Dysgraphia
Dysgraphia
Dysgraphia is a specific learning disability that affects writing abilities in a variety of ways. Dysgraphia can be seen as experiencing a difficulty with spelling, poor handwriting, or difficulty putting thoughts and words onto paper. Dysgraphia is a processing disorder that occurs in varying degrees of severity, and in a variety of outlets involved in the writing process. Many children with dysgraphia have no trouble forming thoughts or making conversation with others, but the act of letter formation and expressing thoughts on paper becomes the challenge.
(LD Online, 2015).
Causes
Characteristics
How Does it Feel to Have Dysgraphia?
"Writing is definitely the worst task of all. It's just way too hard to remember all the things I need, like periods and capital letters. Then, it's almost impossible to think about how to spell words when I'm busy trying to think about the story. It's so hard to remember what I'm writing about …. I figure it's easier to write just a few sentences. That doesn't hurt my hand so much either. My teachers complain, but I just keep writing very short stories. After all, teachers don't understand what it's like to struggle and struggle to write and still have the paper turn out sloppy and full of mistakes. They always tell me how messy my papers are. They just can't understand how hard I try. No matter how carefully I work, the words don't look the way they look for the other kids. Sometimes I know how I want the word to look, but it just doesn't turn out that way."
(Reading Rockets, 2015)
Adaptations
Modifications:
Resources for Parents
Children's Books
What Does It Look Like to Have Dysgraphia?
Dysgraphia is a specific learning disability that affects writing abilities in a variety of ways. Dysgraphia can be seen as experiencing a difficulty with spelling, poor handwriting, or difficulty putting thoughts and words onto paper. Dysgraphia is a processing disorder that occurs in varying degrees of severity, and in a variety of outlets involved in the writing process. Many children with dysgraphia have no trouble forming thoughts or making conversation with others, but the act of letter formation and expressing thoughts on paper becomes the challenge.
(LD Online, 2015).
Causes
- Genetic and chromosomal factors
- Prenatal complications (drugs, alcohol, malnutrition)
- Birth complications (prolonged labor, prematurity, low oxygen during birth, injury from medical tools)
- Medical complications
- Environmental exposures (high fever, meningitis, stroke, diabetes, malnutrition, lead ingestion, poor postnatal care)
Characteristics
- Writing shows a mix or inconsistent use of capitals, lowercase, print, cursive, abnormal shapes, sizes, and slants of letters
- Unfinished words or letters
- Words left out of sentences or ideas
- Inconsistent spaces between words or sentences
- Abnormal wrist, body, or paper position while writing
- Copying of text and/or writing is a slow and difficult task
- Poor planning of spaces on paper
- Unusual or painful grip of writing utensil
- Difficult thinking and writing at the same time
- Difficulty visualizing what letters will look like before writing
- Avoiding writing tasks
- Saying words aloud when writing
- Large gap between written ideas and oral ideas and understanding
How Does it Feel to Have Dysgraphia?
"Writing is definitely the worst task of all. It's just way too hard to remember all the things I need, like periods and capital letters. Then, it's almost impossible to think about how to spell words when I'm busy trying to think about the story. It's so hard to remember what I'm writing about …. I figure it's easier to write just a few sentences. That doesn't hurt my hand so much either. My teachers complain, but I just keep writing very short stories. After all, teachers don't understand what it's like to struggle and struggle to write and still have the paper turn out sloppy and full of mistakes. They always tell me how messy my papers are. They just can't understand how hard I try. No matter how carefully I work, the words don't look the way they look for the other kids. Sometimes I know how I want the word to look, but it just doesn't turn out that way."
(Reading Rockets, 2015)
Adaptations
Modifications:
- Allow for more time on writing specific tasks such as note taking, essay exams, and copying from the board
- Have the student prepare headings on his/her paper ahead of time (name, date, class, etc.)
- Allow student to use a computer and keyboard in order to communicate in writing
- Provide a partially filled out set of notes for the student to fill in instead of writing everything
- Remove neatness and spelling as grading criteria where appropriate
- Allow abbreviations
- Provide the student with a printed, personal example of upper and lowercase letter formation
- Encourage students to use spell checkers, or a classmate to check spelling on assignments
- Use paper with raised lines and margins to keep students on and inside the lines
- Allow the student to use the writing tool that is most comfortable for him/her
- Use fun, sensory rubber grips for students to use on pencils when writing
- Allow the use of colored writing tools and paper
- Reduce number of assignments, tasks, or length of responses that require writing in order to be answered
- Reduce length requirements on assignments
- Provide structure and short-term deadlines for long-term projects
- Grade writing assignments based on quality, not quantity
- Use of word processing tools, or assisted composition software
Resources for Parents
- Understood.org- A group of 15 non-profit organizations that provide learning activities, simulations, specific struggles, coaching and many other types of support for parents.
- SnapType app- A photo of a worksheet is taken on an Ipad or Iphone, and the student can then type answers onto the digital worksheet
- Dysgraphia: Why Johnny Can't Write: A Handbook for Teachers and Parents by Diane Walton Cavey
- The Writing Dilemma: Understanding Dysgraphia by Regina R. Richards
- LDA Minnesota- A non-profit education agency that assists students, adults, and families at-risk, or living with a learning disability offering services such as: coaching, counseling, support, assessment, evaluation, workshops, seminars, training, products, and camps.
Children's Books
- If You're So Smart, How Come You Can't Spell Mississippi? by Barbara Esham
- Stacey Coolidge's Fancy-Smancy Cursive Handwriting by Barbara Esham
- Eric!...The Hero? by Christopher Wormell
What Does It Look Like to Have Dysgraphia?