Isaac can close his eyes and spell nearly anything orally, but put a pen in his hand and that same word turns to mush. Handwriting has a very immature feeling to it--irregularly formed letters, awkward letter spacing and huge spaces between words. Because he struggles with the recording of thought, he has become the master of sparsely worded prose. He can cut to the issue very quickly and effectively, measuring his words carefully. The assessment showed he often represents simple images in mirror, without any realization that he is doing so. He cannot draw precise,straight lines. Tends not to close circles, even when making a concerted effort to reproduce designs with closed circles. It is as if there is a miscommunication between mind and pen. He does not seem impaired in his reading, but reads slowly. When asked to read orally, he is very dysfluent, so I do think his reading is impacted to some extent. In general, organization is an issue for him. He is scattered in his thinking and just when you think he has lost the thread completely, he cuts to the chase and lets you know how deep his understanding his. He is very artistic, a highly visual and auditory learner and his strengths lie in creation and performance. This kid takes the most amazing photographs, always coming at things from different perspectives. I don't know that it played any role in his development, but early on his speech and hearing were impacted by severe ear infections (two surgeries to place tubes). He was in speech for articulation issues at four, leaving his therapists scratching their heads at a four year old with two year old articulation patterns and the vocabulary of a ten year old! He simply has never fit into any neat boxes. We are just beginning our exploration of the issue, but his psychologist has suggested the use of a laptop and a recorder for classroom note taking. Primarily, knowing these were what he needed, we were seeking some expert validation of this modification.
Lori Jackson ----- Original message ----- From: Patricia Kimathi <[email protected]> To: Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group <[email protected]> Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009 8:30 PM Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] ***SPAM*** Re: Do we really need to teachexplicitstrategies? > I have a very gifted child that you have described to a T. Can you > tell me more about dysgraphia. Did they give you exercises to do with > him. I teach gifted students and have always been aware of gifted > students with learning disabilities. My husband and I run a tutorial > center and most of our students are gifted with either learning > disabilities or able underachieving gifted. > > You and your husband might be interested in SENG an organization > founded with children like your son in mind. > > I am so sorry you can't find teachers who think out of the box. > An article from SENG > Strategies to Help > The most effective way to inoculate twice exceptional students against > the devastating effects of these emotions is early identification and > support. That way the student's strengths and weaknesses are > documented, understood, and more likely to be addressed. These > students need programming options which allow them to pursue areas of > giftedness, while also providing opportunities to concretely learn > compensatory skills (rather than having to learn them intuitively > through trial and error). The twice exceptional students who are most > likely to achieve are those who know and accept their strengths and > weaknesses, who utilize accommodations in their areas of weakness, who > know and accept that they might have to work harder than other gifted > students to achieve the same results, and who have developed a > positive sense of personal competence about addressing difficult > academic tasks. > > Even with a strong program which provides for both exceptionalities, > these students will still encounter negative emotions and setbacks. > They need an active support system to access during these times, to > talk openly about their feelings, and to problem solve about getting > beyond the emotions in a given situation. This support can take place > in informal discussions with teachers, parents, or peers; or it may > demand more formal situations such as individual counseling for mild > issues and, perhaps, therapy for deeper or high impact issues. > > By arming these twice exceptional students with ways to compensate for > their academic weaknesses, as well as the means to overcome typical > emotional issues which can daunt them, they can be freed to achieve, > to set high standards, and to succeed academically. Then, hopefully, > they can develop a strong sense of competence as expressed by the > following in a college essay: "I realize my learning disabilities have > been a blessing in disguise because despite the difficulties they > cause me, I have been able to make myself a better stu-dent." David > reminds us that when our twice exceptional students achieve this sense > of competence and control in the academic arena, they may once again > dare to dream. > > Jean Strop is Counseling Coordinator and Gifted/Talented Resource > Teacher at Cherry Creek High School, Colorado. She is a consultant and > presenter on affective and academic programming for gifted and > talented students. David Goldman, a senior at Cherry Creek High > School, is a debater as well as a presenter on Twice Exceptional. He > will attend University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business > > This is from an article on Seng > On Jun 14, 2009, at 6:47 AM, Ljackson wrote: > > > He did not qualify for services BUT was clinically diagnosed as > > dyslexic with a specific focus on dysgraphia. In other words, he > > could spell and visualize words correctly but then scramble them > > when asked to write the same thing. He cannot transcribe > > information well, makes reversals and transpositions that impact > > meaning. He is not lazy, he CANNOT do this due to a specific > > processing disorder. I had met someone about about a year ago with > > a son with the same diagnosis and as she described her son to me, > > along with the fight it took to get him services, she could have > > been talking about my son. > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > [email protected] > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
