Dysgraphia
Dysgraphia is a processing problem causing difficulty in remembering and using the correct sequence of muscle movements in order to write
It is a neurologically based difficulty and is often related to other specific learning difficulties. Dysgraphia is frustrating for children who have good oral language skills but are unable to transfer their ideas easily into written form.
Key characteristics Children with dysgraphia may:
- write slowly and laboriously, and have poor presentation
- have inconsistent letter formation and use a mixture of upper and lower case letters
- have difficulty with their pencil grip
- have difficulty with copying and taking notes
- use a rubber excessively
- have difficulty with directions eg. in map work, plans, diagrams.
Support strategies You may need to:
- teach the child keyboard skills as soon as possible and use a word-processor
- allow them to write seated in the position that suits them best
- allow them to write in the style and form that suits them best
- allow extra time for writing activities
- use planning and writing frames
- encourage the use of visual organisation strategies, such as mind-mapping
- develop alternative methods of recording eg. diagrams, posters, charts, comic strips
- allow the use of a scribe where appropriate
- give the child more opportunities to talk about their ideas rather than writing them.
Comments
I also have it
For the first four years of my life I had "beautiful writing" exercises which involved copying text first by pencil, and if the teacher was happy with it, with ink. My exercise book pages were worn through from using a pencil rubber and no matter how hard and carefully I tried to form the letters, I still had to do all the exercises several times before I was allowed to progress to ink. Any curved parts of letters were especially difficult. I never messed around in class but I was more than a year behind my writing exercises and I often took home exercise that were supposed to have been completed at school, just because I was too slow.
In Junior school everyone was expected to learn to knit and sew (yes, boys too) and I hated textile lessons because my hands just would not obey what I wanted them to do.
Until I finished school at 19 I had to write everything by hand: I assumed the pain I experienced was just a writer's cramp. When I found my notebook of poems several years later, I found it almost impossible to read my own writing because it was so small and slanting. I gave up script writing because in my new country the font used was so different but maybe it was more than that: I didn't learn to tie up my shoelaces until I was 12; until then I just faked it.
As well as the pain during writing, my hand would just "lock up": I would not be able to do any small movements, or often any movements at all for a few minutes. It was also painful and would return within seconds if I tried to get back to writing within 1/2hour. By the time I was 16 I did practically no homework, just scribbled enough to satisfy my teachers - they were happy enough because I could give the answers verbally, from memory. The same happened every time I tried to brush my teeth; I dreaded this activity more than anything else. It was only using an electric toothbrush for a few years: it changed my life and my AND MY TEETH! The electric toothbrush seem to retrain my brain, so now I am OK with manual one, too. (I wonder if learning to type as a child would have had a similar effect?)
I used to be good at sports and dance and competed in gymnastics at national level, but maybe it is due to my problem with hands that I was never interested in racket sports or snooker. I still write very slowly, yet I can't help mixing letters like b & p even though I am not dyslexic and letters get fused together, especially in certain combinations.
When I got my first computer, the first thing I did was to teach myself to type. I am almost as slow typist as I am a writer (I make so many mistakes) but at least I don't get any pain and even other people can read my writing! Now I type everything I can, including envelopes - even if it means of spending more than twice the amount of time switching on the computer and setting printing properties.
I never had my condition officially diagnosed: in the days I went to school learning difficulties didn't exist, you were either lazy or stupid. And as I was on top of my class in sport and sciences apart from an maths (I also have dyscalculia), everyone would have just laughed if I told I have a learning difficulty.
I had to be labelled as dyslexic which is of course wrong because I have no problem with reading but is is what education system nowadays readily recognises. Still, I was given printed lecture instead of having to write everything down myself and I get more time in exams so I decided not to fight it. If I had a child suffering from dyscalculia and going through the education system, then that would be different.
I've got it
and it made my school life hell.
Specifically I have always felt pain in my forearm when trying to write for extended periods or faster than my natural pace.
I grew up with all of my teachers and both my parents continually telling me I was lazy. Eventually you start to believe. I didn't know that no-one else felt the same pain as I did when trying to write neatly or quickly. I ended up not even trying to keep up, as it was far more important to me to understand what was going on.
At High School I took typing as a subject(only boy in school who did) and it made a world of difference to me.
I'm now a teacher myself, and although I still show many symptoms (non-cursive writing, poor handwriting, use of capitals) I can keep up with my workload.
Talk to the schools about using a keyboard or laptop. Although this will not help their dysgraphia, it will reduce a lot of the stress that they could face in all of their subjects. It's hard to concentrate and learn when you are in pain and playing catch-up.
Kevin Adkins
ICT Teacher
I am so amazed that i think
I am so amazed that i think i have finally found what i think my daughter is suffering with - she too is six and a prolific reader, very bright, enthusiastic but can not write and is finding it increasingily hard to stay focused when she has to do written tasks. She can not form her letters properly and can rarely write more than once sentence (and this will be illegible), is unable to copy words or shapes properly and her writing most of the time is difficult to read. As I have only just found this site I now need to know if I can get reffered to a specialist (are there specialists in this field???) - should i contact my doctor or go back to the school (they are not alot of help either ) but my daughter is going up to a new Junior school in September and I fear she will become dispondant and it will affect her confidence in other areas. Can you suggest anything ? ?
Regards
Sarah
My son is 6 years old and
My son is 6 years old and I'm pretty sure he has dysgraphia. He cannot write a simple sentence at all and the words just seem to get muddled in his head so he can't write them down on paper. I have been looking for an answer for about a year now and he seems to have most of the characteristics for dysgraphia. I am finding it a struggle to get any help from his school as his reading is excellent and therefore they don't really seem to think there is much of a problem. I am so glad I have found this just by looking on the internet and any other information would really help.
Many thanks.
Chloe Moorhead
Dysgraphia
I have a 13 year old daughter that fits the description of dysgraphia completely! I have been trying diligently over the years to help my daughter. We live in the US. Is there a process or test available to diagnose? She does all of her homework on the computer, but that doesn't help when she has written tests. It takes her in incredible amount of time to do her homework, and gets extremely frustrated when she has to write. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
Judy Candage
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