Boys have been in school for 5 wks...

[trek]

Holt has even received progress reports. He is struggling with writing. Via email I asked the teacher her thoughts and mentioned his current IEP where last year's 1st grade teacher had concerns about his writing. Current teacher (gifted certified) thinks he just does not like to write. Holt is 2nd grader will 8 next month, still gets b/d and several #s reversed though he usually sees the reversals independently. He was late talker - originally dx of mild/moderate Autism at 2&3 yrs privately. Released from academic support at age 6 in kinder in school-still receives ST in school.

Should I request testing to rule out LD? He reads and comprehends above grade level. I'm concerned since they require writing for all subjects even math due to common core. Also, if he tells you a story it is a lot more elaborate than if he is actually writing it down on paper. We practiced all summer and the most I could get was 8 sentences without him in tears.

Parent/Teacher conferences are next week so I could bring it with me. But, in her email the teacher dismissed my bullet points of the following:

I am unsure what you are seeing in the school setting, but I have the following concerns:

2) Phonological issues possibly affecting phonics based reading
3) Possible visual discrimination/motor issues


#3 since he leaves things blank on cluttered worksheets-things he knows. She lets him correct, but not on timed math tests 100 problems in 5 minutes. At home I have him cover 1/2 the sheet, not sure if they will allow that in school without accommodations via IEP. Oh, and on Mondays he also attends a separate gifted program at another school, worried about his ability to copy the info for HW down on the agenda-I cannot read it.

Grant is enjoying 7th grade, still having issues on some days with verbal perservation, but overall he has adjusted well. They are stepping up work load now and he is struggling a bit. Trying to give him more accountability on completing things independently. He has done well so far, but we shall see. Math is still his weakest area along with LA. I LOVE his school

[kikih]

I could have wrote part of your post. It was in second grade that my DD's hand writing issues really surfaced. She reversed b's and d's consistantly until 3rd grade. She did usually catch it. However, she had horrible spacing between letters, and words. Basically her writing looked like one big non-ending word. So we went to an OT to see about how she held the pencil etc. She was mildly Dysgraphic. For most of us we think the letter "A" and then write A. For her she has to think how to redraw and A every time. After two rounds of vision therapy and some maturity, you can read her writing. I wouldn't hesitate on getting your guy evaluated.

kiki

[trek]

Thanks Kiki. Glad your DD is doing better. I think something is underlying issues-is it impacting him enough in the county's eyes the answer sadly will be no. But, I need to get the ball rolling.

Holt can write, but the effort expanded is probably WHY he only puts down 5 sentences! He struggles to copy from a board, and to even make basic shapes. Cutting is the only thing the teacher reported as a concern:
"As far as motor skills, he seems to do okay except for cutting- this can sometimes be difficult for him. If you have any suggestions or things that have worked well in the past with him just let me know."


Yet, Holt is unable to copy a sentence and fit it on the line so the margins are filled with writing you cannot read. Also, Holt practiced cutting 3x a week over the summer. He his impacted in PE, not enough to be given adapted though.



Thanks again.

[JanetMB]

Should I request testing to rule out LD? He reads and comprehends above grade level. I'm concerned since they require writing for all subjects even math due to common core. Also, if he tells you a story it is a lot more elaborate than if he is actually writing it down on paper. We practiced all summer and the most I could get was 8 sentences without him in tears.

This described my DD exactly. In second grade they had to write a book report every Tuesday. If she did it on her own, she would write a few very short, very basic sentences and we would often have tears to get her to even do that much. If I sat on the computer and typed what she dictated, she would go into detail using great vocabulary. Still, she was at grade level in reading and at the top of her class in math (although like yoour son she would sometimes just miss problems - I hadn't thought about that being connected) so we didn't think much of it. At the beginning of third grade her teacher asked us to get her tested because she saw a few signs that concerned her. Her spelling was atrocious, especially for such a bright kid, her writing was well below her comprehension level, and reading out loud was a struggle. It turns out that teacher had worked with LD and knew those signs or we wouldn't have caught it for a few more years. We found out DD is extremely dyslexic but had learned coping skills that had compensated for and masked her disability. Now, after two years of intense dyslexic therapy her writing has improved tremendously. She's never going to be a great speller (thank goodness for spell-check) but she's doing very well.

Janet

[trek]

Janet- thanks for chiming in with your DD's story. Glad she is doing better with therapy.

I did not request an evaluation yet. Teacher still thinks he just does not like to write. But I think like Janet's story illustrates something else is going on. I'm just dreading the whole thing about requesting testing-but if he remains struggling in writing than I will have to move forward.

The teacher did offer to allow Holt to use a blank piece of paper to cover his 1/2 of timed math test. Not sure if it will help or not.