<p>Fourkidsmom - back in 5th grade my son with dysgraphia could not draw a circle or triangle either. </p>
<p>The best advice I ever received in handling my son with dysgraphia was from the school psychologist who recommended that we stop making him work on handwriting and strongly encourage him to word process. </p>
<pre><code> My son had an accomodation of word processing for the writing portions the AP exams and the new SAT I writing component. Just his 504 was not sufficient and he was denied by the college board the first time around. The entire evaluation by a clinical psychologist had to be sent and there were some specific tests ( see below ) that that had to be abnormal in order to qualify for word processing.
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<p><a href="http://www.collegeboard.com/ssd/student/guidelines.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeboard.com/ssd/student/guidelines.html</a></p>
<p>FROM THE COLLEGE BOARD WEBSITE
Eligibility Guidelines for Computer Accommodations on College Board Tests</p>
<p>There are three major disability categories for documenting the need of a computer accommodation for written language expression on College Board tests: </p>
<p>Physical Disability (edited out to shorten post)</p>
<p>Dysgraphia (fine motor) </p>
<p>Learning Disability (severe) </p>
<p>A student's request for computer accommodation on College Board tests, in any of these categories, is to be made following the below documentation guidelines. Note that under category C., not all Learning Disabilities have functional limitations that establish the computer as an appropriate accommodation. </p>
<p>B. Dysgraphia
For the purposes of College Board tests, dysgraphia is defined as a type of disability in which a student has fine motor problems that impact his/her writing skills. Unless there is evidence to show that poor handwriting is due to a disabling condition, it does not mean dysgraphia or fine motor coordination deficit. </p>
<p>As published on page 1 of of Instructions for Completing the Student Eligibility Form for Accommodations on College Board Tests (Instructions) under Guidelines for Documentation to be eligible for an accommodation, a student needs to provide disability documentation that indicates the diagnosis, historical information regarding onset of the condition, current functional limitations in academic learning particularly on written expression, and rationale for the requested computer accommodation. </p>
<p>Therefore, for dysgraphia (fine motor), eligibility to receive a computer accommodation on College Board tests will be based on a review of:</p>
<p>An evaluation exam and report which demonstrates that the student has fine motor problems. Some of the common tests that are acceptable by the professional community to document fine motor skills problems are the Coding subtest of the Wechsler Cognitive Test or the Beery Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual Motor Integration (VMI) or Rey Complex Figure Test. Professionals such as occupational therapists, psychologists, learning specialists, MDs can document such conditions.
An academic testing in writing that substantiates that the student's fine motor problems present severity in organization, presentation of ideas, richness of language, complex language structure. (Severity in writing does not include measurement of the mechanics of language - e.g., spelling, grammar.) Tests such as written expression subtest of the WIAT II, Broad Writing cluster of Woodcock Johnson III, TOWL III or OWLS are commonly used. These writing tests would tap specific writing skills such as organization, composition, structure, syntax, vocabulary. It always is helpful to include a timed measure such as WJ III writing fluency especially if timed testing condition is an issue. These tests are usually administered by school or clinical psychologists or educational diagnosticians.</p>