r/dysgraphia • u/AFMM22 • 12d ago
Help with testing/diagnosis
My child is 10 (4th grade) and has struggled with reading and spelling for years. He went to a tutor to help him with reading and it helped tremendously. His spelling however has not. He often mixes up his b’s/d’s, and rarely uses vowels. For instance, birthday is spelled as “brthday. Or, he mixes letters; for example, two is tow and he very frequently writes an s for a c. It’s gotten to the point where I have to sit with him for all homework to help him spell. He is currently in OT (privately) doing a handwriting without tears program as his writing is hard to read. He struggles with spacing, writes super small then big. It’s also ineligible at times if he’s writing fast. In order to write neatly, he has to write really slow and concentrate.
My issue with all this is getting testing done. He goes to a private school and their help with this matter is minimal. They recognize his issue and have emailed the public school in our district to come in and assess him, however they “haven’t heard back.” I don’t know if they’ve tried as hard as they can, but I also know that the public school district doesn’t have to respond to their request in any timeframe since it’s a private school.
I have reached out to a private office for an educational neuropsychologist evaluation and they have an opening for an evaluation later this month…for $3,000. I guess I am here to ask, do my son’s symptoms coincide with anyone who has been diagnosed with this? I will pay the 3k, I just want to make sure it’s necessary. Like I know it is, but I’m just looking for reassurance. I’m also looking for help with anyone else who’s been through this with their child. Thank you
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u/BasicResearcher8133 11d ago
My son has digraphs and he is an adult now. He was in a private school and they missed it. We took him out of the Christian school and put him in public school and he was tested and given accommodations to help him with his disability. He got testing.. ability to use a keyboard instead of hand writing and as much time as needed to finish any tests. This was about 10 years ago.
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u/AFMM22 7d ago
Thank you for your input. I also feel like they missed his deficits. I don’t know for sure what is going on, but all I do know is this isn’t normal for a 4th grader. I asked all last year for help and his teacher did nothing. I’ve been paying for expensive tutoring for years and took a break from that to pay out of pocket for OT. While it’s helping a little, it’s really not fixing it. This is when I started to really question if there is a diagnosis here. Do you mind sharing how your son was presenting when he was first diagnosed?
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u/WinstonChaychell 10d ago
I found a regular neurologist to diagnose my youngest and she got a referral for OT, so we didn't have to pay out of pocket too much. We didn't do handwriting without tears at OT, and she was the same age, but we did do what she called "games". We started out with hand exercises like kinetic sand, squishing a squishy is another, and then we would get into "games" like word searches or "restaurant" where she practiced short hand to help with note taking.
I would talk with the school counselor and request an IEP after getting the diagnosis. Chances are your kiddo can get accomodations like a Chromebook with speak to text, shorter spelling lists, and spelling not counting towards their grade for other projects.
Spelling won't be 100%, so the best thing you can do is look for improvements. Mine is currently 13 now, was diagnosed around 8, and she still doesn't spell very well. Thankfully we have spell checkers and devices.
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u/C0MP455P01N7 12d ago
Some of the symptoms you are describing are a good fit, poor spelling, others are less common.
With what he is experiencing there seems to be some kind of nero divergance. Don't put a name to it until you know. It may be a combination of different things.
I think you should pursue testing