We just met with our son’s psychologist and confirmed the diagnosis of Dysgraphia. Does anyone have recommendations/suggestions on how to help him? He is in 1st grade so it is very heavy on handwriting which he simply cannot do. He is so frustrated with himself and thinks he is dumb which we all know is not the case with LD kids. Thankfully we have a supporting school which is eager to help him - they are the ones who suggested the LD testing. Any/all information/input would be appreciated. I’m more than a little overwhelmed here!
Re: Dysgraphia
How would someone know what causes Dysgraphia? My son has low muscle tone but I still don’t know how to help him in school. He will be in 1st grade next year.
What do the schools do to help students like this?
Re: Dysgraphia
There are a host of accommodations you can request through your school with a 504. Look for the book “Why Johnny Can’t Write” for more information. I also recommend occupational therapy (OT). Meet with the teacher and discuss possible accommodations. Ask the diagnosing physician or psychologist for a list of accommodations. Ask the OT for the same. It’s not only about the writing process, it also can effect executive function, the ability to transfer writing from one document to another, and anxiety. And working on handwriting is not the only solution—often there are a host of physical issues (core strength, hand-eye, etc.) that need strengthening. Some accommodation ideas:
Do not make the child miss recess because work is not completed.
“Chunk” assignments so the child only sees a small amount of work on a page.
Reduce the amount of handwritten work (for example, if a math quiz has 12 Qs, reduce to 6)
If the school has iPads or other devices, transition assignments to the iPad and work on keyboarding skills.
Allow the child to answer longer assignments verbally, or transcribe them verbally to a “scribe”
Allow homework to be dictated to a parent.
Accelerate learning cursive. It reduces the number of times the pencil is lifted and replaced on the paper.
Re: Dysgraphia
My son (9) has dyslexia and dysgraphia and this year (3rd grade) I have finally given up making him write all his homework answers by hand and either let him use the iPad or dictate to me. It has made a HUGE difference in our family life. He also is just starting a trial at his school with a laptop provided by the 504 Assistive technology department of our district. It will have word, co-writer, and a typing tutor loaded on it.
I am hopeful this will help him become more independent with his class/home work….
Hi Hedeki and welcome to the forum,
It’s good to hear that you have a supportive school, also that it has been diagnosed in 1st grade, rather than later.
So having got a diagnosis of Dysgraphia, the next step is learn all about handwriting and what is involved?
Where we have recalling the image of letters in our mind at one end, and controlling our hand and fingers at the other end, to write them.
Where it’s actually a complex process, so that a difficulty anywhere within the ‘process’, will cause difficulties with handwriting and Dysgraphia.
So my point is that it is important to identify and understand what is actually causing his Dysgraphia?
So that to help him, you can avoid trying a whole range of different things/programs, to find one that works?
The first thing to look at, is the control that he has over his fingers, as a difficulty with this will effect more than handwriting.