Does anyone's ds/dd use a laptop for school?

[coppertop]

This is more of a general info-gathering question really.

As some of you may know, ds1 is 6yrs old and has ASD. One of his difficulties is that he has delayed fine-motor skills and so finds handwriting difficult. The school has been excellent in doing a lot to help strengthen his hands and help his co-ordination and ds1 has been keen to try his best. He's made a lot of progress since starting school.

I've spoken to his teacher and she agrees that at some point in the future it may be helpful for him to be able to type his work rather than write it by hand. Ds1 has a lot of ideas that he wants to get on paper but gets frustrated at not being able to form the letters quickly or accurately. His teacher has noticed that if asked he will tell her the correct answer to a question or sum but just finds it hard to write it down.

At home he uses the computer when he wants to write stories and make signs. He also has excellent mouse-control.Obviously I want him to be able to write by hand but realistically I know there will come a time when the frustration and inability to write at an average speed will hold him back.

Does anyone else have a child who uses a laptop/computer instead of writing? If so, how old where they when they first started and were the school keen?

ds is now 18 and just left school. He can barely write, his hands hurt after a couple of minutes and he still mixes up capitals and small letters. His writing is very immature. And very very slow..it would take him about 5 -10 minutes to write 3 sentences. If he could be persuaded to do so!

He has used a laptop at school in secondary school..I think he had the laptop from year 8. The school he goes to is about 30% special needs so laptops are quite common. I wish he had had the chance to use one earlier. It's also an independent school if that makes any difference.

It is only in the last few years that he has voluntarily written anything by hand eg signing a birthday card or writing a postcard (only a couple of words) He is a master of delegation.

Our area had ICT support service. They came in and visited ds1 when he was at mainstream and lent the school some equipment and recommended that the LEA fund other equipment. The woman was very helpful and understanding, and had a good understanding of the problems- might be worth asking if such a service exist in your area (they funded an intellikeys for example).

dd has a laptop; she's 5; fine motor difficulties due to cp

she can write a bit but not quick enough to keep up with her learning development

If you are looking for this sort of theng then Alphasmarts are excellent and very easy to use.

We use them in school for children with SEN (secondary school)

They are lighter and less 'nickable' IYSWIM, and quite robust. Dead easy to down load stuff to any other machine that has a flashing cursor.....like white boards for example.

DS2 had a palmtop when he first started secondary school. He and DS1 shared a laptop for this last 2 school years (Y10-11 and sixth form). I didn't want either of them to have a laptop when they were at primary because I thought it was important they at least learned to write and had some practice at it. Once the pressure was on though it was much kinder to let them have it because neither can write fast enough to keep up with the class. School actually suggested it during DS2's annual review.

Only is that they gave back the laptop just before the exams started then on Friday we get a letter from school asking for it back.. Suggests someone else has "borrowed" it and we get blamed.

DS3 has hypermobilty with his right side particulary affected. We have been told that he will have one at secondary level fulltime and we are just waiting for information for programme for home and school.

TBH, I don't think the school are that keen on him using it full time at primary level.

Lots of good info here. I particularly like the idea of something that doesn't look 'nickable'.

I'm hoping that ds1 will be able to get to the point where he can write legibly, even if it's a bit slow, before he gets to the stage of needing a computer. Atm he's a lot like Zippi's ds from her description. A full sentence can easily take him 5-10 minutes and he complains of his hands hurting.

I forgot to say thankyou.

Thanks, everyone.

we are in the process of getting dd some specialised IT support.dd is coming to the end of year 1 (although not 6 until the end of august)and sounds similar to yuor ds in that she has good ideas for stories but can't get them all down due to the sheer difficulty with her fine motor skills.For some of her maths she looks at the question and than points with her pencil to (a number bar across the top of her work)for the answer and her LSA writes it down.(this has only been implemented recently as she was getting bored in the 'group' she was working with but was with that group as she always struggled to complete the work not as it was her level of ability)iyswim
we are waiting for another ed pscyh appointment so that she(hopefully)will pick up that dd has the ability mentally but not physically because without her comments the LEA are just not bothered but hey that's another story that most of us with children with additional needs face isn't it!!

The OT dept have been the ones that have pushed for laptop, could be worth contacting them.

The alphasmats can be nicked......but the drive to nick them isn't as great IYSWIM, as they can only rally be used for recording work. You can't use them to play PC games. They cost about £190 bfeore VAT, so that also makes them a bit more affordable.

They have a standard keyboard, but are easier to use....faster to start up, easier to down load, lighter.