I need suggestions please Regarding writing

[yayita25]

Hello everyone!!!


It has been years since I posted I have read but have not posted. Quick update my difficult child is 9yrs. old and just started 4th grade, she was constantly getting into trouble in school because of her defiant behaviour and once we pin pointed that this would occur during any class time which required her to write we were able to discover that she was embaressed due to her speech impediments she was not sounding correctly and spelling incorrectly so the teachers made it a friendly environment for her by letting her know that she would only be graded on spelling on spelling tests and that she should just do her work in the other subjects that she would be graded on her answers to the questions given... this worked wonderfully but now that she reached 4th grade I can see it will be a bigger problem she is again showing defiant behaviour when it comes to writing assignments in class she is displaying inability to stay on task and organization skills ( can't remember what H.W. is and forgetting her homework in class).

The teacher called last night and was pretty upset I sensed that she was taking difficult child's behaviour personal and when I suggested calling an IEP meeting she said she had 15 years( a while ago) of working with Special Education students (difficult child is in mainstream classes) and once again repeated that difficult child was extremely defiant and that difficult child had not done her writing assignments in class yesterday and that today difficult child was not going to particpate on an out door assignment related to a written assignment she did not complete in class yesterday which is a step in series of steps for a science project!!! And the dreaded line was used, " I have 32 students and cannot sit and only help difficult child", !!!!

I spoke to difficult child she was sorry for her behaviour but she said ' I don't like writing lots of words I don't know what they mean or how to spell them"!! I explained that she must do what teacher asks her to do in class and that her spelling will only get better as she continues to try...

Have any of you gone through something similar and how did you handle it I mean for the spelling, should her school speech therapist give some help in difficult child's spelling or does the the school provide other assistance I cannot afford a tutor???

i will request IEP meeting but I need to come prepared please any suggestions, ideas, what has worked for you please help!!!!

And thank you in advance

 

[yayita25]

Is there anyone that can help?????

 

[Andy]

I am sorry - I don't have any experience with this.

My first thought is that she is at the age where girls like to start diaries. Any time you can get her to write helps and maybe a diary? Make a big deal of it being her private thoughts just for her?

Does she have a cousin or grandparent or aunt who she can become a pen pal to? She would need to write notes/letters.

I am just trying to think of non-structure ways to get her to write. If she has a party, have her write out the invites. Ask her to fill out a grocery list (copy words from the local store's ad of things on sale).

Ask the teacher if she knows of any services in the school you can tap into. She is going to need more than the practice ideas I have given. If she is not understanding words, something imiportant is going on that needs to be addressed now.

32 kids in one class is too many - it is not fair to any of the kids and I know sadly this is more common as budget cuts take away teachers. I can almost bet that your difficult child is not the only one who can benefit from a smaller class.

 

[yayita25]

Thank you Adrianne, lately my brain is just not functioning I am overwhelmed with my easy child starting Jr. High and I just had a terrible fall at a supermarket and my back has been hurting and my right eye twitching and to top it off I go back to work tommorow after 5 years and I am sooooo stressed my poor difficult child really needs me and I can't function so THANKYOU THANKYOU THANKYOU for your awesome ideas

Yayita

 

[Superpsy]

I think Adrianne covered a bunch of good ideas that will encourage difficult child to write. One I would add is to allow her to tell stories without writing. If difficult child is anything like the 9 year olds I've worked with then she LOVES doing this and will be need to be told to stop! You could make it a fun thing between you and her. For example, you could do tag story-telling where she will start out a story, you continue it, then her, then you and so on...Then I would transition to writing these tag stories. Start small! Make it fun! =) Another note, do this in small increments, as I'm sure you know, you won't get anywhere with a child who has dug their heels in.


Has difficult child ever used graphic organizers? I think these help students who don't like writing alot fo wrods to roganize their thoughts before actually writing. You didn't mention why difficult child is on the IEP (adhd, odd, etc. etc.) but I know that students who have adhd often struggle with writing because it is such an attention and planning intensive process. They have to think about their topic and what they are going to write, actually go through the mechanics of writing and hold whatever information they know in their head. Whew, makes me tired thinking about it. =) I've seen graphic organizers help students with adhd...maybe it will help difficult child?

Hope this helps.

 

[Sheila]

It's my opinion that before an effective IEP can be designed, the IEP team must know exactly what is causing the problem. There are many areas of "language" that come into play before "output" can be performed, e.g., spelling.

These kids get frustrated. They are expected to perform the thing that they hate and have the most trouble doing. Often this frustration will present with anxiety and/or acting out.

I'm not advocating for not requiring her to do the work expected. But difficult child's therapy may need to be changed, instructional strategies may need to be geared to difficult child's learning style, etc., etc., etc.

I'd want a thorough evaluation. Sounds to me that difficult child's "ODD" may possibly related (at least in part) to one or more language-based learning disorders, e.g., dyslexia, receptive language, expressive language, et al.

There are some good info above. You might also find something helpful at http://iepfree.com/default.aspx . But again, without knowing exactly what you're dealing with when designing an IEP, it's a shot in the dark in my opinion -- kind of like putting a cast on the right arm when actually the left leg is broken.

 

[Christy]

Don't back down of suggesting a meeting about this. There are all types of writing issues and this seems to be a pattern. Does you daughter use a keyboard at all. If she has a basic knowledge of the keys, she can use word predictive writing software. My son uses a program called Word Q. It takes the spelling frustration out of writing and allow his ideas to flow through more easily. Also he is a sloppy writing due to mechanical writing disabilities and this makes it so he and others can read what he wrote.

Good Luck
Christy

 

[yayita25]

Wow thanks for all of your Ideas I will put many of them to work ASAyesterday!!! Thanks sooo much what would I do with out you all many hugs thanks!!!

 

[KTMom91]

Miss KT is a senior in high school and still doesn't write or spell well at all. That "whole language" stuff really messed her up...she can't hear vowels when sounding things out. Classroom assignments are difficult for her, and I proofread her homework papers and try to put her random thoughts into recognizable English. Is it that she doesn't know what to say, she's uncomfortable with the actual writing, or realizes she can't spell and worries about that? If Miss KT can type it, she does better than if she has to use a pencil. She doesn't worry about spelling and randomness, by now she knows I'll be proofing it.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

My difficult child is diagnosis'd with written expression disorder (which is related to executive functioning I believe). It is almost impossible for him to take notes from the teacher or the board. I can remember, pretesting, him spending many, many recesses inside finishing his board work. When I think back on those days, it was cruel.

Your son needs to be tested, as other posters have suggested, so that a clear diagnosis can be made. At that point, supports, i.e., spellchecker, keyboard technology, etc., can be written into an IEP.

In the meantime, I would meet with the teacher again and let her know that your child is going to be tested and there is no way she should be withheld from important lessons due to a perceived disability. Speak to an administrator if you hit a brick wall with this teacher. I can't stand educators like her......

Side note to Christy - I looked into Word Q. It sounds very interesting. I will be doing some more research on this for my difficult child!

Sharon