Disorder of written expression

[Anonymous]

Have u ever heard if this or received a DX? What if your child is scoring off the charts, will then school recognize this? What type of services does one get with this DX?

[Anonymous]

It's dysgraphia. Your kid may need OT:

http://www.ldonline.org/article/12770/

[Anonymous]

I have GT/LD child with dysgraphia. What do you mean "scoring off the charts"? Are you referring to IQ? To school testing, if so, which ones? Either way, scoring "off the charts" does not preclude getting an IEP. A child can receive an IEP even if he/she is not failing. The key question is what is their performance in writing? Are they passing the writing assignments in class? If so, is what they are writing demonstrative of their actual knowledge, if not that's a problem. (i.e. if a kid can orally speak paragraphs as an answer, but will only write a sentence or two if forced to answer in writing, that's indicative of a problem)? Or is writing so difficult and laborious that it is consuming all their time just to keep up or causing anxiety or frustration in class? Also problems.

Dysgraphia can be kind of a broad diagnosis, because, of course, writing involves a number of different processes. As PP said, one part of disorders of written expression can often be problems with handwriting that require OT. Our experience is that, no matter how bad handwriting is, in MCPS the school will not provide "teaching" of handwriting.

Another part of DoWE/dysgraphia, is being able to mentally organize and express your thoughts. And, if being asked to respond to a reading, being able to read and mentally organize what you read. My DC has trouble with this, has an IEP, gets prompts and support from his SPED teacher in the regular classroom and gets to use graphic organizers to help him organize any writing over 2-3 sentences long.

Another part of DoWE/dysgraphia, can be trouble spelling or punctuating, correcting grammar, etc. You have to look carefully at why your DC might be having trouble here. For my DC, trouble spelling is clearly related to poor understanding of what the letter/sound correspondence is. It is also due to a poor ability to read accurately, and thus he has trouble reading what he wrote accurately enough to correct. And, in our case, it is due to a poor understanding of semantics and syntax. He needs explicit and repetitive teaching of grammar, etc. to be able to make corrections. The school is not really willing to remediate my DC in these areas (my sense is that they don't really know how and/or don't want to give more time under the IEP.) Instead, he is allowed to use the computer to write, to use spell and grammar check and has access to special "word prediction" software that helps him spell/choose the right word as he writes, and he can have the computer "read" his work back which makes it easier to notice errors.

[Anonymous]

DS got this DX last year through a neuropsych evaluation at Kennedy-Krieger. From what I understand, dysgraphia refers more to physical difficulties with writing, which OT can help remediate. In DS's case, per a PP, he has difficulty both with organizing his written thoughts and with spelling/punctuation. He has an IEP and has informally been typing assignments for a few months (better output, no significant improvement in spelling/punctuation).

[Anonymous]

Like others have said it is dysgraphia. My son has it. He also has dyslexia. He can "write" if he dictates. If he has to hand write it, he self edits to the absolute minimum and often less. If he types, it is somewhere between. Since he has both diagnoses, we is learning to use Dragon Naturally Speaking. Last summer FCPS spent five mornings to get him up to sped on the basics and he has been usuing is sporatically since. He hasn't had enough homework at home to make it fluent yet, but he has been relatively successful. We did not introduce Dragon until between 7th and 8th because it requires some maturity to work through the frustrations.

If your DC has only dysgraphia, typing may solve the issue.

Neither dysgraphia nor dyslexia is related to intelligence.

If people you care about have trouble grasping this. Have them try to write something upside down with their non dominant hand. The extra effort they have to devote to the physical part of writing is what a child with dysgraphia has to do all the time. You can do this with a book and have them try to read it upside down.

[Anonymous]

Me again. In addition to Dragon, my son uses Kurzweil for some writing and reading. It is also provided by the school.

[Anonymous]

When I say off the carts, I mean...

98% on NNAT
However, qualifies for ESOL because of writing, and only writing. Not necessarily handwriting, but the inability to get the thoughts on paper. Is excellent at retelling (according to teacher) but not able to summarize events or retell in written form. Math and nonverbal are fine.

Is is writing holding him back? No, the school gives him all 3 and 4 on his report card. However, he was not able to pass the DRA 28 because of written expression. So, yes, his writing is very off from the rest of his abilities. My concern is the great difference between the non-written expression and written.

Dev. Ped is the one who said he has D of WE. and suggested that I fill out a multipurpose referral form to DC assessed.

[Anonymous]

OH...he has NEVER received ESOL services as the school (and I) agree that he doesn't need ESOL; however, the school is not willing to suggest or even consider that may be an LD issue. That is why I finally, after 2 years, decided to go to Dev. Ped.

[Anonymous]

I am not sure I understand the difference between retelling and retell in writing. Can he write down what he was telling orally? Or is the process of writing interfere with his thoughts to the degree he can not put things down in paper? It may still have a physical component related to handwriting? No?

[Anonymous]

He can retell orally, not in writing. It could have a physical component, I dont know. Will the school evaluation tell me?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He can retell orally, not in writing. It could have a physical component, I dont know. Will the school evaluation tell me?

You should definitely share the dev ped's report with the school and request they evaluate your DS for challenges he's having accessing the curricula. I suggest you do it immediately becuase they've got 60 days from the time of referral and it's hard to get it done over the summer when school's not in session. Once you have the information from the school assessments (and there will be a lot of information), you can post back with questions but as of now, you just don't have enough information.

Also - eligibility for ESOL eligibility isn't based on writing. You child is only tested for ESOL services if you indicated a language other than English is spoken in the home.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I know what ESOL is, and we have a 2nd language spoken at home. He qualifies for ESOL based upon the WIDA only because of his written expression. However, he does not receive ESOL services as he is fluent in English. So, yes, he does in fact qualify for ESOL based solely upon his written expression. It is too long of a story and one that I have been trying to get the school to understand. The school is not very keen on admitting that DC has a potential LD and this is why his WIDA is in qualifying range for ESOL services. It is all Very frustrating!

[Anonymous]

Yes. DS2 has dysgraphia, dsylexia, ADHD. He also scored 140 on the WISC. His working memory is in the lowest quartile.

Our psychologist specializes in gifted/LD students. She suggested that we seek accommodations for him including the use of an Ipad for typing and dictating. After dictating his work, he can edit it manually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He can retell orally, not in writing. It could have a physical component, I dont know. Will the school evaluation tell me?

If he has dysgraphia (aka "disorder of written expression"), it's a brain hand coordination thing. He has good verbal skills and IQ, but he is having problems getting his hand to do what his brain wants. It makes writing very labor intensive and miserable. It's more a neurological problem than a motor skills problem. You can try getting occupational therapy for it, but it takes forever to improve via oT and it's a miserable experience for the kid.

[Anonymous]

Thanks. SO, PP, what do I do if not OT? Please advise.

Weird thing is if you ask DS if he likes writing he will tell you he LOVES it. He loves seeing the words go across his mind he says the words are stored in a file in his head and he takes them out (figuratively) to use when he is writing. However, this process takes a long time, or so it seems. I plan to drop off the DX from the Dev. Ped for an evaluations for Did. or WE. Thanks all for your replies.