I didn't notice she was in Canada.
This link specifies Ontario but maybe you can find something useful http://www.schooladvocacy.ca/special.html
I didn't notice she was in Canada.
This link specifies Ontario but maybe you can find something useful http://www.schooladvocacy.ca/special.html
Hey - no worries!
I am in Ontario, so the links are useful.
I did call the school, we have a meeting about one week before school starts.
There are lots of good ideas on this thread, so I am feeling better.
practice, practice, practice! Handwriting is a skill that is honed by years of practice.
He has a month, right? I'd get some handwriting primers and have him practice.
Unless you have reason to think that he has an actual disability that prevents him from writing, he just needs to learn and practice.
Writing is a basic skill and he will need to know this.
I would encourage him to practice writing as preparation for entering school. DS has dysgraphia and we are doing both - using technology to facilitate expression and completion of work, but also working on printing as a basic skill to help in everyday life.
This is well below his level, but would be more fun and engaging than simple copy work:
Mini-update:
DS is doing well.
He has 4 classes - only 2 of which involve intensive writing (and even then it is not as much as I did in high School). So...he is managing. His writing is legible - just. His handwriting is improving with practice. Honestly, I think the light load with regard to writing has been the key to his managing and not becoming overwhelmed.
He does have a tendancy to use caps and lower case rather randomly in hand writing (he does not do this when keyboarding - he does know when each are supposed to be used), and his letters float above the line, but still. He writes small, so it is even more difficult to read.
I did tell the guidance counsellor about my concerns about his writing issues, and she suggested early contact with the teachers to let them know of the issues. Ds did not want to do this - he wanted to see if he could hack it without going the teacher -talking route and he has been successfull, I think.
We did not buy a laptop although the school is very pro the kids using any technology that is helpful. He has not seemed to need one. Any homework that can be done through keyboarding he does do. An extra computer for home is not off the table as we are all getting tired of sharing.
I am still keeping the many ideas on this thread in mind. You never know if he might need them in the future. Thanks all!
I agree with what most of the pp's have said. Definitely talk to the school. The sooner the better. I used to provide handwriting help in our local school district and it can take awhile for the process to be completed. Good luck.
Sorry, didn't realize there were two pages of replies. Glad to hear that things are going pretty well for him.
I can't believe I missed this thread. I am also in Canada (in BC) and my ds (almost 15), unschooled his whole life, has just started Grade 10 (part-time: 5 courses this semester, 3 next) with some undiagnosed dysgraphic issues. He too has a younger sister who doesn't have writing issues, age 12, in school full-time. We seem to have a lot in common!
Ds was part of a DL (school-supervised homeschooling) program last year and in anticipation of this year's move into the bricks-and-mortar school we requested an evaluation for his written issues this past March. It was still pending as fall was looming, so after speaking casually to the English teacher / guidance counsellor (she's a family friend) we bit the bullet and bought the kid a laptop.
His sister has not been envious. The laptop is not powerful, and it is suitable mostly for simple tasks. It is for school-related stuff only, and as others have mentioned it is awkward to carry and use at school. Further, it makes him stick out a little ... which doesn't bother him, but it's something his sister would be sensitive to if it were her. So we've been lucky in that respect.
The school has been great about accommodating his needs without a formal diagnosis of dysgraphia. His math, English and Writing course instructors understand his issues well as they've got to know him well in past years through non-school things, and were aware of his challenges. They've been encouraging and supportive and matter-of-fact about the accommodations he needs. I don't think his history teacher is aware ... but the quirks of the curriculum approach this year, with a large-scale out-trip and a multi-media focus, have meant that so far history has taken the form of collaborative large-scale map-drawing and computer-based writing. So he hasn't used his laptop in that class yet.
My ds has spent a fair bit of time dedicated to trying to overcome his writing challenges. He worked through a few printing workbooks when he was younger. He spent a year at age 12-13 practicing cursive every day. By the end of the year he could write neatly and 'correctly' but very slowly, and if he wasn't copying but instead trying to compose his thoughts in writing, he was still fairly useless. The process of physically forming the letters seems to derail his other thought processes, and the whole thing becomes almost physically painful to him. He has excellent fine motor control (is a very advanced viola player, for example, and draws and sketches very well) so this is something specific to language for him. With a keyboard he has awesome writing abilities. He now writes a lot, and at a very advanced level -- and the computer has been a godsend in that respect. It has freed up his writer's voice. Enough so that he went from considering himself to "suck at writing" to eagerly accepting an invitation to join the advanced Writing course at the school.
Yesterday we were given an appointment for an assessment on October 13th. We're going to pursue it even though he is functioning just fine at this point without a formal diagnosis. Our reasons? First: validation. He has not been particularly self-conscious this fall about his need for "adaptive technology" but I know it helped him find comfort with his struggles to hear last spring "We think you might have A Condition." He wants to know. Secondly, I'm a little concerned about the provincial exams he's going to need to write in math and science and English. They are fairly strict in format and while there's a computer-based component to some of them, parts are done with paper and pen. Science and math are most likely to be problematic as they can't easily be done on a computer. It takes him a long time to, for example, draw a Lewis diagram of a simple molecule, label the axes on a climatograph, or write down the simplification of an algebraic expression. I can see that he will need extra time, and given the strict constraints of the provincial exam system I think he'll probably need an official diagnosis to get it.
I haven't really entertained the possibility that he won't qualify for a formal diagnosis. Hmmmm. It seems so clear-cut to me. Fingers crossed.
Miranda
Mini-update:
DS is doing well.
He has 4 classes - only 2 of which involve intensive writing (and even then it is not as much as I did in high School). So...he is managing. His writing is legible - just. His handwriting is improving with practice. Honestly, I think the light load with regard to writing has been the key to his managing and not becoming overwhelmed.
He does have a tendancy to use caps and lower case rather randomly in hand writing (he does not do this when keyboarding - he does know when each are supposed to be used), and his letters float above the line, but still. He writes small, so it is even more difficult to read.
I did tell the guidance counsellor about my concerns about his writing issues, and she suggested early contact with the teachers to let them know of the issues. Ds did not want to do this - he wanted to see if he could hack it without going the teacher -talking route and he has been successfull, I think.
We did not buy a laptop although the school is very pro the kids using any technology that is helpful. He has not seemed to need one. Any homework that can be done through keyboarding he does do. An extra computer for home is not off the table as we are all getting tired of sharing.
I am still keeping the many ideas on this thread in mind. You never know if he might need them in the future. Thanks all!
Great update! Sometimes you have let kids, teens especially, find their own accommodations.
another mini-update -
while Ds has had little trouble keeping up with note-taking and assignments, he has found writing tests within time constraints difficult. I asked him if he would like to talk to the school about it - he said yes. A short meeting later, and he has an accomodation in place to use a school supplied computer or keyboarding device of some sort to write tests 
He still gets to practice and improve his handwriting, but without it being too overwhelming or affecting grades.
I am very pleased - and it took almost no jumping through hoops.
We are not looking at an IPRC at this point, as with practice his hand-writing ability may come up to level with everyone else...or it may not. We will decide on more permanent accommodations in the future.
A short meeting later, and he has an accomodation in place to use a school supplied computer or keyboarding device of some sort to write tests
" " indeed! Isn't that cool! No real hoop-jumping at all!
I wish it had been that simple here. Our school district has extremely shallow pockets, being so tiny, so they require an IEP before issuing hardware. Apparently they have fewer than two dozen laptops district-wide, with only three of them issued to students (most go to administrators and itinerant teachers). Like I said ... tiny district. So anyway, with the IEP comes additional funding, which then pays for the hardware purchase, which then goes to the student. My ds will finish his evaluation in November, with a possible IEP in place by the end of January. With luck, they might be able to get him a computer by February.
Has he written any tests with the computer yet? Any self-consciousness? My ds jokingly refers to himself as "the dude who doesn't DO pens." His friends seem to think it's all quirky-cool.
Miranda
" " indeed! Isn't that cool! No real hoop-jumping at all!
Has he written any tests with the computer yet? Any self-consciousness? My ds jokingly refers to himself as "the dude who doesn't DO pens." His friends seem to think it's all quirky-cool.
Miranda
Nope - the conversation was had last week - he has not had to write tests yet. He is also being given more time to write tests, although I do not think that is necessary.
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