My 12 year old daughter is in seventh grade at a special school for gifted children. She has dysgraphia as well as a range of other medical and attentional problems. She has had a 504 since she was in 3^rd grade. For many years, the accommodations that I was able to get for her on my own were sufficient, and her education was going well. However, she entered a new school this year and although the school was initially supportive of her need for accommodations (giving her a school issued laptop without a problem, for example), things quickly began to go downhill for her academically.

I had originally found Sue Ramin-Hutchison’s and Merri Domer’s website on my own a few years previously, but had not contacted them or ordered their excellent resource book at that time. Later, I got to know Sue a bit through an on-line group we both participate in, and came to admire her practical style and encyclopedic knowledge of issues relating to dysgraphia.

I then ordered their resource book, which is incredibly detailed and practical. It lists lots of solutions to common problems with handwriting issues, ranging from low-tech ones like pencil grips to high-tech ones like specialized software. It has clear information on where to get these products, as well as on what you and the school will need to provide to make the intervention work. One of the nicest things about the book is that it makes suggestions for both younger kids and older kids like my daughter who need to do complex math and science, for example.

Sue and Merri offered me a lot of basic help even before I bought their resource book. I was particularly impressed because my daughter has a range of physical and medical problems as well as dysgraphia, and they seemed to understand how these problems interacted. Sue quickly deduced from my various posts online that my daughter might have a broader problem than dysgraphia (i.e. dyspraxia) and that some problems that had seemed to have to do with inattention might actually be a consequence of her dyspraxia. This was a very helpful observation, and suggested a different set of accommodations and interventions for my daughter.

After buying (and using!) their resource book, I ultimately hired Sue and Merri to do an individual consultation and write a report for my daughter’s school. They were very careful in collecting information for this report. They had me send them many different samples of her writing, as well as copies of all the previous testing that had been done on her. They also had me fill out a detailed form describing my concerns about the educational impact of her dysgraphia. This was all followed up with a very lengthy telephone conference after they had reviewed the pile of materials I sent them. They have spent literally hours on the phone with me, reviewing her writing samples, teasing out the details of what does and doesn’t work for her, and writing a report that highlighted exactly what accommodations and supports are necessary. The report that they developed was very detailed, knowledgeable, and practical. At least as importantly, it is couched from the perspective of educators which I think makes it useful to the school as well as to me.

I have found Sue and Merri incredibly generous with their time and knowledge as we continue to struggle to get the school to give my daughter what she needs. They remain available to me whenever I need them as I plow through the process of trying to get my daughter’s needs met at her school. They are warm, supportive, and very knowledgeable and have made so many useful suggestions about what would help her. I’ve really come to rely on them as a source of concrete information about the options that are available to us.

Ultimately, Sue and Merri also recommended that we move her from a 504 to an IEP in order to benefit from the better legal protections offered. They helped to allay my anxiety about this change, and have suggested a number of supports to request in her IEP to address her medical problems (unrelated to her dysgraphia) and help her to succeed academically in her very accelerated school environment. Even my daughter, who has never spoken to them directly, experiences them as friends and allies!

I am so glad that I found them. They have really been a huge help.

BEK
City withheld on request
New York

I just wanted to let you know how much Handwriting Problem Solutions, LLC has helped my son, Sam. He was having trouble in school completing his written schoolwork with paper and pencil which they could not pinpoint. After searching the internet, I found their website — and that was the first step in helping Sam become an independent fourth grader by finally finding the professionals with the knowledge I was seeking regarding the appropriate tools, accommodations and modifications to help him learn how to complete written assignments independently.

Sue and Merri are extremely knowledgeable regarding all aspects of writing interventions. They always reply promptly to any questions and always have the correct answers. I have found the resource guide — “Handwriting Solutions — Equipment, Teaching Strategies and Educational Resource Recommendations for Kids with Writing Disabilities” — an invaluable tool which makes purchasing and implementing products for “handwriting solutions” effortless, as well as providing a wealth of information for other resources — all in one reference. Their email Update Newsletters are also very helpful in providing all the latest information they are using with their students in their Michigan program, which always keeps their resource guide current and up-to-date. I chose the option of doing an individual consultation with Sue and Merri. They did an extensive review of Sam's writing samples, school records and reports, as well as consulted with Sam's teacher and other school personnel in preparation for writing their Consultation Report. This report made specific recommendations regarding what should be done at Sam's school to help him. Sue and Merri also continue to provide on-going support to both myself and the personnel at Sam's school regarding the implementation of the recommendations in their report, as well as answering any other related questions that we may have. I know that I can contact them anytime by phone or email.

Last year at this time, Sam would not have been capable of even expressing one complete thought through writing with pencil and paper. With using the technological recommendations that Sue and Merri provided, Sam just recently created and wrote his own magazine independently! I don't think this would have been possible without the help and consultations with Sue and Merri from Handwriting Problem Solutions, LLC. I can't thank them enough for helping Sam learn to complete written work at grade level!

Sincerely,

J. Flowers
Aurora, OH

We have a 10 year old son that has severe dysgraphia along with many other medical and physical issues. Our son has had a 504 Plan since before beginning Kindergarten which addresses his educational needs, except during his 4^th grade year when a new principal revoked his 504 Plan. We then had to fight the school district to get our son's 504 Plan back before he began 5^th grade.

At the end of his 5^th grade year and during our son's 504 Plan transition meetings between the elementary school and the middle school it became clear to my husband and I that we needed more than just our advocate sitting next to us during these meetings. We needed professional expert documentation stating specific educational needs, accommodations and modifications our son required and which the school district and middle school could not deny him without their first providing their own professional expert documentation as to why they would no longer provide our son with his current accommodations and modifications.

We had our first of many 504 Plan meetings for our son on Thursday, May 31^st, 2007. It was clear from that meeting that the school district was planning on revoking parts of our son's 504 Plan and that they were not going to make the necessary accommodations and modifications which our son needs to succeed academically in his gifted classes at the middle school. Our next 504 Plan meeting was set for Monday, June 4^th, 2007.

This was the impetus for us contacting Handwriting Problem Solutions, LLC. We had first learned about them on one of our on-line Yahoo groups and decided to contact them immediately. Our first call to Sue Ramin-Hutchison and Merri Domer was later that same day on Thursday, May 31^st, 2007. They were not only able and willing to talk with us at length that evening but they agreed that we needed the assistance and documentation that they were able to provide. They agreed to review our son's medical reports, school paperwork, class work examples and to provide us with their professional opinions via a written report prior to our 8:00 AM 504 Plan meeting on Monday, June 4^th, 2007.

Sue and Merri worked tirelessly through that weekend on our son's case. We talked on the phone, we corresponded via email and they were ultimately able to fax us a copy of their report with written recommendations by Sunday night, June 3^rd, 2007.

We were able to walk into our meeting at 8:00 AM on Monday, June 4^th, 2007 with several copies of Handwriting Problem Solutions, LLC Consultation Report, dated June 3^rd, 2007, written and prepared by Sue Ramin-Hutchison, Certified Special Education Teacher Consultant for the Physically Impaired and Merri Domer, Special Needs Technology Consultant.

To say the 504 TEAM was not expecting us to have had the time nor resources to come prepared to the second meeting with barely three days notice, including a weekend, would be an understatement. The 504 TEAM listened to our review of the report and decided that they needed to have additional time to review the report before they would dismiss it without considering it first.

Over the next few months, we had no less than six 504 Plan meetings for our son. We can say, without any hesitation, that without the Handwriting Problem Solutions, LLC Consultation Report, our son would not have most, if any, of his current 504 Plan accommodations and modifications which he needs to be successful academically at school.

Specifically, we do not believe our son would have the following 504 Plan accommodations and modifications:

• Continued use of a school district issued laptop
• Assistive technology software and/or programs such as graphic organizing software, easy-to-use scanning software, computerized student planner (designed by Handwriting Problem Solutions, LLC) and math software to complete advanced math problems

The professionals at Handwriting Problem Solutions, LLC, Sue Ramin-Hutchison and Merri Domer, are truly advocates for children and their families. Neither Sue nor Merri considered their relationship with our family over when the initial Consultation Report was completed. Rather, they continue to be available to us whenever we have additional questions or new concerns arise. They are always available via the phone, email, and on-line support. We have found their electronic newsletters and website very helpful, current, up-to-date and just as important - relevant to our son and our on-going advocacy for him and his educational needs.

What we found ironic about our seeking the professional services from Handwriting Problem Solutions, LLC, is that we likely would have agreed to the minimal accommodations and modifications that the middle school offered our son if they would have just agreed at the May 31^st, 2007 initial 504 Plan transition meeting to continue to provide our son with a school district issued laptop that he had at the elementary school.

We have had numerous opportunities to talk with other parents and have recommended many of those parents to Handwriting Problem Solutions, LLC. We are more than happy with the promptness and professionalism and continued resources we have received from Handwriting Problem Solutions, LLC. Lastly, we feel that the fees were very reasonable and that we received exceptional value for our money.

Thank you, Sue and Merri — and thank you, Handwriting Problem Solutions, LLC!

DMS
City Withheld Upon Request
Illinois

Handwriting Problem Solutions has proved to be an invaluable resource to my son and family as we have navigated his learning disability and school issues over the last several years. Their quality of service has been top notch, spanning equipment and the technical aspects of writing, to assessing his needs, to software training, consulting on educational diagnosis, and finally, to coaching me on how to navigate the slippery slopes of the public education IEP process.

As a parent of a child with a learning disability, I have learned that many people do not understand how learning disabilities affect a child's ability to put his thoughts and ideas on paper. Writing, it seems, is the most complex of all mental processes. It requires that a child master a huge list of tasks of gathering thoughts, to organizing thoughts, creating sentences, paragraphs, essays, AND then physically putting all of this on paper in some way. No one was able to help us until we found Sue and Merri at Handwriting Problem Solutions, LLC. From California to Michigan, they understood what we were dealing with and, by asking a few knowledgeable questions, were able to dive right in where we were and address our needs.

Initially the Handwriting Problem Solutions resource guide gave us an excellent resource book to examine our options for everything from grippers to writing software and keyboarding programs, all in one place. Later, I called on Sue and Merri to help me with my son's final educational diagnosis and the school district's reponse to the IEP review. Most recently, they gave me an early Saturday morning tutorial on the ins and outs of a math software program to help with my son's dysgraphia issues and fractions! Awesome!

Sue and Merri have been prompt, professional and reliable. And most importantly, they have always been focused on, and concerned about, my son. I am sure they can help you meet your child's needs!

Sincerely,

LT
San Francisco, CA