Any experience with Dyspraxia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia?

[orval]

It has been determined that my 8 yr old ds has all of these.  Anyone with any personal experience?  We go to private catholic school so I really have no idea what the procedures are for extra help or if IEP's are part of private school.  They are giving him accommodations in math right now - extra time, doesn't have to finish etc. 

He will also start OT next week.

Any personal anecdotes would be helpful as I am clueless!  TIA

[Brie]

Marmee, possibly?

[Deleted]

@savestheday mentioned something about one of these the other day I think. I think she said she had it as a child.

[Deleted]

I had a diagnosis of disgraphia and possibly dispraxia as a child ( I would have to look up my records). I was the stereotypical " messy" kid. I had trouble organizing myself and writing in a straight line. My writing went up the page. In addition I had a terrible time with addition and subtraction due to trying to keep the numbers in columns. Graphing paper was a HUGE help for me although I needed the LARGE SIZE graphing paper as it was hard for me to write smaller.

I learned to kick a ball, tie my shoes and jump rope all in the same summer. It's like my brain suddenly " understood" those functions.

One thing that was a HUGE help to me was art. Any sort of drawing or artistic expression held my interest and helped me to learn coordination ( music, dance, visual arts) I started using charcoal at age 11 and that really helped my self esteem because I " could do " something well.

[osulori]

I'm not sure if it's different in other states, but in Ohio private schools are not required to service IEPs because they do not receive state funding. So if they offer ST, OT, PT etc that's awesome but they don't have to so it's often on the parents to get the child into private therapy (which it sounds like you guys are going). It's awesome that your school is giving some accommodations, hopefully they will be willing to add more as you guys are able to determine others.

[Deleted]

Also I am still a " messy" adult. Keeping things in order is harder for me. I like following organizational patterns but have a hard time creating them. I am getting better about this in my " old age" but it is still difficult for me. I have ZERO concept of space. Like NONE. I can't tell what will fit in a room or car by looking and Ikea furniture is like my ultimate downfall. I went to art school and had to take 3D design twice.

[auntie]

Sept 24, 2015 8:39:18 GMT -5 orval said:

It has been determined that my 8 yr old ds has all of these.  Anyone with any personal experience?  We go to private catholic school so I really have no idea what the procedures are for extra help or if IEP's are part of private school.  They are giving him accommodations in math right now - extra time, doesn't have to finish etc. 

He will also start OT next week.

Any personal anecdotes would be helpful as I am clueless!  TIA

DS has dysgraphia and dyscalculia as well as ASD, ADHD, dyslexia and GAD. He's a college senior now and doing really well, but damn it was a marathon to get here.

Some random thoughts because I'm recovering from Benedryl last night-

1. Who gave you this dx? And did they R/O things like ADHD which could also impact his ability to focus on subjects that are difficult for him?

2. Is the dysgraphia more related to the physical production (graphomotor skills) of writing? Or is it more about organizing thoughts (executive function) in his head and getting them to paper? Or is there more to it, including understanding what points need to be expressed (ToM, central coherence, etc- more of an expressive writing disorder).

For actually writing a differentiated writing curriculum makes sense- Handwriting without Tears is the one most often suggesting. Eight is a good age to start keyboarding as well. DS did a lot of his written assignments on a computer by 4th grade. Oral assessments are an option for some kids as well.

www.hwtears.com/hwt

For more organizational stuff around writing, prompts and scaffolding can help. Kidspiration software could help him draft and write assignments. 


www.inspiration.com/Kidspiration

3. Traditional parochial and indie schools aren't likely to be up to the task of an IEP which is a legally binding document which they won't be funded to administer. 

You could access special education services via your public school in the US via a dual enrollment. We did this to get speech when DS was in private school. This was a PITA because services were only available during the instructional day, so I'd drive DS from his other school on his weekly half day.

Much of the "speech" DS got in the intermediate grades and middle school was focused on helping him express himself in written work. He passed his required comp classes with A's at the end of the day.

4. You may want to consider changing schools. IME, most private schools can't offer the services a good public school can. And few teachers in parochial and indie schools are as highly qualified to teach children with learning difference. They get paid less and often resent doing the extra such kids require- often you'll get someone great one year and someone craptastic the next. of course, this depends on what is available in your community. 

5. We did a short term stint (from the end of 1st-start of 4th) a therapeutic lab school for kids with LD issues. It was a life changer for DS. He had access to the best teachers who were able to differentiate instruction to meet his specific needs. It was hella expensive and quite inconvenient, but so worth it in retrospect. 

6. Math is tougher. 

it's important the his curricula is chosen to support his learning style. be very careful around so called spiraling curricula, like Everyday Math, which doesn't give a child who doesn't intuit math sufficient exposure to master concepts before moving on. We found Touch Math to be worse than useless as well. TBH, DS didn't start getting math until we moved into more traditional teaching methods in secondary, but by then he was behind his peers. We doubled up math his senior year to prepare him for the required college math which he passed with Bs.

HTH.

[auntie]

In PA, the local IUs (county sped coops) do offer some services at private schools, but it's minimal. Generally SLPs and OTs do pull outs once a week, often in small groups settings. A child who needs twice weekly is better served in a public school here.

[Marmee]

My DD1 had/has speech issues, dyslexia & dysgraphia (plus strongly suspected ADD). She also goes to a catholic school. We had her evaluated & have always paid for her therapies & tutoring out of pocket. Her school/teachers allowed her tutor to tutor her in school during lunch & they (teacher/tutor) would coordinate with each other on strategies to help her. There were accommodations too (minor). She spent K & 1st in Speech Therapy. She had an Orton Gillingham Fellow for a tutor for 2yrs (1st/2nd grade). Her writing is more legible now that she writes in cursive though penmanship will never be a strong suit. She's very artistic though & also plays guitar. She's in 5th grade doing beautifully. I never explored the public school evals, resources or anything. My mom is a special Ed public school teacher but it all seemed too slow & complicated...I'm not particularly organized or disciplined myself. I won't lie though, months we paid over $1K for tutoring alone. In other circumstances I would have tried to find cheaper options. Good luck! I hope you find the write help for your child. The help changed my child's life & future.

[orval]

Thanks everyone. It is a lot to take in so I will read through and probably come up with more questions. Running to a meeting.

[auntie]

Sept 24, 2015 9:26:49 GMT -5 Marmee said:

 She had an Orton Gillingham Fellow for a tutor for 2yrs (1st/2nd grade).


DS did Orton, too. A great program but expensive. DS's Orton School was $22K a year so I hear you on cost.

I never explored the public school evals, resources or anything. My mom is a special Ed public school teacher but it all seemed too slow & complicated...I'm not particularly organized or disciplined myself.  

Does your DD get extra time for tests, a quiet place to take them or reduced assignments to mitigate the time spent on homework? You might want to revisit the public schools if this is an issue for her and she's college bound. If she will need extra time for high stakes testing like the SAT, ACT, AP Subject tests, GRE, LSAT, etc. you'll need to create a legally binding paper trail by middle school for consideration. Most private and parochial schools will accept a Section 504 for this purpose as will ETS, LSAC, etc for extra time on tests or a quiet place to sit the exam. Without an IEP record or Section 504, she will not be granted this consideration. 

A Section 504 would be useful if she needs accommodations in college as well. DS his first two years, but his junior year he did given the workload he had. He had to submit all manner of paperwork documenting his accommodations from school. It was useful to have the extra time, rubrics, etc documented so he could advocate for himself. Registering with Disability Services also made him eligible for a group of scholarships for students identified with learning differences. 

[orval]

Sept 24, 2015 9:59:53 GMT -5 sxia said:

How did you get this determined? I'm very curious if it was through the school or through the doctor?

We had testing done with a school psychologist that determined the dyscalculia. The OT did the dyspraxia and suggested dysgraphia as well.

[orval]

Sept 24, 2015 9:12:24 GMT -5 auntie said:

Sept 24, 2015 8:39:18 GMT -5 orval said:

It has been determined that my 8 yr old ds has all of these.  Anyone with any personal experience?  We go to private catholic school so I really have no idea what the procedures are for extra help or if IEP's are part of private school.  They are giving him accommodations in math right now - extra time, doesn't have to finish etc. 

He will also start OT next week.

Any personal anecdotes would be helpful as I am clueless!  TIA

DS has dysgraphia and dyscalculia as well as ASD, ADHD, dyslexia and GAD. He's a college senior now and doing really well, but damn it was a marathon to get here.

Some random thoughts because I'm recovering from Benedryl last night-

1. Who gave you this dx? And did they R/O things like ADHD which could also impact his ability to focus on subjects that are difficult for him?    private testing with school psychologist, no ADHD,

2. Is the dysgraphia more related to the physical production (graphomotor skills) of writing? Or is it more about organizing thoughts (executive function) in his head and getting them to paper? Or is there more to it, including understanding what points need to be expressed (ToM, central coherence, etc- more of an expressive writing disorder).   motor skills and expressive writing

For actually writing a differentiated writing curriculum makes sense- Handwriting without Tears is the one most often suggesting. Eight is a good age to start keyboarding as well. DS did a lot of his written assignments on a computer by 4th grade. Oral assessments are an option for some kids as well.

www.hwtears.com/hwt   he has learned with HWT since preschool through 1st grade, learned cursive this summer with same program

For more organizational stuff around writing, prompts and scaffolding can help. Kidspiration software could help him draft and write assignments. 


www.inspiration.com/Kidspiration   -- I will look into this.

3. Traditional parochial and indie schools aren't likely to be up to the task of an IEP which is a legally binding document which they won't be funded to administer. 

You could access special education services via your public school in the US via a dual enrollment. We did this to get speech when DS was in private school. This was a PITA because services were only available during the instructional day, so I'd drive DS from his other school on his weekly half day.

Much of the "speech" DS got in the intermediate grades and middle school was focused on helping him express himself in written work. He passed his required comp classes with A's at the end of the day.

4. You may want to consider changing schools. IME, most private schools can't offer the services a good public school can. And few teachers in parochial and indie schools are as highly qualified to teach children with learning difference. They get paid less and often resent doing the extra such kids require- often you'll get someone great one year and someone craptastic the next. of course, this depends on what is available in your community.  -- We do have a learning support teacher that focuses on children that need extra help.  Highly doubtful that we would go public as they are not good.  We shall see.  As Lolliegoespop said there are a couple Catholic schools in our area with extra services.  I need to find out more.  One of our friends switched to one this year - he is dyslexic.

5. We did a short term stint (from the end of 1st-start of 4th) a therapeutic lab school for kids with LD issues. It was a life changer for DS. He had access to the best teachers who were able to differentiate instruction to meet his specific needs. It was hella expensive and quite inconvenient, but so worth it in retrospect. 

6. Math is tougher. 

it's important the his curricula is chosen to support his learning style. be very careful around so called spiraling curricula, like Everyday Math, which doesn't give a child who doesn't intuit math sufficient exposure to master concepts before moving on. We found Touch Math to be worse than useless as well. TBH, DS didn't start getting math until we moved into more traditional teaching methods in secondary, but by then he was behind his peers. We doubled up math his senior year to prepare him for the required college math which he passed with Bs.   We just switched from Everyday Math (which was terrible) to another program this year.  He has had success with touch math so far.  But he only learned it a month ago. 

HTH.

Thank you for the details.

[auntie]

Sept 24, 2015 12:38:41 GMT -5 orval said:

Sept 24, 2015 9:12:24 GMT -5 auntie said:

1. Who gave you this dx? And did they R/O things like ADHD which could also impact his ability to focus on subjects that are difficult for him?    private testing with school psychologist, no ADHD,

Great. Without ADHD, which is commonly comorbid, remediation should be easier.

2. Is the dysgraphia more related to the physical production (graphomotor skills) of writing? Or is it more about organizing thoughts (executive function) in his head and getting them to paper? Or is there more to it, including understanding what points need to be expressed (ToM, central coherence, etc- more of an expressive writing disorder).   motor skills and expressive writing

Sometimes when you relieve the burden of the physical production of pencil to paper, there's more bandwidth available for mentally doing the task. This is usually the case if the student can logically tell you about a remote event or retell a story they've read. 

  he has learned with HWT since preschool through 1st grade, learned cursive this summer with same program

Great.

For more organizational stuff around writing, prompts and scaffolding can help. Kidspiration software could help him draft and write assignments. 



www.inspiration.com/Kidspiration   -- I will look into this.


This can really help a child organize their thoughts. One of my friend's kids who has a disorder of written expression recently moved to a cyber charter school (he's an athlete who is in development for elite status, so regular school isn't a good fit- he trains 6 hours a day) where he trialed this at my suggestion. He went from writing the absolute minimum to creating very detailed and interesting essays. 



4. You may want to consider changing schools. IME, most private schools can't offer the services a good public school can. And few teachers in parochial and indie schools are as highly qualified to teach children with learning difference. They get paid less and often resent doing the extra such kids require- often you'll get someone great one year and someone craptastic the next. of course, this depends on what is available in your community.  -- We do have a learning support teacher that focuses on children that need extra help.  Highly doubtful that we would go public as they are not good.  We shall see.  As Lolliegoespop said there are a couple Catholic schools in our area with extra services.  I need to find out more.  One of our friends switched to one this year - he is dyslexic.


It's great that you have options. It's hard to make generalities. Where I live the RC schools have a couple schools for kids with severe challenges but little for kids who just need a little extra attention. Especially compared to the really good district in which I live. Sometimes school needs change year to year, DS has attended a lot of different kinds of schools and classrooms- for a highly academic day school, to a therapeutic program, to mainstream public.

   We just switched from Everyday Math (which was terrible) to another program this year.  He has had success with touch math so far.  But he only learned it a month ago. 

Watch the Touch Math. It was OK for addition/subtraction but not so much around the rest of the arithmetic piece. DS did well and then he just stopped moving forward.