Dysgraphia

I thought I'd finish out the set by posting some basic information about dysgraphia. Dyslexia is a learning challenge in the realm of reading and understanding written materials, dyscalculia affects an individual's ability to understand and perform mathematics and other skills involving numbers. An individual affected by dysgraphia has difficulty with writing tasks - from the motor skills used to handle a writing implement to the process of putting thoughts down on paper in written form. Because writing is a skill that develops in a continuum from early childhood (preschool) through adolescence and into adulthood, different challenges may arise at different times.

Some warning signs of dysgraphia include:

• ineffective pencil grip and poor writing posture
• poor penmanship
• fatigue during writing tasks
• finding ways to avoid writing
• saying words aloud during writing tasks
• incomplete sentences or missing words
• trouble putting ideas onto paper
• problems with sentence structure, common usage and grammar
• significant differences between written work and ideas expressed through other means such as oral or practical skill.

Parents and school staff should work together with the student to determine an appropriate combination of support and accommodation to best meet the student's needs. In some cases written tasks can be performed through other means such as speaking or using a computer instead of handwriting. Assignments can be modified to reduce reliance on written skills. However, because handwriting is an important facet of everyday life, remediation and coping skills should also be used to strengthen writing abilities.

This website has a variety of suggestions for different developmental levels to encourage writing skill improvement.

One particular idea that I wanted to emphasize is the introduction of computers early in a child's schooling. There is a lot of advice out there about limiting screen time and reducing childrens' exposure to technology in order to encourage more physical activity. I want to emphasize that "computing" should be done in moderation. However, I do feel it is important to begin familiarizing children with computers, keyboards and mouses (mice?) earlier rather than later. Our daughter is in first grade and her class spends about an hour each week in her school's computer lab. I have observed a couple of short sessions in the computer lab during my regular volunteering time. The students use the keyboard to log in to various software programs. They use a combination of point-and-click mouse skills and keyboard strokes to drive the software. If they are not familiar with the keyboard and mouse they lose learning time, and have trouble completing their tasks. I was relieved that our daughter has learned these skills. In fact we have a little competition going sometimes as to who spends more time at my desktop computer. Fortunately I can always access my laptop! As technology increases I imagine that computer skills will become even more essential to daily life, though I'm not sure that handwriting will ever completely disappear.

For more information on dysgraphia, you can start here.