My son (14) has always had trouble with his handwriting. At the end of year 6 we went privately to an OT who diagnosed fine motor skills dyspraxia. We gave the report to his secondary school who basically chose to ignore it, saying that there were far worse cases and our son's progress was really not being affected. We believed them at the time because I suppose we wanted to, coupled with the fact that we didn't want to make a fuss. However, he is really slipping down, so much so that after having started the school in the 'grammar' stream he is now downgraded to having to take a BTec instead of all GCSE's, with grades still in the 5/6 level. He is not academic, but I cannot help but wonder if he has 'given up' in lessons as even with a huge amount of effort he is unable to produce something as good as the next person who puts in minimum effort. His handwritten work is sparce and messy, something commented upon by most of his teachers. He is lefthanded too, which doesn't help, and says that it hurts him to write after only a short time.
We have approached the school about him having a laptop in lessons, which we would provide. The senco has just told me that the headmaster will not allow it as it may set a precedent. Should I fight this? I do not know if having a laptop will help, but certainly not having one isn't, so I think it is worth the try. Does anyone have any advice?