Oh, thanks, Anth! But I don't want to give the wrong impression--my son is not severely disabled; it just extends to the things I've mentioned, writing and drawing (a problem of brain wiring similar to the confusions of dyslexia). He has use of his hands otherwise. It's not comparable to the situation some kids have to face
.
I am just used to calling it a disability without explanation or amelioration, because I've learned this is necessary in dealing with
some of his teachers. Every year one or two of them persist in believing that my son could write clearly if he only worked harder at it (despite the fact that we have had a 504 and IEP filed for him for years). They suggest handwriting exercises and other things that don't help--you can't teach motor skills when the motor wiring isn't there.
And it is frustrating. This year they're drawing and coloring maps for his world geography class, and he utterly refuses to accept a simpler assignment because, he insists, it embarrasses him too much. So he labors for 10 or 12 hours to produce a map his classmates whip off in 1 or 2. It's gorgeous when he's done; he does have control when he works extremely slowly. But he gets the same A as the kid next to him, and the teacher uses it as evidence that, see, he can do it! Yes, if he spends his whole life at it, he can.