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dysgraphia

Submitted by an LD OnLine user on

My son is 9 years old and in the 4th grade. He is currently taking 7.5 mg of Adderall each morning. He’s doing great in school. Basically, not a discipline problem. His biggest struggle of all is his organization skills and his printing/handwriting. On his good days you can barely read it. His class is starting to take notes during class discussions, so you can imagine what those look like. He can not write fast, so the notes illegible because he’s just trying to get whatever he can on paper. My question? He doesn’t qualify for Special Ed, as he’s too smart and performing at grade level. We wanted to get him qualified under OHI, in order to recieve Occupational Theraphy, but they didn’t even want to lable him with that. Familiar story? I was wondering if it would be possible to have his pediatrician refer him to an occupation al therapist for some fine motor help. Has anyone tried this route before? I’m desperate to get him help, but I don’t think we can afford to pay for a therapist out of our own pockets. Any feedback would be appreciated!

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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: I can’t say for sure but it might work, depending on your insurance plan. You’d need to delve into your plan and find out what’s really covered and what’s not. If you have your plan through work, you could start with the human benefits people. They might be able to help you know what the plan covers or call your insurance people directly.Be gently aware though that occupational therapy is not a cure all. Not all printing/handwriting issues respond to occupational therapy. Not all printing/handwriting issues are fine-motor based. There are at least several reasons a child might write as does as your son and fine motor issues are only one.Has your son been tested? If the testing was thorough, it should offer an opinion on his writing. Otherwise, you could consider having him take The TOWL or Test of Written Language to see what an educational psychologist would say about his handwriting.My son is 9 years old and in the 4th grade. He is currently taking
: 7.5 mg of Adderall each morning. He’s doing great in school.
: Basically, not a discipline problem. His biggest struggle of all
: is his organization skills and his printing/handwriting. On his
: good days you can barely read it. His class is starting to take
: notes during class discussions, so you can imagine what those look
: like. He can not write fast, so the notes illegible because he’s
: just trying to get whatever he can on paper. My question? He
: doesn’t qualify for Special Ed, as he’s too smart and performing
: at grade level. We wanted to get him qualified under OHI, in order
: to recieve Occupational Theraphy, but they didn’t even want to
: lable him with that. Familiar story? I was wondering if it would
: be possible to have his pediatrician refer him to an occupation al
: therapist for some fine motor help. Has anyone tried this route
: before? I’m desperate to get him help, but I don’t think we can
: afford to pay for a therapist out of our own pockets. Any feedback
: would be appreciated!

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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Has the school tested for either/or LD’s or OT?? Aren’t they required to test if the parent requests it?My 9 year old was tested last year for LDs and OT. The LD was at my request, to rule out any possibility of having LD on top of his ADD. The OT was as the teachers request, as his handwriting is awful.He didn’t have any LD problems or qualify for OT. As I understand it, having bad handwriting is common for children with ADD. Perhaps this is your son’s case?Because my son is doing too well in school he doesn’t qualify for any special exemptions. Fortunately, his teacher realizes that problems with organization, handwriting, etc. are common ADD characteristics and is willing to work with him, and if needed, give him some special help.Perhaps your son’s teacher would be willing to help out. For example, could she give your son copies of someone else’s notes? (or hers.) As far as organization, does your son have an assignment notebook? Perhaps the teacher would be willing to make sure your son correctly records assignments each night, and takes home the correct books.Good luck!

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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My pediatrician wrote a prescription for OT after my 5 year old son tested in the 5th percentile for fine motor skills which was still considered too high to qualify for therapy at school. My insurance does cover 25 visits a year and the therapist is only working on handwriting with him. The hard part was finding a therapist. Most here have 6 month waiting lists.

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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Yes, he’s been tested for LD, but does not qualify. He’s very bright. You are right, I know his writing is a result of the ADHD, but they wouldn’t even qualify him for OT under OHI because he was clearly average to above average. It’s really frustrating, but I think I’ll try and work it through my Pediatrician. I need to do whatever I can to help him!: Has the school tested for either/or LD’s or OT?? Aren’t they required
: to test if the parent requests it?: My 9 year old was tested last year for LDs and OT. The LD was at my
: request, to rule out any possibility of having LD on top of his
: ADD. The OT was as the teachers request, as his handwriting is
: awful.: He didn’t have any LD problems or qualify for OT. As I understand it,
: having bad handwriting is common for children with ADD. Perhaps
: this is your son’s case?: Because my son is doing too well in school he doesn’t qualify for any
: special exemptions. Fortunately, his teacher realizes that
: problems with organization, handwriting, etc. are common ADD
: characteristics and is willing to work with him, and if needed,
: give him some special help.: Perhaps your son’s teacher would be willing to help out. For example,
: could she give your son copies of someone else’s notes? (or hers.)
: As far as organization, does your son have an assignment notebook?
: Perhaps the teacher would be willing to make sure your son
: correctly records assignments each night, and takes home the
: correct books.: Good luck!

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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my son also has the same problems and does not qualify for services. Since his fine motor skills have been a problem since kindergarten the special ed dept is going to establish a 504 plan (look into this)which offers accomandation and may provide computer or word processor for classroom and i’m also having my son tested for capd soon so hopefully this will provide some insight too.I’m also having a bunch of testing done. The school has to honor your request for testing. My son will be receiving a TOWLIII (test of written language) and testing for visual perception. I’m also requesting a full ot evaluation even thought he had one in kindergarten. My son has had some form of testing pretty much every school year. Don’t give up and keep pushing the school for testing even in writing if necessary

Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/14/2001 - 5:00 AM

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PASSWORD>aaphVdPk791FwWhen you say he doesn’t qualify for LD, is that using the average scores or the individual subtests? With an advocate, we were able to argue that my daughter’s score on dictation alone showed a big enough gap to qualify for LD. (with the standard score is a +/- set of scores. This gives a range of scores that your child would be expected to score on any given day on this test. By using the full range, our daughter qualifed based on the low end. sharon: My son is 9 years old and in the 4th grade. He is currently taking
: 7.5 mg of Adderall each morning. He’s doing great in school.
: Basically, not a discipline problem. His biggest struggle of all
: is his organization skills and his printing/handwriting. On his
: good days you can barely read it. His class is starting to take
: notes during class discussions, so you can imagine what those look
: like. He can not write fast, so the notes illegible because he’s
: just trying to get whatever he can on paper. My question? He
: doesn’t qualify for Special Ed, as he’s too smart and performing
: at grade level. We wanted to get him qualified under OHI, in order
: to recieve Occupational Theraphy, but they didn’t even want to
: lable him with that. Familiar story? I was wondering if it would
: be possible to have his pediatrician refer him to an occupation al
: therapist for some fine motor help. Has anyone tried this route
: before? I’m desperate to get him help, but I don’t think we can
: afford to pay for a therapist out of our own pockets. Any feedback
: would be appreciated!

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