Dysgraphia Treatments

Get an evaluation done. If you can't find a therapist in your area, Learning Rx and Brain Balance Centers can do this and can help with treatment as well, if you want it. Most states have both clinics. Just Google the name to locate a place near you. You will find both approaches can help in different ways.

Here is an EXCELLENT OT at home program as well (see below). Whatever route you choose, do get an evaluation no matter what so you get an understanding of what may be causing the dysgraphia. It's not always the same cause for everyone so treatment may be different.

www.diannecraft.com click on "Smart Kids Who Hate to Write"

My son had OT to help with dysgraphia, but we didn't try vision therapy. He needed OT for other fine & gross motor skills too. It did start to improve his posture and core strength, and the Handwriting Without Tears program the private OT did coordinated with what the school OT was doing. We didn't get to do the private OT very long because our insurance wouldn't cover it, and the school OT was only 30 minutes a week. At school, he can occasionally do good writing while working one-on-one with an OT, but it does not continue when he's in the regular classroom or at home. I am hoping in the long run that typing or even speech recognition technology will help him get his ideas on paper more easily.

I have gotten a lot of great advice from the yahoo group, groups.yahoo.com/group/dysgraphia/

Cant tell you about treatments as we are just looking into them now with my HS student. But I will say this>>>>>>You need to get the school to have her 504/IEP make note of it and have it in her plans that she is to get COPIES of the notes/outlines/etc from the teacher for all lessons (just like college) and to be able to record lectures. Yes the lectures will not really be used until upper grades but get it included NOW!!!

Vision therapy can help. However, you need to find a reputable place. Some places tell just ANYONE that they need vision therapy.

Who diagnosed her? What do they say about how to treat it? Do they tell you to send her to vision therapy?

OT is a good idea overall, but do ask the doctor about vision therapy before you discount it.

Dawn

We got OT for our dd's dysgraphia, but not vision therapy.

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/6202/ has a great deal of helpful information.

Some of the things that helped us were: using raised line paper (just put raised line paper in a Google search and you will find several sources); using a large square graph paper for math problems in order to keep the numbers properly lined up, and using an Alphasmart keyboard (http://www.neo-direct.com).

Occupational Therapy was helpful too, especially in assisting us in the creation of her 504 plan. They thought of things we never imagined, like asking for notes of the lessons instead of having our dd write down instructions, having a scribe sit with her during the mandatory state assessment tests, not requiring her to fill in small blanks, allowing her to type all assignments and not requiring handwriting to count towards any points on an assignment, etc.

All of the treatment and accommodations did help her some. She began using the entire page instead of just the right side, and stopped writing in such a severe slant, stopped writing off the page, but she certainly will never have a career where handwriting is important. She's a teen and still prints barely legibly, but is super fast on a keyboard.

My niece had vision therapy, and some sort of colored transparent sheet that she would put over her work so she could write easier. She is graduating high school next month with a 3.7 GPA, so it can be overcome!