Where can I get information about Dysgraphia?

Question

I believe my child has it, but what I can't find is where to go to have my child evaluated. The school won't help. I know visual therapy will help but most insurance companies don't pay for it. I live in New York.

Answer 1

Put your request in writing and send a copy of it to the school board. you will get what you want.

Answer 2

Dysgraphia - What it is and what it isn't

The word 'dysgraphia' simply means difficulty expressing thoughts in

writing. In other words, it just means 'writing difficulty'. And

generally it is used to refer to extremely poor handwriting and may

even be identified to as a 'disorder of written expression'. As with

dyslexia, confusion often arises when we start dealing with the

term 'dysgraphia' as it relates to 'special education services'.

Each State has its own criteria (based upon the Federal definition of

LD) which determine if a student has a learning disability as it is

defined by special education rules. When a student's writing

difficulties are severe enough to meet this criteria, special

education services are indicated. On the other hand, 'dysgraphia' has

no clearly defined criteria. A student with any degree of handwriting

difficulty may be considered 'dysgraphic' by some educational

specialists. This frequently occurs when a student receives an

educational evaluation outside of the public school system.

So, being labeled as 'dysgraphic' may or may not indicate the need

for special education services. It should be noted that most students

with learning disabilities experience difficulty with handwriting and

probably could be considered 'dysgraphic' . However, the term is

seldom used within public schools because of the lack of any strict

or measurable criteria.

Underlying causes of dysgraphia:

Sequencing Problems - As with dyslexia, written language difficulty

is often believed to be the result of underlying visual or perceptual

processing weakness. However, research on brain functioning has not

found much evidence to support the notion of a visual basis for

dysgraphia. In fact, what usually appears to be a perceptual problem

(reversing letters/numbers, writing words backwards, writing letters

out of order, and very sloppy handwriting) usually seems to be

directly related to sequential/rational information processing. In

other words, when students experience difficulty sequencing and

organizing detailed information, they often have difficulty with the

sequence of letters and words as they write. As a result, the student

either needs to slow way down in order to write correctly or

experiences rather extreme difficulty with the 'mechanics' of writing

(spelling, punctuation, etc.). Usually they have difficulty even when

they do slow down. And by slowing down or getting 'stuck' with the

details of writing they often lose the great thoughts that they are

trying to write about. Sometimes the creative writing skills of such

a student are surprisingly strong when the mechanics of writing don't

get in the way. This is because their 'conceptual' processing skills

are often quite strong enabling them to express 'deeper meaning' in

spite of difficulty with the details. See also dyslexia.

Attention Deficit hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) - Students with an

attention deficit disorder (especially with hyperactivity) often

experience rather significant difficulty with writing in general and

handwriting in particular. This is because ADHD students also have

difficulty organizing and sequencing detailed information. In

addition, ADHD students are often processing information at a very

rapid rate and simply don't have the fine-motor coordination needed

to 'keep up' with their thoughts.

Auditory Processing Weakness - Other students experience writing

difficulty because of a general auditory or language processing

weakness. Because of their difficulty learning and understanding

language in general, they obviously have difficulty with language

expression. And written language is the most difficult form of

language expression. A generalized auditory processing weakness is

frequently referred to as a verbal or language-based learning

disability and typically affects the areas of reading and writing.

Math may be a relative strength.

Visual Processing Weakness - Although most writing disabled

or 'dysgraphic' students do not have visual or perceptual processing

problems, some students with a visual processing weakness will

experience difficulty with writing speed and clarity simply because

they aren't able to fully process the visual information as they are

placing it on the page. Again, this is probably the least likely

cause of a written language problem. A visual processing weakness is

sometimes referred to as a nonverbal learning disability and

typically affects the areas of spelling and math much more than

reading. See also dyscalculia.

Writing strategies for 'dysgraphic' students:

1. Outline your thoughts. It is very important to get the main ideas

down on paper without having to struggle with the details of

spelling, punctuation, etc. Try writing just one key word or phrase

for each paragraph, then go back later to fill in the details.

2. Draw a picture of a thought for each paragraph.

3. Dictate your ideas into a tape recorder then listen and write them

down later.

4. Really practice keyboarding skills! It may be difficult at first,

but after you have learned the pattern of the keys, typing will be

faster and clearer than handwriting.

5. Use a computer to organize information and check spelling. Even if

your keyboarding skills aren't great, a computer can sure help with

the details.

6. Continue practicing handwriting. As frustrating as it may be,

there will be times throughout your life that you will need to be

able to write things down and maybe even share your handwriting with

others. It will continue to improve as long as you keep working at it.

7. Talk to yourself as you write. This may provide valuable auditory

feedback.

If spelling lists are a problem, try the following:

8. Look at each word, then close your eyes and visualize how it

looks, letter by letter. Stay with one word until you can clearly

visualize it.

9. Spell each word out loud while looking at it, then look away and

spell it out loud again several times before writing it down.

10. Try spelling with scrabble tiles so that you can keep rearranging

the letters until they look right.

11. Break the spelling list down into manageable sections of only 3

to 5 words. Then take a break after mastering each section.

Answer 3

Here are a couple of respected website links to information about dysgraphia.  If your child doesn't qualify for assistance under any other label, ask for a pediatrician's referral to an occupational therapist. OTs specialize in fine motor issues.

http://www.ncld.org/index.php?option=con...

http://www.ldinfo.com/dysgraphia.htm

Answer 4

There are several sites that might have information that can direct you to  a site that have information on your issue. here are two sites that you can check. www.nea.org/speicaled

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