I’m a lucky dad.
My teenage son, David, has always been on the honor roll at school and I rarely have cause for concern. But recently, when he came to me seeking help, I knew he was worried and not sure what to do. The challenge? Pass a government administered literacy test. David was very concerned because it’s crucial that he passes the test or else he wouldn’t be able to graduate from high school. You might think that because he is on the honor roll, it shouldn’t be hard to pass this test. Well, he has dysgraphia, or to put it in plain words, he has issues with handwriting. He has trouble turning his thoughts into writing, and when he does, it’s full of mistakes that he doesn’t catch. Before he was properly diagnosed, my wife and I thought he wasn’t trying hard enough and just needed to practice more. Instead, he needed help.
As calm as he is, David was nonetheless stressed about the literacy test and knew it would be an absolute headache. We had to find a tutor who was knowledgeable, patient, and was an expert in writing. The search on TutorOcean was rather easy, the tutor we hired has many years of experience in helping students improve their writing, and he was in our budget range.
During our initial video chat, the tutor was quick to understand David’s needs and struggles. He proposed that he would be more like a mentor, providing guidance that would help David to work around his learning disability. At times, when David got frustrated, his tutor remained calm and encouraged him to keep going. They worked together twice a week for two months, and David not only passed the test, but received a higher mark than he’d anticipated! He was on top of the world and his confidence level skyrocketed. He is definitely looking forward to working with his mentor over the next school year.
Here’s a great video by Edutopia that discusses tactics that educators and parents can adopt to help kids with dysgraphia express themselves.
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TutorOcean Dad
I'm a dad using the TutorOcean platform to find and connect my son with tutors who can provide him with a personalized study plan.