Writing, reading comprehension & handwriting problems (l

My son is almost 9YO. He attended public school through first grade and I removed him when he completed the year without being able to read. I was able to get him reading to a second grade level within months.

He's been home now for almost two years and there isn't much improvement in his writing skills. While he can test well orally, putting pen to paper is extraordinarily difficult. His letters are of many sizes and his method of writing is odd. He starts from the bottom line and adds seriphs sloppily. His speech was incoherent in Kindergarten and has slowly, very slowly, progressed.

Physically, his gross motor skills have been quite delayed and he's clumsy. He just learned to ride his bike and I hope this improves his strength.

He is completing third grade math and there are no difficulties in that area. He has uncanny logic skills and an amazing long term memory. He can remember where we sat in a restaurant a year ago. He enjoys puzzles and doing things with his hands. He always surprises us because his language is very simple but his throughts are complex. He is a very bright, intuitive child who appears much younger than he is because of his small stature, speech and his extremely sunny and pleasant demeanor.

The evaluation from the school gave him a verbal IQ of 78 and a performance IQ of 117. The diagnosis was auditory processing dysfunction but a visit to NAU's auditory health clinic proved that he does not have this disorder.

I am considering enrolling him in a small rural school. His teacher would be a highly trained reading specialist and his class will have no more than 10 kids across K-3rd grade levels. I am beginning to feel that I cannot meet his needs and it is very stressful to me.

So I guess what I want to know is: is this familiar to anyone? Does it model any learning disabilities that you have seen? Is there something that I can use to help him?

Does making him practice writing do him harm? Can he improve these skills? He forgets what he reads as he struggles through the text.

I answered about improving handwriting, in detail, on the other board.

Your medical insurance would probably cover an occupational therapy evaluation and a speech/language evaluation by a speech pathologist. Find the best ones in your area, then call their clinics to ask about insurance coverage. They handle insurance companies all the time and will probably be able to tell you exactly how a referral needs to be worded or coded. Once you know this, you can go to your GP or pediatrician to request the referral. (If, for some reason, you don't get the referrals I would change doctors.)

Nancy