com/Developing-Visual-Motor-Integration.html  which actually says it's for visual motor integration.

Now what you said was that his eyes are not working together. So you've got convergence issues? Some other swank vision term? Vision is such a problem, because you have tone, kids who kinda go in and out. Like my dd would wear progressives one year, another type of glasses another, reflexes wouldn't hold, etc. It was CRAZY. So It *is* true that there's some stuff you fix and some stuff you *accommodate* for with glasses, etc. The progressives were to decrease the strain of focusing after VT because should could converge but was fatiguing even after thorough VT. I went into progressives early btw and several years later than the docs wanted me to. 😉 

So you need the right terms and then you can see whether your optometrist is not giving you enough answers or whether an OT vendor could give you some materials to implement yourself or whether you want therapy or what. It's hard to get anywhere without basics like convergence, integrating retained reflexes, etc. All that needs help. I wouldn't conclude anything about what can/can't happen till the basics are done.

My ds is a pretty nasty case, considering all his issues and the praxis too, sigh. We're *slowly* working through Cursive Logic, and it's exceptional. We're also working on typing where I dictate a word he tries to type. The OT said to work on each no more than 10 minutes, and I find for him that's enough to make progress with maximal effort during the brief time. So full attention but not belaboring. It is hard, a serious disability. But we'll just keep working and see what happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Therapro has free webinars and has some recorded ones on dysgraphia. You mght pull them up to watch when you're bored. i'm not saying they'll be curative, because frankly they're pretty optimistic. But still, you'll see how an OT thinks through writing. You're always thining about what steps are there, where the glitch is. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The other thing that was funny was that when the VT doc checked my ds *very thoroughly* several years ago only the VMI was a problem. This time when the PS OT ran the testing (very thorough, assistive tech eval mandated) he said visual processing was down and VMI (which we've been kicking butt on) had come into range. So it's not like these things are super pat. They go and the mix and how it is balancing can change I guess. And I haven't gotten anyone to work on visual processing lately, my bad. 

Which is all back to the point that the right terms can help you find the right options. I seem to get told no they can't help by the very people finding the problems, lol. Crazy.

And yes, ds is diagnosed, agreed on by every psych. But I think SLD Writing is an umbrella with subtypes, not homogenously only one thing. And OTs will use that term and mean a range of things that may or may not be your dc's thing. It's crazy. 

To me, I don't make it too rocket science: it's impossible. That's it. I had one dc for whom it was hard and she could never seem to get a label for it. Then came the dc for whom it's impossible. When you've crossed that point, I would say you're definitely headed for a label. But therapies can be amazing, so who knows. Right terms, right itnerventions, see what happens.

Edited by PeterPan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, domestic_engineer said:

(read the following with a  surprised tone and not an accusatory tone) So then you’re saying that SLP reports will provide the documentation needed for IEPs, access to Bookshare, etc for dyslexics?

I'm saying I hang on some SLP groups and yes they consider it within their perview to diagnose and treat dyslexia. Access to BARD/NLS, etc. is with a doctor filling out the form, so you're asking what documentation your doctor will accept. And yes, I've known people who were diagnosed by SLPs specializing in literacy who took that documentation to the ps and got the ps to go forward with evals to get their IEP. Remember, the ps is going to run their own evals generally (except when they accept yours, which is super rare, had it fall multiple ways with my ds), so all you need is enough documentation to get you in the door and have some evidence of a disability to get them to agree to eval.

https://leader.pubs.asha.org/do/10.1044/the-speech-language-pathologists-role-in-diagnosing-dyslexia/full/

I'm not saying a person doesn't need a psych eval. I'm only addressing the suggestion that SLPs will not or cannot diagnose dyslexia.

Edited by PeterPan
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Someone can diagnose something in the sense that they know they have it.  
 

The OT is who told me my son had dysgraphia, provided me information, etc.

 

She could not officially diagnose in a way that I could have a piece of paper (documentation) with recommended accommodations.  
 

If someone is getting a diagnosis in the sense that they are getting the information “proceed with remediation,” that is different from getting a diagnosis in the sense of “it’s official and you can get accommodations.”  
 

The side issue is that many children who have dyslexia or dysgraphia will have more issues and that can make the neuropsychological eval useful, even if a parent is not noticing those issues.  
 

Otoh, a parent may only be looking for information about dyslexia or dysgraphia, and I think that is fair enough.  
 

Edit:  I would 100% say the OT diagnoses dysgraphia in the sense that she told me my son had dysgraphia.  But she could not provide an official diagnosis.

As far as an IEP — my son had an IEP without a neuropsychologist eval for years.  He did not need it, when he was younger.  But when he got older that changed.  
 

First he qualified for OT secondary to speech, and then they qualified him for just OT under (iirc) developmental delay. But there was an age limit for that (age 8 or age 10, I think age 10).  
 

I don’t remember every detail, but a lot can depend.


Something about dysgraphia also, is it is frequently a secondary issue and the primary condition will be something else.  This is just really common.  So when it’s a side issue, there is just not a need for the same documentation.  Because — when someone already has an IEP they can be recommended for further services, in a way they can’t when they don’t *have an IEP anyways.*

 

 

Edited by Lecka
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Not expert at all but a friend’s kid got a dysgraphia diagnosis recently.  From the way she described it there’s a fairly solid language processing component not just the physical writing act that’s hard, so I’m guessing that might be outside of the realm of purely OT.

DSM Disorder of Written Expression (SLD Writing) is a bigger umbrella, looking at spelling, organization, etc. Dysgraphia as a term is more narrow, referring to the graphomotor loop. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7082241/

I would expect an OT to be addressing the part were it's hard to get the language to connect to motor planning. I would expect an SLP or interventionist to be handling the language organization part. (narrative elements, EF, grammar, phonological processing, spelling, etc.)  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Ausmumof3 said:

Not expert at all but a friend’s kid got a dysgraphia diagnosis recently.  From the way she described it there’s a fairly solid language processing component not just the physical writing act that’s hard, so I’m guessing that might be outside of the realm of purely OT.

This is what I'm wondering, because I don't see anything that concerns besides the handwriting. But

45 minutes ago, Lecka said:

The side issue is that many children who have dyslexia or dysgraphia will have more issues and that can make the neuropsychological eval useful, even if a parent is not noticing those issues.  

I'm wondering if there is something that he is compensating for well enough that I'm not seeing it.

46 minutes ago, Lecka said:

The side issue is that many children who have dyslexia or dysgraphia will have more issues and that can make the neuropsychological eval useful, even if a parent is not noticing those issues.  

I will be interested to hear if this is the case.

He is "ok" at this point. People can generally read his writing with a bit of effort, but I would like to know what is going on and if there is something we should be aware of. He is a solid A/B student, good reader, everything seems good except the handwriting, but who knows.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m just going to add — sometimes there are things where it’s possible to use a doctors note.  Sometimes there are things where they want “something” but aren’t picky.  
 

There are also times when “sharing information” which can include “the speech therapist said….” can be all that is needed.

 

Other times an official diagnosis is needed.

 

There is often an intermediate period of time where people are in a process ———- and in that period of time, and for some things, these will work!

 

There are also younger kids who have things on a level of “it’s recommended” but do not have a diagnosis, that is also a thing that happens.

 

I think there are a lot of ways it can go, especially with younger kids.  

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also I will share about my current 16yo.  
 

So — he has always been in public school.

 

In Kindergarten he scored in the lowest range on DIBELS (reading screening) and he was in school speech since he was in pre-school.

 

He ended up in 1st grade having major speech therapy every day, he had MWF in school and I took him TR to a university speech clinic.  It was pretty intense.  He got identified as having social problems caused by his speech delay, which in that town triggered getting extra-extra help.  
 

In the meantime I did major dyslexia remediation at home and he was also getting extra help in reading at school (continually identified as in the bottom 3 readers in his class which meant he got extra reading intervention).  
 

Then all that was getting better, yay.

 

But the speech therapist at school asked for him to be screened by the school OT and he came up on that as needing OT.  Our insurance paid for OT and he had OT once a week almost as his soon as his after-school speech therapy ended.  (Edit — so he had school OT once a week and private OT once a week…. down the road the school OT had a list of things to work on that he worked on daily in the resource room including for retained reflexes.) 
 

He got recommended to learn to type, which was hard.  He got identified with some executive functioning challenges.

 

He had private neuropsychological testing at the end of 4th grade and was diagnosed with dysgraphia.  Only dysgraphia.  This is often not common but it’s fair to say he has remediated dyslexia (dyslexia is one of those things where kids are very different from each other — my son truly made a lot of progress and at this time his phonemic awareness was still below other scores but it was pretty okay).  
 

Then in 6th grade he was angry about having services at school and didn’t want it anymore.  I got advice to let him be.  
 

Then this year (11th grade) he is taking 2 AP classes (US history and English) as a Junior and is interested in taking the tests (he is signed up).  He had been allowed to type at school.  We got a 504 plan at school for him to type, and were told it would last through college.  This is with his neuropsychological testing from age 9 and teachers saying his handwriting is a problem.  
 

The counselor is submitting a request for accommodations to College Board to see if he can type on the AP tests.  She said they can’t predict what will go through and what won’t.  
 

For our situation we are happy he is an engaged student and doing well in his classes this year.  And allowed to type for their in-class writing!  He is doing well.  
 

The AP tests are possible extras, it’s not a make-or-break situation.  
 

We are happy he is willing to accept/pursue accommodations.  We are happy he is set up to have permission to type in college.

 

As far as typing — it was a major struggle and he had “learning to type” on his IEP when he was in 4th/5th/6th.  
 

Since he learned and got to be good at typing, it has gone a long way.

 

Last year (10th grade) he made a lot of progress in punctuation and understanding grammatical sentences.  His AP English teacher is pretty happy with him this year.  But again — we are not “counting on” AP tests, but looking for a positive/educational experience.  That part is going well!

 

His little brother is very much on the autism spectrum.  We asked about this with the neuropsychologist.  She said verbally that she could see he had some traits consistent with an autism sibling.  But — zero mention of that  in the written report.  In the written report she also mentioned something along the lines of “prior reading problems now largely remediated” though I don’t remember the exact wording.

 

By then he didn’t have a speech delay anymore although that was a huge deal back when he was 4/5/6/7.  
 

Separately the private OT told us that she though his OT issues were totally consistent with reading problems and she was glad that remediation had worked for him, and that she had never seen his constellation of OT issues before in someone not diagnosed with autism.  Ironically our son with autism has few OT issues (though he also had years of OT).  She also said that usually when she saw kids with his OT issues they were struggling readers, so she was surprised he could read and attributed that to successful remediation.  
 

So he IS only diagnosed with dysgraphia, but he has a history of major articulation issues and dyslexia remediation.  
 

Ime dysgraphia can mean either handwriting or composition.  Disorder of written expression (an alternate name but what is in DSM 5) can also mean either one.

 

My son has never exactly had composition issues, but he has had punctuation and grammar issues.  When he was doing reading remediation he had a stage of having to really work on paying attention to punctuation, that was hard for him and he would just skim over punctuation a lot.  Otoh he had huge improvement in spelling in 6th grade (and really over 4th-6th — but in 6th grade all of a sudden he was a pretty decent speller).  

Edited by Lecka
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m going to add the idea of “functional handwriting.”

 

This means that handwriting is sufficient to meet demands.  
 

This often means 1) taking notes.  Is handwriting (or typing) sufficient to take notes.  If not — there are various accommodations.  This can be permission to type (if that is a solution but needs to be allowed).  This can also be getting a copy of the teacher’s notes or a classmate’s notes.  This can also mean — instead of independent note-taking, having notes provided with blanks and the student fills in the blank.  This is one of those things that just depends.  There are more things out there related to note-taking, too (like LiveScribe pens).  

 

The other thing is 2) the relationship between time and speed.  If someone has wonderful handwriting but it’s extremely, extremely slow, that can still be not-functional in practical terms.  This also gets into kids who write very simply but are at a much higher level when they dictate to another person (or use dictation software — my son has turned out to do well with typing but when he was younger dictation software didn’t work for him — they tried at school — but since he took off with typing we haven’t looked back on that).  
 

For my son, typing is the magic accommodation.  And there were reasons he had trouble with dictation software.  This just depends on the person.  Others will thrive with dictation software.  
 

If you get a neuropsychological report — they will often have a list of possible accommodations, and you can see which is most workable and effective.

 

Sometimes a student has to be taught to learn or use an accommodation, like typing or dictation software.  There can be advice for this or OT (or speech therapy) may teach these if they are particularly hard to learn.  
 

The school OT was working with my son on typing and dictation software and she is the one who thought he would be a better fit for typing and maybe not so much with dictation software (see:  his prior speech delay…. But there was more than that for various practical reasons).  She tried both and thought he would do better with typing, basically.  
 

Edit:  with dictation software, my son had multiple issues, but one was that — often with dictation software you would go to a quiet place, and my son didn’t want to go to a quiet place, and he wouldn’t even do awesome unsupervised, etc, so typing was a lot more “fitting in” for him, which was very important for him at the time.  He was also young enough to have a high-pitched voice and between that and his previous speech delay the dictation software didn’t pick up his voice very well.  And he wasn’t having an easy time with the dictation software — as far as using the computer. So dictation software was just not working well for him at that age but he did learn to type, though it was harder than for other kids and at an older age — but he did learn eventually 🙂

Edited by Lecka
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

There is another issue with diagnosis, sometimes, where certain things are very picky.

We had some rigamarole when my younger son was 8 or so.  The insurance company wanted a “medical diagnosis” of autism.  The doctor also wanted a medical diagnosis.

He has gobs of paperwork from school and therapy.  He was in a special education program at school with a 1:2 aide at the time.

But we went and got him diagnosed with autism again.  
 
Really this is something you are recommended today when the first diagnosis is from a young child….. I just thought it was ridiculous when we had so much documentation.

But the doctor wrote the referral (for the testing) and insurance paid — so it wasn’t that big of a deal.

But just to say — sometimes there are hoops to jump through.

We jumped through that hoop because we wanted therapy to be covered by insurance.  
 

And then school was happy to add it to his record.  
 

I think things just come up and just vary.  
 

OP — it’s worth thinking about your purpose and asking questions as to if your next step will meet the purpose.

 

In general you are probably looking for — your own knowledge.  Your son’s own knowledge.  That’s probably number one.

Then number two is probably figuring out accommodations for his life and education.  
 

The main reason to have an official diagnosis is to have official accommodations.  This means permission to type on things like in-class writing assignments, or for testing.

 

What is currently not working for him?  That is info to think about.

 

What is unlikely to work for him if he goes to a setting where he would not manage.  What place is that likely to be?  School?  Work?  Taking a test?  
 

Has it come up in things he already does?  Is he getting accommodations different than classmates?

 

Is he taking a really long time to do his work?

 

These are the kinds of things to think about.  
 

Just — what is the real-world impact.  
 

If there are things he doesn’t do, or you don’t sign him up for certain things, that matters, too. 
 

This is the first year my son can’t make up for his problem with taking notes just by being a smart kid, and honestly he is still getting by.  He does take notes but they are not very good notes (many portions turn out not to be legible).  
 

In-class writing is the main thing, and he has usually been allowed to type anyways just because it’s allowed in general, but for the AP classes they want kids to practice hand-writing because that is (probably) the format it will be this year.  Last year they were typed because of Covid and at the beginning of the year teachers thought “who knows, they might be typed again this year.”  But it seems unlikely now, so he has to have the 504 and request for accommodation for that.  
 

A lot of the time he just gets by.  A lot of teachers of older students do not really penalize for poor handwriting and a lot can be typed now.  At the same time, there is still a lot that can’t be typed.

 

He has a science class this year where they are supposed to keep a notebook and have notebook checks, and it’s a little bit of an issue.  But I got advice that if my son wants to just get a lower grade for things like this because he doesn’t want to “be different” — that I should let him.  So it’s really nice that this year he has had a change of heart.

 

It was really specific advice and related to my son having some self-esteem type of issues and wanting to be independent.  
 

For some kids this is a big issue and they don’t want to use accommodations or it’s seen as mom being too much of a busybody.  
 

For other kids it’s not an issue.

 

I got a lot of resentment for a while.  But just lately he has matured some, and also he wants to do well on the AP tests, and he doesn’t have a chance if he has to do them hand-written.  But with typing he got a 95% on an in-class writing prompt recently.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, SusanC said:

People can generally read his writing with a bit of effort,

Have you checked his eyes with a developmental optometrist? 

On 11/20/2021 at 9:50 AM, SusanC said:

She said his eyes don't operate well together, but he compensates so we'll that there isn't anything she can do. She suggested an Occupational Therapist. I haven't made an appointment.

Ok, so we go back to the oddity of what she's saying. Did she give you a name for an OT? You've gone in circles here. You either want the OT she is referring you to or a different VT doc. I can't imagine our VT place ever saying they wouldn't help you if the eyes weren't converging and working correctly, my lands. That just doesn't pass the sniff test.

Have you checked him for retained reflexes?

I would definitely get a 2nd opinion on what can be done, because what you're saying doesn't make sense. Was this person listed with COVD?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I took my son for a screening from VT.  He said my son did NOT have convergence insufficiency and had issues that could be addressed by VT or OT.

School and private OT had told me they themselves couldn’t rule out convergence insufficiency.

The VT was also surprised he could read at all.  
 

With my son, for what people thought he might possibly have, my understanding was that convergence insufficiency was the only thing that had to be VT.  
 

He did things like tracking exercises with OT.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh yeah, I am remembering now.  I could not see it but other people (like the OT, someone at school) could watch him read and see his eyes “jump” when he crossed the midline, and it could make him lose his place with reading.  
 

Well — the VT also saw it and said it could be treated by OT.  
 

At this time — we already had the private OT, she was very friendly, and we had a good time of day for the appointment.

 

The VT seemed like he didn’t do much with younger children, his office was not set up in a friendly way, parking was a nightmare, etc.  

 

I found out later we could have driven 45 minutes for a different VT.

 

No regrets 😉
 

Edit:  also crossing the midline effects so much!  Much more than just eyes!  I think it was a better choice.  He also had bilateral coordination (alternating use of the left and right side of the body) stuff and that was really helpful in OT.  This is things like skipping, alternating arms to swim, and things like that.  

Edited by Lecka
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’m going to add — you can look for any other eye type issues.

How long can they read?  Rubbing eyes when reading?  Losing place?  Headaches?

Trouble catching a ball?  Jerking their head when something goes close to them?

Holding things to one side?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OP — personally I think it’s totally fine if you go straight to accommodations.  
 

For other things, child’s buy-in has been a huge issue for me. 
 

Plus — with therapy there can be pros and cons.  It’s not good to do therapy without a clear need and goal.  Especially with older kids.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Lecka said:

How long can they read?  Rubbing eyes when reading?  Losing place?  Headaches?

He can read for hours with none if those warning signs.

8 minutes ago, Lecka said:

Trouble catching a ball?

Nothing significant. We don't practice much, he is more of a soccer player. Because his eyes don't work together much I suspect his depth perception is impaired.

 

10 minutes ago, Lecka said:

Jerking their head when something goes close to them?

Not that I've noticed.

12 minutes ago, Lecka said:

Holding things to one side?

Yep. He blames it on his glasses, but I think he rarely notices it himself, only when I bring it to his attention.

9 minutes ago, Lecka said:

I think it’s totally fine if you go straight to accommodations.  

At this point I'm just interested in potentially establishing a paper trail (assuming the neuropsych concurs) in case it is useful later in in life.

Late at night I worry that in the future he will say, "hey, I just discovered I have xxx and if we had known that when I was a kid I could have yyyyy, but it's not your fault, Mom." 😳

We'll see what the next professionals say!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a website that does talk about crossing the midline.  
 

My mental picture of what he thinks in the future is more:  one day one of his kids gets a referral for OT, and then he says “that’s interesting, I did some of those things when I was little, too.”  But then — “and look at me now, and look at my fulfilling childhood — I am sure everything will be okay.”  

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Lecka said:

I took my son for a screening from VT.  He said my son did NOT have convergence insufficiency and had issues that could be addressed by VT or OT.

School and private OT had told me they themselves couldn’t rule out convergence insufficiency.

The VT was also surprised he could read at all.  
 

With my son, for what people thought he might possibly have, my understanding was that convergence insufficiency was the only thing that had to be VT.  
 

He did things like tracking exercises with OT.  

This makes sense, but I don't know why the VT person wouldn't have been more clear.

Our VT did some things that have a strong overlap with OT, but they tended to have a harder time getting it covered by most insurances. If there is not something that they could do, they would've referred someone out for OT to help them get coverage. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...