Testing for Dysgraphia

My son has dysgraphia. An Occupational Therapist can test for it and they can help him with lessons, using a computer in school vs writing and offer assistance as requiring him to take less notes and less rote writing in class etc...
It is not the worse thing in the world, however it often accompanies other learning disabilities - Remember a learning disability does not mean non smart - just means that your child learns in a different way.

simply put people with dysgraphia have trouble getting what is in their brain down to their fingers and onto the paper. Their writing is often sloppy, mixed with capital and small letters, crooked sentences, letters of different size, poor spelling and punctuation etc...

The school does the testing and they are required to do the testing under the No Child Left Behind Laws

Do you mean Dysgraphia by chance?? I think dysphagia is something different.

If it is dysgraphia, I have a daughter who is now a teenager who had the same problem.

In 1st grade she was evaluated by the school's occupational therapist who determined she had some fine motor deficits. I also had her evaluated by a neurologist.
She ended up having a 504 plan at school so the OT could work with her every week. The OT worked with her once a week until 5th grade. Her writing did improve greatly, but would still be considered a little "sloppy" for her age now. But it is way improved from where it was! Good luck!

The OT recommended the Writing Without Tears program.

Dr rios in grapevine. Pediatric behavior development specialist.

We went to Scottish Rite and they were awesome! It is totally free and they are so helpful. There is also a yahoo group that is chock full of resources, I highly recommend them.

It was a full day of testing. They have them read, write, take an IQ type test, etc. My son had a blast there. I think that you do have to be a diagnostician with training in dysgraphia to be qualified for diagnosis.

I will warn you that our school district doesn't recognize the diagnosis from Scottish Rite nor do they recognize dysgraphia. BUT the teachers and counselors have given us the mods we requested. If you have questions, feel free to message me your email and I will email you back.

I would start by calling ophthalmologists in your area and ask specifically for that service. See what you find out.

Also, I've found at least one blog where a mother discussed her son's dysgraphia/vision issues and found that I could communicate with her directly. Many moms want to help, and so this might be another way to ask for advice.

Also check out PAVE. They may have someone who could direct you to some resources in your area.

www.pavevision.org

The National Center for Learning Disabilities is a great place to start. Here's their starting section for Dysgraphia. The NCLD is a really great resource for LD's.

http://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/dysgraphia

EDIT: Apparently, you need to copy and paste the entire link. MP isn't hyperlinking the entire link.