Advice sought regarding Year 8 left-hander DS inability to write

[Doryzurich]

Dear all,
Can anyone advise how I can help my 12yr old DS overcome his handwriting issues? DS is left handed and has always had incredible difficulty in forming letters. 2yrs ago we realised that he had convergence issues with his eyes (they don't work well together) and now he wears contact lenses which seem to be helping. I understand that many boys have untidy writing and we assumed that he would grow out of it but it's not improving. It's forming the letters that is a problem. As an example my son took 10 mins to write a 5 line address on an envelope and even then his letters were extremely large. He has just decided to drop the subjects at school which require a lot of writing, even though he is quite good at them, as he feels that he will fall behind next year when he can't keep up - he has really struggled this year, not with the subject matters, but with the note-taking during classes.

This has suddenly come to a head as I realise that the end of year exams he has just taken were revised with no note-taking whatsoever.....because writing is so laborious for him and actually physically painful over any length of time. He has been in International schools for the last few years and is now in a private school in the UK, so this is the first time he has had to sit 'proper' exams.

Can anyone suggest anything I can do with him over the summer to help? I realise that computers are the way of the future but my son needs to be comfortable writing whilst he's at school.

Many thanks for reading and for any advice given.

[happygardening]

DS1 writes very slowly and has problems forming letters he too would take a long time to write on an envelope and in fact recently struggled to do this it was ineligable and it took three attempts! Hes beem diagnosed with a "processing disorder." At this age lap tops are the only way forward my DS also draws mind maps we talk through revision and record lessons. To use it for exams etc he will need an ed. psych report diagnosing a dyslexia/hand writing/ processing disorder. I personally believe that the way forward when they are at uni is the dragon dictation package but schools won't touch it with a barge pole.

[Doryzurich]

Thanks for replying. It's interesting you mention processing, as a 'potential processing problem' has been highlighted at almost every parent/teacher meeting we have ever been to, but because DS is bright he manages to pull good grades every year and the problems are swept under the carpet.

Do you know how I would arrange an ed.psych report? I'm new to the UK so have no idea who to approach. Is this something you have to do privately or do you go through the school? I'm in East Surrey but can travel anywhere, so any help or referrals will be gratefully received!

[SkipTheLightFanjango]

Could be Dysgraphia...does he have difficulty with his spelling too?

[SkipTheLightFanjango]

Sounds like you need to speak to a senco about this, there are things that can help. Can he use a laptop at school? Many allow it these days.

[IndigoBell]

He needs to be seen by an occupational therapist.

Contact lenses are a very unusual solution to convergence problems. Did they not offer you vision therapy? Or prism glasses?

[CouthyMow]

Were you not offered proprioception consultancies? I know that they are rarer than gold dust on a hen's tooth, but they are available on the NHS. Or if you have money I don't, then go privately.

[IndigoBell]

proprioception consultancies? Wow, even I haven't heard of them :)

I think OTs (and neurodevelopment therapists) also deal with proprioception.

The fact he says it's physically painful means that an OT is a better place to start than an EP.

[Doryzurich]

Sorry ladies, I fell asleep and have just seen yr responses. Having been out of the UK for 6 yrs I feel like I've missed the boat a bit and am ashamed to say I don't even know what a senco is....?

It was an Occupational Therapist in Switzerland who saw that it was his eyes that were the main problem (she also gave him a whole range of daily activities/exercises for 4 mths and his co-ordination had improved tremendously). She recommended a Behaviourial Optometrist who gave DS1 prism glasses, but due to language difficulties I didn't actually understand what the problem was . In Jan this year I found a british BO who I think is fantastic. Due to a combination of extreme longsightedness (+4.75) and the type of convergence that DS1 has (his eye pulls outwards which apparently is unusual, rather than inwards) Vision Therapy has proved to have a v low success rate. As DS1 was keen to stop wearing bottle thick glasses, BO suggested that maybe by covering the whole eye with lens it might improve his co-ordination (basically leaving the convergence issues alone). My DH has noticed a marked improvement in catching since DS1 has been wearing contacts, so we're happyon that front.

BUT.....what to do about his writing? would it be better to stop trying to improve his writing and perhaps ask school if he can type?? Is 12-13yrs too old to try any other therapies to help his writing? He's unfortunately at the age where he is loathe to be 'singled out' in any way....

[IndigoBell]

I think he is too old to help his writing.

And he can easily use a laptop in school.

But I still think he should be seen by an OT who can work out why it hurts.

After all, typing might hurt him as well.....

[Doryzurich]

CouthyMow - the OT he saw in Switzerland identified some minor proprioception difficulties, but I'm not sure if at going-on-13 it's actually too late to deal with it now..? The exercises she gave him helped a lot but she 'signed him off' after 4mths. I get so mad at the thought that this should have been dealt with at 6 (or younger!) DS1 has adapted to his problems and the only thing that really shows up now, n this regard, is that he constantly fiddles with things (watch strap, paper clips, knuckles, etc) which apparently is very typical with someone with a proprioception dysfunction.

[Doryzurich]

Thanks indigobell - you might have just saved us from a whole Summer of pain!

[IndigoBell]

He's not too old to help his proprieception problems and constant fiddling.

But you need the right OT to help you. If you tell me where in the country you are I might have some suggestions.

[Doryzurich]

I'm on East Surrey/Kent border. Do you know an OT in the area??

[IndigoBell]

Hemispheres

[Niceweather]

I too would recommend using a laptop. My Yr7 son has just started using one at school. My understanding is that to be able to use one in exams, it has to be established as your usual means of writing. My son has just started learning to touch type. He says that using the laptop is much much easier for him than writing by hand. He has mild dyslexia and has never been able to express himself easily through his writing. I would phone up the SENCO and have a chat - our SENCO is great and very understanding and said "yes" to a laptop pretty readily.

[Doryzurich]

Thanks indigoBell i'll check out their website this afternoon.

Niceweather, would it be the SENCO person at the school that would give the nod about a laptop, or do you know if I need an independent report from an independent person...?

[IndigoBell]

The SENCO can authorise the use of a laptop.

[Niceweather]

I don't think you necessarily need a report of any kind but it might help. At the beginning of the year I went in for a meeting and took various reports and examples of his work. I imagine that she then investigated further and perhaps spoke to his teachers before giving me the green light to buy one. Not sure how easy it would have been to get school to fund it but there are charities out there that can help.

I was a little worried that his actual writing skills would stall but if he takes off and starts flying with the laptop then I think that there will be more to gain than lose.