Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is a brain-based learning disability that affects writing. Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder of written expression that impairs writing ability and fine motor skills. It is a learning disability that affects children and adults, and interferes with practically all aspects of the writing process, including spelling, legibility, word spacing and sizing, and expression.

Dysgraphia and other learning disorders, like dyslexia and dyscalculia, are common in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD or ADD); Up to half of children with ADHD have a learning disorder.

Children with dysgraphia, however, may also struggle with the mechanics of writing. For instance, they can have trouble gripping a pen or might fatigue easily when writing.

Dysgraphia is typically identified as a child learns to write. However a disorder of written expression may remain unrecognized through the early school years as a child’s writing ability continues to develop; dysgraphia may remain undiagnosed until adulthood.

Symptoms of dysgraphia include:

• - Trouble forming letters shapes
• - Tight, awkward, or painful grip on a pencil
• - Difficulty following a line or staying within margins
• - Trouble with sentence structure or following rules of grammar when writing, but not when speaking
• - Difficulty organizing or articulating thoughts on paper
• - Pronounced difference between spoken and written understanding of a topic

Dysgraphia symptoms typically change over time. Children with dysgraphia generally have trouble with the mechanics of writing and exhibit other fine-motor impairments, while dysgraphia in adolescents and adults manifests as difficulties with grammar, syntax, comprehension, and generally putting thoughts on paper.

Dysgraphia and dyslexia

Dysgraphia is associated with writing difficulties, whereas dyslexia is associated with reading difficulties. Both learning disorders share some symptoms, like difficulty with spelling that may complicate a diagnosis. It is possible for an individual to have both dysgraphia and dyslexia 

Causes of dysgraphia

Dysgraphia can be commonly thought of in the following two ways.

1. Acquired dysgraphia is associated with brain injury, disease, or degenerative conditions that cause the individual (typically as an adult) to lose previously acquired skills in writing.

2. Developmental dysgraphia refers to difficulties in acquiring writing skills. This type of dysgraphia is most commonly considered in childhood.

• Motor dysgraphia: Weak fine-motor coordination and visual perception have long been tied to dysgraphia and may explain difficulties with producing written text. Individuals with motor dysgraphia typically exhibit illegible and slow handwriting, poor drawing and tracing skills, and slow finger-tapping (a common measure of fine motor skills).
• Spatial dysgraphia is likely related to problems of spatial perception, which affects letter spacing and drawing ability. Individuals with spatial dysgraphia struggle with handwriting and drawing, however spelling and finger-tapping speed are typically normal.
• Linguistic dysgraphia impacts the language processing skills required in the writing process. It most strongly affects spontaneously written text (which hasn’t been traced or copied), which is often illegible. Drawing, copying, and oral spelling are not affected by linguistic dysgraphia.

• Exhibit at least one of six outlined symptoms related to difficulties with learning and using academic skills for at least six months. Difficulty with written expression is included in the list.
• Exhibit academic skills that are substantially below what is expected for the individual’s age, and cause problems in school, work, or everyday activities.
• The difficulties started during school-age, even if problems only become acute in adulthood.
• Other conditions and factors are ruled out, including intellectual disability, vision problems, and lack of instruction.

Why is Dysgraphia Diagnosis Critical?

Even in the digital age, handwriting is an important skill necessary for success in the classroom and beyond. With dysgraphia, the mechanics of writing and other foundational writing skills are difficult, making a student more likely to fall behind peers without the learning disorder. Writing problems are also associated with persistent academic struggles and low self-perception which can persist to adulthood.

What’s more, the act of writing often helps the brain remember, organize, and process information. When the physical act of writing is incredibly challenging, a child can’t effectively “showcase what they know.” A student with dysgraphia may fail an exam simply because they can’t translate his thoughts and answers to paper.

Dysgraphia Accommodations in School and at Work

• - Utilizing larger pencils with special grips, or other writing instruments
• - Using paper with raised lines to help with margins
• - Permitting or asking for extra time on writing-related assignments and tasks
• - Allowing alternative methods to showcase learning and work, like oral or recorded responses
• - Using assistive electronic technologies, like voice-to-text programs
• - Asking for a copy of written materials given in class or the workplace
• - Opting to type notes during meetings

 

Dysgraphia Treatment

Dysgraphia and other learning disorders are lifelong conditions that have no cure. Treatment for dysgraphia focuses on interventions, accommodations, and special services to circumvent writing-related tasks and/or improve writing abilities. Given the nature of dysgraphia, attempts at remediation and “more practice alone are not enough – accommodations and other modifications are necessary to successfully manage the condition.

Students with learning disorders like dysgraphia are eligible for special services in the classroom.

Tests

Early detection and evaluation to identify the specific weak skills that are responsible for a child’s poor academic performance is of utmost importance. Through our online battery of cognitive test parameters, we identify the weak cognitive skills that are responsible for the reading and learning difficulties.

Training

One of the fastest and most effective ways to correct the underlying brain differences that cause dysgraphia is by engaging the affected individual in cognitive training to strengthen the weak cognitive skills that are responsible for the problem through dynamic training, drills and practice that engage the brain and significantly stretch the mental abilities.

Cognitive training energizes the affected areas of the brain, creates more neural pathways in those areas, and enables the individual to learn easier, faster and more effectively.

 

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