<p>Count us in, too. DS1’s crummy handwriting is attributable to I Can’t Be Bothered – when he has to make it neat, I hardly recognize it as his. He has been typing since he was four and now zips along at 65 wpm with scarcely an error. They’d love him in a newsroom!</p>
<p>DS2 – Real, live dysgraphia. Documented. Elem and MS gave him informal accommodations – extra time if needed, let him keyboard until he felt self-conscious (and even though he wasn’t the only one doing so). He did private OT for two years until the OT finally told me we were wasting our money. She had gotten him to 5th %tile in his writing hand. Started at 2nd %tile.</p>
<p>We are also dealing with processing speed problems and a three standard deviation difference between Verbal and Performance WISC-III scores.</p>
<p>The school system refuses to offer 504 or IEP – he was in very selective GT programs in elem and MS, and they say “but look at his grades!” What they didn’t see was how long it took him to get HW done at home, and because the teachers didn’t mind giving extra time, it wasn’t a big issue at school.</p>
<p>Now…he’s in 9th at an intense IB program (oxymoron, I know!) and there are no accommodations without a 504 or IEP. He is running out of time on essay questions following MC tests, does not have enough time to write compositions in English, and has no time to go back and self-correct. The grades show it. School is loath to test, my husband says he has to get over it – that life’s not fair and he has to deal. Son is not happy with grades, is tired of us bugging him, doesn’t want “obvious” accommodations, and doesn’t want to hear about strategies. I am at my wit’s end.</p>
<p>Daffymom, did you get accommodations for your son in high school, or was this done earlier in his academic career?</p>