We have not used a keyboard in school for my autistic son, but I have heard of those that do. My son will be going into middle school this fall, and I am concerned that he will not be able to keep up. His writing is messy and somewhat labored. His resource teacher told me that she was going to have him observed and hopefully get approved for a keyboard. Well, he will no longer be at that school, and they were dragging their feet on the issue. I am taking matters into my own hands and looking into possibly purchasing one, but I really think the district should provide one.

Anyone have experience with these?

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If your son has a IEP and is working with the ESE specialist they will get him whatever adaptive technology he needs. You may need to be the squeaky wheel on this though. Sometimes they need a bit of prodding to get things done....ya know?

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My son just got approved for one this last school year. Occupational therapy did an evaluation. My son is 18 and has the same difficulties with writing as yours. He was assigned an alphasmart. However, he chose not to use it. He doesn't want to be different from the other kids at all. We tried encouraging him to use it. The school should definately provide this and don't give up until they do. I've thought about getting my son a laptop computer but don't know if it would help him any.

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My son has dysgraphia basically fine visual motor skill processing disorder which leads to handwriting difficulties. He just got an Alphasmart for the last 9 week grading period and its now in his IEP. I am trying to get a grant through our States Assistive Technology Program to purchase one here at home for his use over the summer havent heard anything yet, its not a cheap machine you have to get certain software to go with it and the school has to use the same program to load th work that your child does.

There is a website for Alphsmart I dont think its alphasmart.com I think its something else.

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My son also has dysgraphia. He has heavy challenges with his fine and gross motor skills. He used an alpha smart for a few years, and was assigned it through his school district. He has had availability for it through all his years in the district. However, when he got into middle school, he felt funny using it--thought it made him look different. We solved that by getting him a laptop, which actually worked well for him and none of the kids thought it was different--actually thought it was a bit cool. He just "graduated" this month from 8th grade and will be going to H.S. in August. We were working with the district to get not the alpha smart, but a laptop included in the IEP....ran out of time for that. However, we will try again in HS, although he will still have a laptop of ours available to him. The alpha smart (when he was younger) and the laptop have been godsends to him. Because of his disability, he will NEVER be able to have very legible handwriting. If he has tons and tons of time and can take time with each letter, he can make his handwriting/printing legible, but it takes him FOREVER to get even the simplest assignment done. Not worth it, and considering that he is a straight A student, and always has been, as long as he can get the assisgnments done, whatever works works for us too. If your child is autistic, he MUST be on an IEP and the keyboarding is a very basic inclusion on IEP everywhere. It was difficult for my son to get started on this and get an IEP, because his only challenges are with the dysgraphia/motor skill problems. Because he is so smart and does so well academically I had to fight tooth and nail to even get him evaluated in the beginning. Once he was in the system, though, it was no problem. Because he was qualified for the last 2 years under a 504 plan instead of an IEP, per se, things going forward might be a little different. Hoping that going into high school will not present any new obstacles.

Anyway, what I would suggest you do is contact the Director of Special Education Services for your school district and put in writing that you want a special IEP to have your son evaluated for this special necessity. I also work in my school district in Special Education, and they have Alpha Smarts for all the special ed and ED kids. I would bet that getting this accommodation for your son will not be a problem at all, once you address it. Good Luck!

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My son had an alphasmart since 2nd grade (now about to enter 7th) and last year he switched to a laptop. You have to stay on top of your AT person, your lead teacher on his grade level.. pretty much make yourself an nuisance (I had to get our local paper involved) and even then the special education teacher handed me a book with alot of AT things in it and asked which thing did I deem approiate for my son.. I pretended to flip through a couple of pages then said order one of everything until we find what works. She said we don't have the money for that, I said well find it or give me an appt with the AT person. Guess what?! All of a sudden AT was available and we had an appt the next month with her. He used the alphasmart for 3 good years then in 6th grade his eyesight starting failing (like his moms) and the small screen made it hard for him to see, even with his glasses so we asked to be reevaluated for a laptop.. low and behold the laptop has made a HUGE difference. Now his classwork from no alphasmart to alphasmart inproved immensely but the laptop was AMAZING. He found a new freedom. I would also strongly advise either you enroll him in a typing class or get a CHILDS typing cd that he can work on... it will help him with fingerplacement and such. Matter of fact, when we were to have to 'give up' the laptop for the summer our son was actually drawn to tears and I contacted the teacher to see if we could possibly keep it for the summer.. she said no problem. They gave him a seperate cdrom hookup and a lovely satchel carrying case.. so he is 'hooked up'.. with no problem. You can pm me or email me if you have any more questions or concerns you think I can help you with.

Oh my son has add, dyslexia, tourette's syndrome and his 'primary' disabilty is called 'written expression disability'.. meaning it is hard for him to write things from the board to the notebook.

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AlphaSmart, a Renaissance Learning Brand—The Better Laptop for Schools and Writers
Apparently, it is a dot-com. I'm only commenting because I think this is something you should pursue. I've always had bad handwriting, though I'm not autistic, or anything else diagnosed, and it always made school difficult. I don't think anyone quite realised that I wasn't being sloppy, but that was really the best my hands could do. Handwriting exercises only helped to a certain degree. Even now, I find ballpoint pens hard to deal with. Near the end of high school, a few teachers let me take tests of computers, and it made life so much easier. If I could have done it sooner, that would have helped a lot.

Do look into repetitive exercises for the hands, but definitely see if you can get the keyboard. When more people can get it into their heads that developmental and motor disorders aren't attitude problems, things will be better. Right now, the concern should be with helping your child get his thoughts out, not on the mechanics of that. I hope I don't sound too bitter here.

I am so sorry you had to go through this experience. My DS also tried as hard as he could to make eveyone happy with his handwriting...to no avail. Still, even if he takes his time...which means painstakingly long for each letter to be formed, the best he can do is printing/handwriting that looks like a preschooler or kidnergartner wrote it. It is so frustrating to have to get the teachers and others to understand all this. My son, at 14, still has a very, very difficult time tying shoes, buttoning, etc. But, as I stated in an earlier post, he is and always has been a straight A student, so the system does not know how to deal with this one challenge he has. Thankfully this is becoming a world where laptaps and computers are very accepting now!.

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"Yesterday is but a vision, and tomorrow is only a dream. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a dream of hope." Anonymous

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Have the courage to be yourself.

My DS was also diagnosed with dysgraphia (in 2nd grade). He is a very good student in all areas except his handwriting. It is laborious for him and very few people can read it.

I routinely meet/email the teacher(s) a couple weeks after school has started to discuss his handwriting limitations and our past accomodations. It opens the lines of communication and encourages everyone to be on the same page. I've seen too many instances where inconsistent/difficult-to-read handwriting has been perceived as laziness/disinterest., etc.

He used an Alphasmart in 3rd and 4th grade (he had permission to take it between school and home, so it was very convenient for both school and homework). In 5th grade, he decided it wasn't very cool and started using the desktop computer both at home and school. He has a very good memory, which has helped him cope with his slow/illegible handwriting (he can often remember much of what is said, so he is often able to recall the information, even if he has not written it down).

As he is getting older (and is losing things less often (another trait of some with dysgraphia/graphomotor issues)), we're thinking of getting him a laptop to bring to school with him. Apparently, this year he has not taken advantage of the Alphasmart at all. He has told us that it's pretty difficult to edit his work or read what he has written, as he can only see 3 lines of text at a time. We're told by the teachers that kids like to use laptops (there's a coolness factor to them that's not associated with Alphasmarts as the kids get older...laptops don't make you seem as "different", apparently).

Our son is on a 504 (just had our annual meeting recently). Every year I worry that they'll say he doesn't need accomodations, he's doing okay, etc. Luckily there's always been a teacher at the meeting who really understands his situation. Sometimes the administrator will look at his grades and say "what's the problem? His grades are fine." What they fail to realize is that without the computer/word processing software, his grades would definitely be much worse, because his writing is so difficult to read (before he was given access to the Alphasmart, he received a failing mark on a state standardized writing prompt, most likely because his handwriting was illegible).

Bottom line: I would push for a laptop, if possible. If not the Alphasmart is a fair substitution.

Andrea

I totally agree with you that having a child with a motor skill challenge but otherwise a very capable (in our case a straight A student) gives you a totally different page to work off of. When My DS went on a 504 from an IEP I was concerned about being able to continue with any accommodations. However, while still in middle school they accepted all recommendations from elementary. He will be entering entering high school next year, which is a new school district so we have to start over. The middle school counselor and others at his lasts 504 meeting could not even get the counselors or anyone else for that matter to attend the transition meeting. That has me worried. BUT, I am not very easily disuaded or ignored, so will fight to get at least laptop accommodations.

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"Well-Behaved Women SELDOM make history."Laurel Thatcher Ulrich


"Yesterday is but a vision, and tomorrow is only a dream. But today well lived makes every yesterday a dream of happiness, and every tomorrow a dream of hope." Anonymous

"Your candle does not lose it's light by lighting another candle" Generosity

Have the courage to be yourself.