Comments | liketheriverrun: Anybody familiar with dysgraphia?

liketheriverrun

Anybody familiar with dysgraphia?

Dec 17, 2008 06:06

At the parent teacher conferences last night, my son's third grade teacher suggested he may have dysgraphia, which is a learning disorder dealing with fine motor skills and manifests itself in the form of really sloppy handwriting. Connor is the gifted and talented program but still struggles with a lot of his assignments, especially finishing ( Read more... )

real life

Comments 9

indusnm December 17 2008, 16:00:43 UTC

No real time experiences with this particular learning disorder, but my cousin had a different one and there are a few things to look out for:

First- kids have a really hard time with the taking finals in a different way, etc. Their friends tend to tease them. That said, when they do a lot better, it's awesome to see them do that. My cousin went from having to partner with someone on games like pictionary to being the one pulling out the Taboo game and begging people to play with him.

But he never went to college. He got so used to people telling him he has a learning disorder that he just didn't think he could handle college at all... If that's important to you, and the way the economy is going it probably is, I'd make it clear that was still an end goal and he'd be fine there, even if he still needs to get some assistance there.

liketheriverrun December 18 2008, 03:12:14 UTC

Thanks so much for the insight! And that's what I'm trying to avoid, that feeling of I can't do it because of my condition or use it as an excuse not to even try. He's smart, very smart, and I think he knows that but he's one to give up pretty easily (something that is common, I learned last night, in gifted kids with LDs). I think it has a lot to do with most things coming relatively easy for them so when something doesn't come easy then it must be too hard so I won't even try. I think he'll be open to testing differently (he was pretty stoked about the idea of getting to use a keyboard in class!) especially since he already leaves class 3 times a week for his GATE class. But I really just don't want to blow this when I've finally been given an explanation for all these issues we've had for several years now.

indusnm December 18 2008, 03:24:35 UTC

If he's in a GATE class, you're lucky. Things will work well. However, if they move to mainstreaming him at any point, watch out. That transition is the hardest.

sobelle December 17 2008, 18:35:14 UTC

No knowledgeable experience to share but I certainly wanted to send great good wishes and a lot of joy that first and foremost you know that there's something going on... especially for your son... so he doesn't have to feel so dumb, particularly since he's so smart.

I had troubles with the tying/buttoning thing with my extra smart boys. They still have crap handwriting but they can type like mofo's =) (we used Velcro closing shoes for years! while my teacher MIL scolded me for ~spoiling~ them)

::hugs you all and your son::

liketheriverrun December 18 2008, 03:07:24 UTC

It really is a relief to have a name to put to it and have pretty much every "problem" I have with him narrowed down to one common issue that we can now work to address. And yes, I've thrilled we caught it early instead of when he is a teen and has struggled for years and years with it. Thanks for the good wishes!

hi... nameles_one December 20 2008, 07:35:19 UTC

Not sure if this will be helpful ( ... )

Re: hi... liketheriverrun December 22 2008, 13:41:53 UTC

Thanks so much for the info! And I'm so glad to hear that both you and your son have responded so well to the Adderall. If anything, my son is just the opposite of ADD... he has an amazing attention span to the point I started to wonder about his sister not having one. Ends up she's the normal one. *G* And we are looking into gettting him a computer. I had thought of it for Xmas anyway then decided to wait for his birthday in March. I'll probably get him a typing software for Christmas to use on the big computer which he tends to hog anyway and maybe a small laptop/notebook for his birthday.

dysgraphia mousedm February 2 2009, 18:25:00 UTC

Hey River ( ... )

Re: dysgraphia liketheriverrun February 10 2009, 03:48:09 UTC

His teacher has really been great and we just set up a 504 program for him at school that will let him work more at his own pace. I realize that writing by hand is nearly obsolete in modern society, but there are other things that I worry about. Sure he can wear slip on or velcro shoes, but he really needs to be able to eat with a fork without looking like a land mine was hiding in his Mac and Cheese. *G* So I'm looking for possible exercises he can do to strengthen his fine motor skills ( ... )