To ask what age child you think wrote this?

[Odearr]

Worried about DS writing, just wondering what age this level of writing ability would be typical for? This is his neatest writing and definitely helped by the little squares on the page

Has he had an eyetest? One of mine was forever falling over things and walking into things or falling off things. He needed treatment for an eyecondition. Took a few years to sort it but he went into year 7 with it all sorted out.Good luck.

DS is diagnosed with dyspraxia and dysgraphia and is very similar. Speak to your GP and get an OT referral, best to be on the waiting list than not. In the mean time, build up his core strength. Going on his bike, swimming. Theraputty from amazon might be better than playdoh.

My DD is the same age and is as you describe, she has an ASD and Dyspraxia diagnosis. The difference is she is disruptive at school so had referrals made for support. It seems as though its tough to get help from school when they aren't disruptive.

My advice would be to arrange a meeting with class teacher and SENCO, tell school you don't feel his needs are being met and additional support is needed. They will likely come back and say there is a lack of funding, but you need to keep pushing. If you have concerns you need to fight for him. School can refer into NHS OT, there will be a wait but they can assess exactly where he is, I would also speak to your GP and get a referral to a paediatrician. If he does have dyspraxia the gap between him and his peers will get bigger without support. Good luck!

It does sound like dyspraxia - don't think they call it that anymore. My son has this and his writing is shocking and he's going into Year 13 - thankful for computers. He also has hypermobility so this doesn't help with the writing or clumsiness.

Year 1 average student so given he's older, I share your concerns.

I'm a qualified primary school teacher with a specialism in special needs students and I agree that you need to get him assessed. His reversal of the letter 's' is a classic indication of dyslexia as is the tail of the letter 'g'. He will struggle more in year 3 as the expectations are higher so it'll be good to reassure him that his effort is what matters and that you know how hard he tries (as I'm sure you already are!). The issues with fine motor skills sound like he has additional needs as well.

For dyslexia, coloured overlays can really help (e.g. yellow plastic sheet that goes over the page he's reading) and you can get 'grippy pencils' that are larger and have textured grips to help improve his motor skills. The other suggestions here about the other ways you can practice motor skills are all good too, things like helping with baking and rubbing in flour to things would help too.

I'd ask to speak to the class teacher and ask to compare his book to another child working at age related expectations to see how the other students' work is presented. Does his report list him as being working at age related expectations or working below them? You teacher will have the data on this and be able to tell you. Looking at books should also help you get an idea of what the presentation expectations the school has as they may not be as focused on writing in straight lines etc which would mean that he is/isn't being trained in this at school. It could also help to flag your son to the teacher as being low ability and gives you the opportunity to go through the evidence you have in the meeting to show that there are likely these extra needs going on. When you have the meeting, make sure to have some examples like the ones above to go through with the teacher. How does he get on with reading and spelling? Go in with as full a picture of his academic work as possible to be able to be the authority on what you feel his issues are.

Ask to meet with the SENCO to discuss him as well after speaking to the class teacher as this should help get the class teacher onside before it gets raised to more senior members of staff. And above all else, good luck and he's lucky to have a mum as invested in him as you are. I've seen too many students like this who just get shrugged off by parents who don't care and then fall through the gaps because, as you say, teachers don't have the time or resources to give to all the students that need them because so many of them need a lot and there's additional pressures from the school itself.

@Odearr can you teach him to use a computer keyboard and learn to touch type - BBC bite-size has a game for touch typing

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z3c6tfr#zn9s3qt

His handwriting and what you've said about coordination reminds me of my school friend who had dyspraxia. Not sure what if anything can be done about it but it might be worth exploring. At least he'll get extra exam time when GCSEs roll around.

My DD has dysgraphia. That's another option, albeit the other motor skills issues do point towards dyspraxia. My DD can draw well, but has struggled with writing.

The thing that has helped her the most is being allowed to use a laptop for long pieces of written work. Whilst we have also worked on her handwriting, typing sets her free from the drudgery of handwriting and the content, spelling and punctuation are like a different child is writing.

No diagnosis is needed to use a computer at school, so it is worth asking for immediately, even if you go for assessments later.

My son has pretty severe Special needs and he could write better ( albeit copying ) than this at 7.. if get some intervention.. have you seen the other 7 year olds writing ? It will be much clearer than this for sure .

He needs assessing for dyspraxia.

Source: I'm dyspraxic 😁

Seriously, the handwriting issues and the general clumsiness/motor skills issues are common traits of dyspraxia / developmental coordination disorder and it will help him to get a diagnosis.

I wasn't diagnosed until I was an adult and honestly, I'd been diagnosed as a child it would have made my life so much easier, especially in terms of my own self-esteem and mental health.

My handwriting was actually OK but I had a lot of other issues - and because I was bright (a very precocious reader, among other things) I was always being berated by teachers for things like struggling to learn to tie my laces or forgetting sequences of instructions because their attitude was 'There's no excuse for a clever girl like you not to be able to learn this' and I couldn't understand why I found it so hard to, eg, get changed for PE on time or put things back in the right cupboard when I was able to read a broadsheet newspaper or explain the life cycle of a butterfly in detail at the age of about six! If I'd known what the issue was, I'd have understood and been able to learn coping strategies etc and explain to people why I might struggle.

Sounds like it might be a motor skill issue, could be a combination of dyspraxia and hyper mobility syndrome. My nephew was diagnosed with hyper mobility syndrome and displayed similar symptoms to your son. Above average intelligence but couldn’t use a pen to save his life, colouring in would have made a Picasso look like a fine art landscape, and using a knife and fork was a disaster ! Even as an adult he prefers food that only requires a fork or hands and shoe laces remain a definite no no.

Important if you can get him diagnosed as school will then be able to put in place adaptions such as using a lap top for written work / exams and more time for the exams. - this is what my nephew had. They also made allowances so he didn’t have to play football and do all the PE. I would suggest if you can, start with your GP if the school aren’t being overly helpful.

Looks slightly better than my daughter who is also 7.5 (no finger spaces in this house 🤦‍♀️). She’s being considered for dyslexia, irlens and adhd. I would certainly be looking for an assessment based on that sample.
hows his comprehension and reading? Does it improve if you use coloured (usually yellow or blue) paper.
my daughter was also tearful due to self esteem (she knew she was on the ‘baby books’). She’s much better now she is getting more support in the classroom.

Looks so much like dysgraphia. A condition that gets constantly overlooked.

Dyspraxia (my DC is dyspraxic)

From what you've written elsewhere it sounds a lot like dyspraxia.

Just to say, reading and writing aren't always linked. One of my sons can read absolutely anything but you ask him to write it down and he can't spell it. A lot of his words mix upper and lower case. He does have SEN so obviously it's not exactly the same situation but I just wanted to point out that it's not always a literacy issue.

Sounds like dyspraxia to me. Please read more about this and see what you think.
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/developmental-coordination-disorder-dyspraxia/symptoms/

Maybe dyspraxia? I wouldn’t recommend Fortnite for under 13s.

Hi @Odearr my son was/is exactly the same and I pushed the school for him to be assessed when he turned 9. We waited just 3 months last year for the assessment with an NHS OT and he was found to have problems with his motor skills, essentially dyspraxia. The OT spoke with school and they are now much more supportive, he has a laptop for long bits of writing and has done a special strength programme at school called Moves. The main benefit has been to his confidence, he was upset with the assumption he wasn’t trying hard enough. He’s since learnt to swim, to ride a bike and the OT gave us suggestions for special cutlery and how to teach him to do his laces, get him to zips etc and that really helped. He’s now 10 and don’t get me wrong he still finds things harder than others but he’s much happier and I’ve stopped blaming myself for it all.
Wishing you the best of luck.

While waiting for assessment you can start doing some of these activities below which are all play oriented so it would be like play time while progressing in motor skills:

Hand-eye coordination & visual tracking:

• Throwing/catching a ball
• Tennis, table tennis, baseball, and football

Bilateral (right-left) coordination:

• Cycling
• Swimming
• Throwing/catching a ball
• Climbing a jungle gym or step ladder

Hand skills:

• Rock, Paper, Scissors
• Rolling play dough
• Playing piano

Balance:

• Tandem walk
• Standing on one leg, with eyes open and closed
• Walking backward
• Hop on one leg

Activities that target multiple muscle groups or coordination issues:

• Dribbling a basketball
• Jumping rope
• Kicking a soccer ball
• Hand-clapping games (patty cake, Miss Mary Mack, Slide)

These activities can help develop many skills, including motor planning, gross and fine motor skills, coordination, mental focus, counting, and rhythm.

He does sound dyspraxic .my dn is double jointed including both thumbs which did effect writing doing buckles opening cans of juice etc.
Really worth pushing for an assessment sooner rather than later .They got good advice and a plan to work round issues .

Bless him. He definitely needs to be seen by a paediatrician and an educational psychologist.

start with the GP and see where that goes. If you’re can afford a private assessment with an EP that would really help as they’ll produce a report of how school should support him and what you can do at home for him. It’s no magic wand as school resources are very stretched but it’ll help.

DD hugely benefitted from a diagnosis and understanding that things are tougher for her. Celebrate his strengths and support his interests. The impact on self esteem of a learning difficultly or disability can be massive so it’s definitely time to suss out what’s happening.

Dyspraxia was my first thought. Coordination with the hands can be difficult.

Everything you are describing here with his coordination screams out dyspraxia. Please please look into it. Once you understand it and can get him the support he needs, life will be a lot easier for him.

My son has Dyspraxia, diagnosed in year 4, by which point it was significantly impacting his confidence and wellbeing. We had a private EP assessment then an OT assessment, total cost was around £750. I tried to get the OT on the NHS but they wouldn't accept the referral unless the school had completed a series of interventions with him, which they didn't have the resources to do. I would start a programme of interventions at home now, if you google there are tonnes of resources for free or very low cost online. I would also start getting him more familiar with a laptop and start practicing typing soon.

My friend's dyslexia was diagnosed at college. That was a good while ago though, and one would have hoped that things were better these days, and it saddens me to see that it isn't.