Does my son have dysgraphia?

Question

My son is 6 years old. Recently, his teacher told me that his grades do not reflect his abilities: he gets Bs and Cs but should be getting As and Bs. She feels the main reason for the discrepancy is an inability to write at a level appropriate for his age/grade and intelligence.

Things I've observed about my son:

-Can't tie his shoelaces

-Has a hard time cutting with scissors

-Has poor penmanship (in two languages)

-Written words/sentences can be incoherent

-Much prefers maths and sciences to writing/language arts

-Sometimes mixes up upper- and lower-case letters; numbers are also messy

-Is a good reader

-Is social and articulate (for the most part)

Family history: I was never diagnosed with a LD, but I have a dysgraphic cousin. My husband was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child and is a bad speller. I always excelled in languages/writing.

We plan to get a professional assessment, but I'd like to hear from other parents and educators on this matter too. Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

Two things.  First take him to your doctor and see if he has dysgraphia.  The other thing you can do is to ask that your school district evaluate him for occupational therapy services.  Where I live the school districts do not test for this condition and considers it a medical diagnosis.  Good luck.

Answer 2

fate schifo!!!!!english!!!

suks!!!!Italia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 3

At six it may be a bit early to tell about some of these things, but still...if you're concerned...have him professionally assessed.  

I was diagnoses with dysgraphia when I was in college. My letters would often go up instead of down and sometimes I'd mix up the first and last letters of a word.  It is more pronounced when I am stressed.

Answer 4

You're son sounds a lot like me. I have dyslexia, ADHD, fine motor skill issues, and other various 'specific learning disabilities'. I'm also billingual (french and english). I'm 16 by the way.

People thaught I was a good reader untill 6th grade. I was the only one in my preschool/kindergaten class that could 'read'. What I had actualy done is memorized about 15 Dr. Seuss books and a few of my other favorites. I have an exceptional memorie (as long as I do not have to memorizing a series of letters and there 'meaning'). People would read me the book once, then I would 'read' it back to them. If I should forget, I would use the pictures to remind me. In first grade I went to a french (I live in a french speaking area of Canada) school, and we did not take english untill the third grade. I was behind in reading/writing but the school figuired that was because I also spoke english, and was confused with my two languages. When we did start english, I was the only one who had taken english in prop grade, so I was ahead. In grade 5/6, once they took the pictures out of books, and they were so long that they couldn't be easily memorized, my grade plumeted, and I was assesed and diagnosed as dyslexic.

I have never been a good speller, ever. But before my assesment, since I could 'read' it was thaught that I was just lazy. My hand writing is completely illedgible, even now it looks like a four year old wrote it. I tell people I have a 'cutting impairment' because I can't cut a straight line, just a jagged, out of control line. When I write, I have a tendancy to mix up letters, leave them out, or add them. I was that one kid who flunked inventive spelling. My writing is usualy poorly organized. I've been told it looks like someone took all my sentances, chwed them up, and spit them back out onto my page. The same has been said for my spelling. With the shoe tying, that's why they inveted velcro, slip ons,and laced tied loose enough that they can be slip ons.

But, like your son, I also have many talents skills. I am very social and articulate (I kick but at public speaking, the only part of language arts that I enjoy). I am good at drawing/painting and I can play 8 instruments. I swmi competitivley, and I do ballet, jazz and tap. I play Lacrosse and field hockey. And no, that many sports is not excessive. When one has ADHD, one must be very active, or one finds it hard to sit for whole classe. You son will discover what he excels at.

Getting an assesment in a very good idea. Don't leave it until he's in grade 6 and still misspells his own name. Don't let teachers put him down, or call him lazy. Don't let him believe people who do call him stupid, lazy, slow, unintlligent etc. Good luck!

Answer 5

First, he is only six. It is common to mix up lower case with capital letters. From what you've indicated he does appear to have some fine motor delays, but I don't know of many that cut well with scissors at 6, and some still can't tie their shoes. I do wonder how much writing he has to do at school, given his age, that would cause him to get grades of Bs and Cs.

Typically, public school systems in the United States do not label students with dysgraphia, dyslexia, or dyscalcula but use the term Learning Disabled then list the area of reading, math, or writing. However, if your son is in a public school in the US, you can check with the school about a comprehensive evaluation which will check into your concerns. This professional evaluation would not cost you anything.

Put your request for academic evaluation in writing and submit it to the principal and special needs director of the school system. You should get results within 90 days.

However, you should know that it is very difficult to obtain a diagnosis of LD at his age because he will need to be assessed for ability and achievement. There are not many assessments that accurately compare these areas at his age. For the most part you get more accurate results by the time children are in third grade. A Learning Disability in writing is much more difficult to determine early than one of reading or math.

Answer 6

I don't know about dysgraphia running in families but I know dyslexia does.

At six mixing up lower and upper case letters is quite common.

One question are both languages his mother tounge (i.e bought up with both rather than learning one at school) If it is it could just be that he is struggling with the writing components of each (are they very different). Again at six some words/sentences can be incoherent. as at 6 your fin motor skills are still developing this goes for the shoelaces and scissors thing as well.

If you are concerned I'd still get him seen by a proffessional but I wouldn't be too concerned. He seems with in the range of a typical 6 year old to me.

One thing about child development is that although all things develop they don't all develop at the same time. They mostly come in blocks. At the moment his cognitive or social/emotional development may be taking precedence over his fine motor development. But then later fine motor may take precedence over some other area of development.

Answer 7

My 10 yo son was dx w/ dysgraphia.  It was so helpful having the testing to figure out what was wrong.  The school now has an IEP for him and has worked in several accommedations to help him.  He too is extremely bright - genius level IQ, but had severe problems putting thoughts on paper.

Answer 8

it does sound like it.

try webmd.com

or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysgraphia

Answer 9

The recommendation for an occupational therapy assessment is a solid recommendation. The O.T. will specifically address some of the items of concern you have listed including tying his shoe lace, cutting with scissors, pencil grip and penmanship.

The mixing up of lower and upper case letters is pretty common,  developmentally speaking, for a six year old boy. Even reversing letters, numbers etc., is common through age seven.

With regards to writing in correct and complete sentences, it might be worth consultation with the Speech Language Therapist at your school. As he is so young, standardized assessments may not yield the best information but a Speech Language Therapist has specific training to yield qualitative information in addition to quantitative interpretations.

Per the school setting you are not likely to receive diagnosis of dysgraphia or dyslexia as those are medically based but it could be that delays are identified or a specific diagnosis like Learning Disabled in written expression could be rendered.

Be sure and ask for a copy of your rights from the school and have a special education teacher review the rights with you. Don't be hesitant to ask, they will be glad to go over the process with you as will the O.T or Speech Language Therapist. Be advised there are also School Psychologists on staff to walk you through the process.

If you wish to independently pursue an evaluation be sure and check with your insurance company for coverage. Get a licensed School Psychologist to complete the assessment. Physicians are not typically trained to conduct these type of evaluations. Psychologists can render diagnosis of dysgraphia and dyslexia but remember, educational certification is key for services in the school system so be sure and ask for a psychological report, Speech Language report and/or report from the Occupational Therapist reflecting the findings.

Good luck to you.

Answer 10

Dyslexia does tend to run in families, my friends siblings and mother are dyslexic.

My friend and her daughter have dyslexia, her daughter has Dysgraphia, where she can't write and spell very well, but can read quite well. Your son sounds like my friends daughter when she was much younger.

See if the school will have him assessed for a learning disability.

Answer 11

Your son sounds almost exactly like my son, with the exception his teachers told me he wasn't just as smart as the other children (Both my husband & I test at nearly genius levels).  LSS-byt he end of 1st grade they wouldn't look me in the eye because the testing that I insisted on for SIX months showed that his IQ was not only above average but test in the stratophere for mechanics and logic-resoning.  His problem turned out to be a short term memory deficiency.  I also recently heard about a condition called something like coginative disassociative disorder (not sure if that's it) invovling a short circut from vision to brain processing.  Testing for this condition is done by a eye doctor.  Anyway, my son is in 5th grade, in special ed-to help him with his memory problem.  He doesn't get A's except in math, science, and social studies, but every now & then he does something that blows everybody out of the water!  He's funny and friendly and charming-has lots of friends-I imagine when he's grown he'll be some adventurer entrepanuer that travels the globe, dates movie stars,and worth millions.  And then I'll call up his 1st grade teachers and tell them how his success had nothing to do with them!  Sorry this was so long.  Good luck-and keep on your son's educators to get the education he deserves!

Answer 12

get an occupational therapy assessment-may be a global fine motor problem instead of dysgraphia

Answer 13

He may have dysgraphia and or dyspraxia, the things you have noted about your son sounds very much like my daughter when she was the same age.

As few people have suggested a school psychologist & OT are the best people for an assessment, the psychologist is trained in assessing students for learning disabilities and behavioural issues, and an OT will assess for dyspraxia etc, both will suggest relevant support programs and or support services to assist your son.

Given the school has raised concerns with you, they will with your permission, organize for your son to be assessed at their cost (they have funding for this).

My daughter was diagnosed as having dyslexia, specifically dysgraphia and dyscalculia at the age of 9, we suspect she has dyspraxia too. At the of her diagnosis I learnt I had dyslexia too, which explains my inability to read until 14, but strangely I could write and spell except to mixing up and writing some letters back to front. Obviously the dyslexia affect us a little differently to each other.

Having seen how my daughter struggled through school I decided to became a Youth & Disability support worker (has not been easy, being dyslexic), I have keen interest in learning disabilities, specifically dyslexia, having learnt many different strategies to help the student in the class and at home.

If you would like some tips and support please email me, I have also included some links for you, if you wish to check them out.