Writing and Education

We've had the finale of our appointments from last month. We had psycho-education testing 

Psycho-education testing and writing aids.

The writing aids appointment is with an occupational therapist. We brought some writing samples and times with us. She did some testing to see how Nick was typing and his typing speed to be able to compare it.

In the end we got to take home a computer that is similar to his computer at school. We want to practice daily and use sight words and practice typing.

Nick has an hour of time in the evening that is perfect to set up the computer and let Nick type.

This is an example of what Nick has typed

Nick spends some time looking for the letters, but he is liking doing typing and is motivated.

The key to everything involved with Nickolas is motivation.
Nick has to want to type and write. And even if it took 45 minutes to get that sentence and words out, he still did it. And was so proud of himself!

Education Information

I have been looking at psychoeducation testing for a while.
A way to understand if Nick understands things differently, how he can learn and what we can do to help. It can also help to diagnose learning disability (there are some learning disabilities associated with spina bifida and hydrocephalus) as well as improving study habits and school skills. We all know that the sooner you get a diagnosis the better.

A psycho-education assessment looks at learning and academic skills. Academic skills are reading, writing, math, spelling, listening and oral skills. All of the stuff that you use in school that gives you grades.

The psychological part includes intelligence, language skills, memory, how you learn (verbal and visual), concentration, planning, reflective response and eye-hand coordination.This is all stuff that helps you with your own way of learning.

So that is great to be able to assess all of this stuff. But how do they collect that information?

We have 2 appointments next month with the psychologist as part of the spina bifida clinic. We have it divided up into 2 days so that Nick doesn't get overwhelmed.
There will be one-on-one with the psychologist, a written questionnaire we have been left with for Kyle and me to complete as well as his teacher. I'm trying to go with an open mind to information-collect.