We had our first parent teacher conference for our kindergarten son last week. He is 5 years old (turned five early Sept) and the kindergarten is 1/2 day in a good public school. He attends k-care in the afternoon.
His teacher is concerned because he has a reluctance to write or draw. He is bright, has strong verbal and social skills, he cooperates in class routine, is normal or ahead in pre-reading skills like letter sounds, letter identification, really enjoys books, ect. However, he has little tolerance for writing and drawing. His drawings are primitive--a line or basic shapes. He can write his letters--in fact I have noticed great improvement in this but complains about it, says he is tired, says it is too hard, that it is boring. He has to be cajoled into these activities. When he does them though, he is fairly competent or at least improving.
His teacher thinks he is having problems in the graphomotor area. I sort of agree because he has always hated drawing and if you ask him to draw something specific he doesn't know where to begin. She is also a little worried about his fine motor skills and will consult the school's OT for tips on this. She is also going to consult with the school's child study team for strategies on using his strengths (verbal skills, reading) to develop the weaknesses.
Based on observing him while volunteering in the classroom several times over the last few months, I notice that he he just wants to play which makes me think this could be a maturity issue. He will also choose to play with the cars in the block area instead of the painting area. The other kids though do seem further ahead in writing/drawing and he does seem to get overloaded when asked to do something involving writing. But, when pushed enough he will write, color and cut with scissors fairly well.
So, my question is, is this graphomotor functioning a red flag for learning disabilities? Why would there be such a discrepancy between his overall intelligence and his writing ability? What kinds of early intervention would make the most sense right now?
BTW, he is an eager learner, we limit tv and computer, we read to him all the time and take an ative interest in many things. He is well behaved, gets at least 10 hours of sleep at night and eats well. He has always been sort of a free-spirit--in his head alot, imaginative and funny. He makes and keeps friends and does seem much more mature socially than academically. Do you think this could just be an area slow to develop in him?