Dysgraphia and total confusion

[Claliscool]

Sorry posting for hand hold and support really.
I feel like I have totally let my son down. He is 10 and his hand writing is without doubt years behind. He is obviously bright, into politics current affairs etc.
School have said he's really bad at it and lazy and it's been a real struggle for him to get any help - so he's had none and just got more and more down about it.
Friend who works in SEN asked if I'd thought about dysgraphia and so I read about it and it is absolutely him to a tee
Can't believe I didn't think of it earlier. Does anyone have any advice as to how to proceed? I've emailed a private education psychologist. Any advice about what helps over time? Thanks

OP, please don’t feel down. Your DS will be fine and it is great that you are able to help him now. He is really very young and it will be fine.

If it helps, I have dysgraphia, and dyslexia, and I hate having people watch me when I write (and truly dread anyone asking me to colour stuff in). But there are lots of ways around it.

Not sure what your aibu is about.

However my Ds has dysgraphia . He was diagnosed through a dyslexia assessor at school. He was diagnosed in year 4.

Like your Dd very bright his teacher recognised his verbal answers didn’t match his written .

He is 13 still avoids writing , he has had some physio to strengthen arm muscles.

I find he also needs support starting work .

There is a uk fb group if you are interested.

It is very under diagnosed and many of the teachers have never heard of it. He was the only one with the diagnosis in primary and when he started secondary but no idea now

DS2 is 16 and has dysgraphia and ADHD. He was diagnosed with dysgraphia in year 4. Since starting secondary school he uses a laptop for all his school work which has made a huge difference to his grades and the quality of his work.

DS2 also has Irlen syndrome which often co-exists with dysgraphia. Any worksheets or hand outs are printed on green paper and he has an overlay for text books.

DS2 was diagnosed by a dyslexia expert that came into primary school.

Thank you so much for responses.
He is going into year 6 and I am thinking about sending him to non-selective prep school because of it, as well as EP assessment and buying a laptop (any recommends for one that is particularly user friendly from experience?)
He gets so down on himself when he isn't able to do the work asked of him. He's obviously bright and gets frustrated. Theres a direct link between him having a really bad night's sleep / anxiety and hand writing

Dysgraphia expert here.

Dysgraphia has 3 subtypes and the path to diagnosis is different dependent on type.

Type 1- he should see a Psychologist (Educational Psychologist ideally) to identify if he is processing language correctly, might emerge with Dyslexia and Dysgraphia.

Type 2 - should see an Occupational Therapist (a Paeds specialist) for a motor screen, and to do a handwriting speed test.

Type 3- overlap between OT and Psychology - often/usually needs assessing by both.

If the Psychologist and OT are doing their jobs properly, then they should be watching out for any other needs, and cross referring to each other if needed.

We have a chrome book . Simply because we kept getting virus on laptops. However not everything transfers over,

I would get assessment done . My Ds’s assessment came with a list of recommendations for all key stages.

Op please don’t feel bad - I’ve just voted yanbu because I too have a child with undx sn and I also struggle with guilt. As parents we aren’t Ed psychs and please don’t beat yourself up for not spotting this before

My dd is at a non selective prep and while tbh private schools don’t always deliver on the sn support they promise, it has been excellent in that her prep has a lot of able dc with mild sn, so she doesn’t feel out of place at all and has good friends.