Dyslexia and Writing

Dyslexic children and adults experience a range of challenges when trying to put pen to paper . . . John Bradford describes common difficulties and some strategies which have been found to help.

 

A teacher’s attention is often drawn to a dyslexic child or student by their ‘messy’ work – short words spelt wrongly, poor handwriting, words crossed out, lack of paragraphs, and incomplete work. Unfortunately, teachers too frequently come to the conclusion that the child cannot be bothered to make an effort, or is simply stupid. It can come as a surprise to discover that the child is actually quite intelligent, and teachers often conclude that the child must, therefore, be lazy.  This is far from the truth. Dyslexic children, teenagers and adults suffer from a range of difficulties which, even with the greatest effort, make writing the most difficult activity they are asked to perform. There are four main challenges for a dyslexic child: 1. Spelling 2. Sentence punctuation 3. Handwriting 4. Sequencing ideas 1. Spelling Visual memory weaknesses present particular challenges. This weakness prevents a child or teenager from having a strong memory of what many common words look like. You can compare this to your own visual memory of what the Statue of Liberty looks like – you probably have a clear picture in your mind. Dyslexic children can learn to work out the spellings of words that follow a logical pattern of letter sounds (like ‘c-a-t’ and ‘s-i-n-g’). The best help for a dyslexic child is to use phonics-based teaching of spelling . However, the spellings of words with little relation to their sounds – like ‘said’ and ‘ought’ – are particularly difficult to remember. They do not sound like the letter-sounds from which they are spelt. In some languages, like Italian, the spellings can be worked out from their letter-sounds. So, a sentence like: La mia madre desidera andare all’isola. (My mother wants to go to the island) is not too hard to spell once you know the rules. However, to spell the English word ‘mother’ from its letter-sounds is not easy: you would think that the beginning of moth|er was a flying insect! The word ‘island‘ looks like ‘is’ ‘land’ and the letter sounds do not create the word ‘island’. Other words like ‘where’, ‘here’, ‘are’, ‘there’, etc. are equally impossible to spell from the sounds of their letters. (These illogical spellings came about because of the complex history of the English language, which has been built up from other languages over the centuries.) One group of spellings causes particular difficulties for dyslexic writers: any (‘eny’)  many (‘meny’) does (‘dus’) said (‘sed’) they (‘thay’) because (‘becos’) island (‘iland’) eyes(‘ies’) friend (‘frend’) enough (‘enuff’) These tricky words can be learned as a ‘mnemonic’ by dyslexic children. ‘Because’, for example, can be remembered from the first letters of the ‘silly’ sentence: ‘BigElephants Can Add Up Sums Easily’. The word ‘any’ can be remembered by using the ‘silly sentence ‘Ants Never Yawn’. A useful book which provides mnemonics for these words is ‘Mnemonics’ from Tregear Books. Dyslexic children and teenagers can be helped if teachers write the spellings of words which most children will use on the board while discussing the topic with them. For example, if the children were to write about ‘My trip’, the teacher could put such words on the board as: decided miles  camping mountain lake mosquito campfire etc. Telling dyslexic children to check spellings in a dictionary is not helpful. To find a word in a dictionary, you have to know how the word is spelt in the first place! However, spell-checkers can make a big difference (and are seen as being fun and trendy!). 2. Sentence punctuation Sentence punctuation means putting upper-case or capital letters at the start, and periods or full stops at the end, of each sentence. You will often notice dyslexic children omitting these crucial markers of how the passage reads. An easy exercise to teach this is to take a passage of about five or six sentences which a dyslexic child can read without difficulty, and type it out, omitting the upper-case letters and periods. Children will soon see how hard it is to make sense of the passage, and they can be asked to punctuate the passage into sentences. If repeated a number of times, children will become proficient at using sentence punctuation themselves. Another activity which works well is to say a couple of sentences to a child, and ask how many sentences you said. For example, say: ‘I got into the car yesterday. I found the map I had been looking for.’ (two sentences). Say: ‘I went home last night and cooked myself a meal.’ (one sentence). The child will soon come to realize that the word ‘and’ can link two ideas into one sentence. 3. Handwriting Some dyslexic children experience difficulty memorizing the sequence of movements which make up the writing of each letter. This can lead to uneven handwriting, and, if severe, may be described as ‘dysgraphia’. They may also find it hard to remember which way round certain letters go (like b/d, 9/p, p/q. c, z, j, g, and others). The following approaches can help: When assessing a dyslexic child’s original writing, it is important to ignore the poor spelling and handwriting, and to grade on the content rather than the handwriting.  The best help for improving handwriting and memorizing spellings is to teach dyslexic children cursive handwriting.   In view of their difficulties with handwriting, dyslexic children should be allowed to do homework assignments on a word processor at home, and to bring in the print-out. As this can be spell-checked, and usually looks attractive, it can help to re-build their self-confidence. Some schools allow dyslexic children to do their written work in class on an inexpensive laptop computer (from an educational supplier) with a spell-checker, and take it to the Special Services/Special Needs department at recess/break times to print out their work.. (Comparison of the handwriting of a dyslexic child with that of a child who is not dyslexic.) (Read an account of teaching cursive handwriting to one dyslexic child below.) 4. Sequencing ideas Telling a story in the right order or explaining what happened can cause problems. Dyslexic children, teenagers and students are often unaware of the need to sketch out a rough outline of an essay before actually writing it. This can look like this: 1. Introduction – how we decided to go on a trip. 2. What we took with us. 3. Journey to the mountains. 4. Setting up camp by a lake. 5. Getting lost on the first day. 6. Two million mosquitoes at night! 6. Cooking a meal on the camp fire. 7. Singing songs on our journey home. 8. Conclusion – like to go again, but with a mosquito net! With this plan on a sheet of paper, a dyslexic child can then write a paragraph about each part of the story, confident in the knowledge that each section of the story will be in the right order. Although time-consuming at first, thus procedure leads to confident essay-writing over the years. For a university student, a plan like this can re-build their confidence in their ability to write an essay which argues a point coherently. Once the plan is written, they only have to fill out each section. John Bradford  June 2003  John Bradford is Director of Direct Learning.   Teaching cursive handwriting to a dyslexic child One child found adapting to a cursive style of writing particularly difficult as he joined uswhen he was aged six. We worked together using crayons on large pieces of paper, sand on trays, and chunky pens on large wipe-able white boards to practice the letter formations. I encourage him to be aware of letters that had a similar formation. We would sometimes play music in the background to encourage a better flow when writing. He became confident about where each letter should start and where it ended. We then built on this by forming small words, and identified how each letter could join to the next. Small words became sentences and his hand writing has greatly improved.  He also now has less problems identifying whether he is writing a b or a d, because he is aware that they are formed and join in a different way. (J.B., Wimbledon, London)   Articles on connected topics • The Sounds the Letters Make  • Hearing Your Child Read • Enabling the Dyslexic Student to De-code Information • Multi-sensory Teaching methods • English is Europe’s toughest language to learn • Spell-checker  • Website evaluation of John Bradford’s article

Comparison of the handwriting of a dyslexic child with that of a child who is not dyslexic

http://www.dyslexia-parent.com/mag40a.html

I have compared ‘J’s’ writing with ‘Z’. ‘Z’ is a male pupil age 11 years who had not been diagnosed with dyslexia. ‘Z’ is a very slow learner.

‘Z’ has beautiful handwriting. He writes with his right hand and takes a very long time to complete a piece of work. ‘Z’ writes at his own pace and speed, all his letters flow evenly and every letter sits on the line. He puts a lot of effort in to his work and uses correct punctuation.

‘Z’ will immediately notice if he has made a mistake with his writing and rectify it, whereas ‘J’ will not notice at all unless it is pointed out to him.

‘J’, who is dyslexic and left handed, has very messy and untidy writing. ‘J’ always starts off on the line (usually in the margin) but never manages to complete the line without falling off it, thus his writing does not flow evenly.

‘J’ also forgets to use spaces between his words because he is rushing through it to finish it.

To help ‘J’ I had made photocopy pages with thicker lines for him so that the lines stand out. This helps ‘J’ to see where the lines are, as in his writing book the lines are quite faint.

What I did notice by comparing both boys’ handwriting books is that ‘Z’ uses a lot of pressure on his pencil as he is writing it and this is clearly seen on the page underneath. ‘J’ holds his pencil quite loosely and his writing is light in color in comparison with ‘Z ‘s which very dark.

A. B, Hewport, Gwent, UK.
(A.B. is a student on the Dyslexia Certificate course)

Writing Causes Physical Pain

description, definition, problem preventing multiple students from success at school that goes undiagnosed and humiliates, frustrates, blames student

Occupational Therapy

http://kirkwoodschools.org/faculty/solomoj/handwriting.php

 

HANDWRITING

 Signs of a Student Struggling with Handwriting

Students who have difficulty with many aspects of schoolwork often struggle with a mechanical writing problem that contributes to their predicament.  When children have to focus a lot on the process of writing, they miss much of the content being taught, and may not accurately convey what they do understand.  Occupational Therapy attempts to improve a child’s handwriting by addressing not only the learning process of letter formation, but also fine-motor coordination, attention, and visual-perceptual components related to it.  

Signs of a Student Struggling with Handwriting:

 

• Difficulty with letter formation or general illegibility
• Significant variations in size of letters
• Problems with keeping letters/words on line
• Inconsistent spacing between letters and words
• Continual crowding of words at the end of a line
• Reversals of letters and numbers
• Extreme slowness of writing speed or writing much too quickly
• Complaints of hand pain/cramping
• Use of an awkward or strange-looking pencil grasp
• Not holding paper in a stable position while writing
• Unusual/awkward body postures when trying to write

DEVELOPING HANDWRITING SKILLS

 

If tracing and copying letters are difficult for a child, it sometimes helps them to develop more sensory and perceptual awareness of letters.  Children who are having difficulty with learning basic letter formations may benefit from practice with making letters in different types of media, where they can experience the concrete spatial properties of letters in a tactile way.  Some ideas for this are:

 

·         Rolling play-doh into snakes and then making letters out of the doh pieces

·         Stamping letters on play-doh or paint.

·         Making letters with fingers in finger paint.

·         Making letters with a squiggle-writer (a vibrating pen)

·         Tracing letters in sand

·         Smearing shaving cream on a cookie tray or table top and writing letters on the  shaving cream with fingers

·         Making a large cookie tray of jello, then using letter cookie cutters to stamp out letters  and eat them.

·         Sorting letters from a box of Alphabet cereal, then gluing them onto paper or making words with them.

·         Sorting plastic magnetic letters into groups of which ones have straight lines and which ones have curved lines.

Provide structure to support learning to write letters on paper.

·         Make tracing sheets that let children trace letters made of dots, lighter letters, or letters that you have gone over with wide red lines

·         allow children to write on graph paper, using the boxes as a target for where to put letters

·         Use darkened lines to target where to place letters, or draw over lines with a red marker.

Be aware of a child’s body position when he or she is writing. If a child has instability in sitting balance or in stabilizing the forearms on a table or desk during writing, he may do better at first by trying a different position such as lying prone on a rug to stabilize the forearms or trunk, or by writing at a table or desk with a shorter height, or using a taller chair or seat cushion.

Children who basically get the idea of letter formations but need practice to be able to form their letters better or write more quickly can practice daily with writing worksheets that are tailor-made to their needs (for example concentration on specific letters, either by first repeated tracing of letters and then copying them.)  These can easily be made using free sites on the internet.  

A list of websites you can go to in order to make customized handwriting worksheets for practice; 

http://kirkwoodschools.org/faculty/solomoj/Customized%20Writing%20Websites/

 Other Informational Sites on Writing

 

Twelve Rules for Good Cursive Handwriting:  http://www.quilljar.btinternet.co.uk/rules.html

 

Accommodations and Modifictions for Students with Handwriting Problems and/or Dysgraphia:  http://www.ldonline.org/article/6202

 

The Physical Language Workout Space:  http://www.peterson-handwriting.com/StyleChooz.html

 

A Common Sense Approach to the Teaching of Handwriting: http://www.spelling.org/650%20TRCKC/section%203%20ch%2020.html

 

The “Handwriting Without Tears” website (Kirkwood School’s Current Approach) :  http://www.hwtears.com/

Don’t Let Writing Cramp Your Style – Ergonomic Tips for Pain-Free Writing

WHAT IS WRITER’S CRAMP?

Technically, “writer’s cramp” is not an overuse syndrome. Writer’s cramp is a problem of incoordination and loss of control of movement arising in the basal ganglia of the brain. Its cause is unknown. The symptoms are localized, sustained muscle contractions that cause twisting and repetitive movements or abnormal postures when a person performs a specific, fine motor task such as writing. Pain and cramping is uncommon, although discomfort in the forearm wrist and fingers may be present. (Sources: www.dystonia.ie; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/dystonia)

WRITING CAN CONTRIBUTE TO RSIs

Although true writer’s cramp is a rare syndrome, hand pain, muscle fatigue and cramping from repetitive writing is not. Even if writing is not a large part of the job, writing can contribute to the development of repetitive strain injuries. Forceful gripping of the pen and pressing the tip onto the paper, awkward positioning of the pen or the paper, contact stress from holding the pen or leaning on the wrist or forearm are all risk factors of musculoskeletal disorders. In addition to addressing the keyboard and mouse as contributing factors to hand, wrist and forearm pain, writing technique should also be considered.

HISTORY

As early as 1700, Bernardino Ramazzini, considered to be the founder of occupational and industrial medicine, wrote that “the incessant driving of the pen over paper causes intense fatigue of the hand and the whole arm because of the continuous . . . strain on the muscles and tendons.” (Source: www.whonamedit.com/doctor.cfm/428.html)

In 1995, almost 300 years after Ramazzini described the occupational hazards associated with writing, the first ergonomic pen was introduced to the mass market. The Dr. Grip pen, with a rubberized and wide-body barrel was designed with the purpose of increasing writing comfort.

Several other wide-body pens followed quickly thereafter including the PhD and the BIC XXL. All of these styles followed the quill, stick-style design.

Recently, the ergonomics of writing have been addressed with alternative pen designs that fit the hand better and reduce the pressure and tension of writing. These pens are breaking away from the standard stick-pen look. Such designs include the EZ Grip, the PenAgain, the RingPen, and the EvoPen.

A Review of Ergonomically Designed Pens

WRITING TECHNIQUE – ERGONOMIC TIPS

The following are some writing tips to reduce your risk of hand and arm pain.
To Reduce Force

• Use the lightest grip possible while writing.
• Use ergonomically designed or wide-barrel pens.
• Use a rubberized grip or increase traction by wrapping a rubber-band around the pen barrel.
• Use a felt-tip pen, gel pen or roller ball so that the tip glides easily over the paper.
• Do not plant your wrist or forearm on the desk. Glide over the surface of the desk using your shoulder to initiate the movement of writing.

To Avoid Awkward Postures

• Keep the wrists neutral.
• Position the elbow so that it is open at more than a right (90 degree) angle.
• Keep the shoulders relaxed.
• Keep the hand relaxed and avoid forceful bending or hyperextension of the finger joints or thumb when holding the pen.
• Position the paper you are writing on about 2 inches above elbow level while sitting with your shoulders relaxed.
• Use a sloped desk to reduce the need to bend the neck or round the shoulders forward.
• Place the paper in a position that is easily accessible.
• Use a microdesk writing platform above the keyboard.
• Get in close to the work surface.
• Don’t reach around objects placed on the desk while writing.
• Don’t hold a pen while typing.
• Use a headset if you need to type and speak on the phone at the same time.

To Reduce Contact Stress

• Consider one of the new ergonomically designed pens.
• Use the lightest hold possible while still maintaining control of the pen.
• Don’t lean on the wrist or the forearm, especially on the sharp edge of a desk.
• Use a round, not a triangularly-shaped, rubberized grip.

To Reduce Repetitive Writing Movement

• Take microbreaks.
• Stretch often.
• Vary work tasks.

For more information on hand and upper extremity injuries, prevention and recovery, visit Hand Health Resources.

Content copyright © 2008 by Marji Hajic. All rights reserved.

Review of Theoretical and Applied lssues in Written Language Expression

http://cjs.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/18/1-2/203

Boy is empowered by his weakness

Email Picture

Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times

ONE ON ONE: Michael works with Alicia, 7, at a homeless shelter in North Hollywood. He teaches typing and software programs through his nonprofit, Showing People Learning and Technology.

Michael Guggenheim’s dysgraphia, a learning disorder that impairs his writing, spurred him to open a nonprofit that teaches homeless students how to use computers.

By Francisco Vara-Orta, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
January 7, 2008

Every Wednesday at the Sydney M. Irmas Transitional Living Center in North Hollywood, Michael Guggenheim teaches a handful of students how to type their names and basic phrases in Microsoft Word and how to work with math, vocabulary and typing programs.

At a recent tutoring session, Michael moved between the laptops used by shelter residents Alicia Lewis and Heaven Sanders, both 7. He coached them for 30 minutes on typing their names, then switched to a half hour of vocabulary and math games.

Tutor

click to enlarge

“Michael, I’m lost,” Heaven said, resting her face on her hands.

He quickly went to her computer and punched the “load” button on the keyboard to get the software working.

Another student in distress, another rescue.

But Michael is not just another teacher. He is 12, a sixth-grader at Los Encinos School in Encino. He can’t drive, vote or write much with a pencil, but he started a nonprofit when he was 11 and teaches computer skills to elementary students once a week.

He doesn’t regard his dysgraphia, a learning disorder that severely impairs writing, as a disability. Instead, he has turned it into a driving force.

For starters, he was quick to discover that he could use a computer, and now he earns straight A’s using a laptop for course work. Later, he started the nonprofit organization that takes laptops and educational software to elementary school children in homeless shelters.

New skills

Along the way he discovered his skills at pitching the project that is close to his heart: “Many disadvantaged kids and teenagers don’t have the opportunities and access to learning and using computer skills,” Michael said. “The tool that changed my life was a laptop, and it’s a skill that’s necessary to learn to get good grades and a good job so you aren’t left behind.”

Dysgraphia, a form of dyslexia, makes it difficult to write by hand. It is a lifelong condition that has nothing to do with intelligence, according to Los Angeles-based educational psychologist Nita Ferjo, who has treated Michael since he was 6.

Like some people with dysgraphia, Michael experiences pain while trying to write. His written work is illegible after a few sentences, and even tying his shoes can be difficult.

“Michael used to feel very sad in the beginning, after being diagnosed,” Ferjo said. “But he’s a warrior of sorts, even a bit perfectionistic. He’s been driven since I’ve known him.”

Michael has had tutoring and physical therapy for his condition. When he was younger he sometimes dictated homework assignments to his mother. But when he entered third grade, he was allowed to use a laptop computer in the classroom.

“He changed when he got the laptop,” Ferjo said. “It empowered him to learn and do more on his own. The fact that he can now help others truly empowers him beyond his dysgraphia.”

Michael was inspired to start his nonprofit — which he christened Showing People Learning and Technology, or SPLAT — after participating in school-sponsored volunteer work and observing that some children had little or no access to technology.

After researching nonprofits on the Internet in June, he came up with the name and digitally designed a logo with his father’s help. He then asked a family friend who works on copyrighting issues in the entertainment industry to help him trademark the logo.

In July, after using an Internet service to help him prepare the necessary documents, Michael applied for and received nonprofit status from the California secretary of state’s office and a federal tax exemption identification number.

In August, he decided to approach L.A. Family Housing, which provides temporary shelter and social services to homeless people, to launch his program. The organization, for which he had done his school-sponsored volunteer work, runs the North Hollywood shelter.

Cecilia Ribakoff, L.A. Family Housing’s volunteer coordinator, said Michael “blew her away” when he interviewed for a volunteer position, giving her a written proposal and pitching his nonprofit for the organization’s North Hollywood shelter.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dysgraphic7jan07,0,2489348.story?coll=la-home-center 

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Dysgraphia: More Than Just Bad Handwriting

Dysgraphia: More Than Just Bad Handwriting
Part three in our series about learning disabilities. Transcript of radio broadcast: 06 February 2008

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This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

People who have unusual difficulty with reading, writing, listening or working with numbers might have a learning disability. We talked last week about a reading disorder, dyslexia. Today we discuss a writing disorder, dysgraphia.

Writing is not an easy skill. Not only does it require the ability to organize and express ideas in the mind. It also requires the ability to get the muscles in the hands and fingers to form those ideas, letter by letter, on paper.

Experts say teachers and parents should suspect dysgraphia if a child’s handwriting is unusually difficult to read. Letters might be sized or spaced incorrectly. Capital letters might be in the wrong places.  The child’s hand, body or paper might be in a strange position. These can all be signs of dysgraphia. Spelling problems can also be related to the disorder.

Many people have poor handwriting, but dysgraphia is more serious. Dsygraphia is a neurological disorder that generally appears when children are first learning to write. Writing by hand can be physically painful for people who have it. There are different kinds of dysgraphia. And it can appear with other learning disabilities, especially involving language.

Experts are not sure what causes it. But they say early treatment can help prevent or reduce many problems. For example, special exercises can increase strength in the hands and improve muscle memory. This is training muscles to remember the shapes of letters and numbers.

Children can try a writing aid like a thick pencil to see if that helps. Schools can also provide simple interventions like more time to complete writing activities or assistance from a note taker. Teachers could have students with dysgraphia take tests by speaking the answers into a recorder, or type their work instead of writing it.

Children with dysgraphia might be able to avoid the problems of handwriting by using a computer. Yet experts say they could still gain from special instruction to help them organize their thoughts and put them into writing. Such skills become more important as children get older and schoolwork becomes more difficult.

And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. Our continuing series on learning disabilities, along with links to more information, can be found at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2008-02-06-voa2.cfm 

The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts more than 1,000 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of more than 115 million people.

What is dysgraphia?

Dysgraphia means difficulty with handwriting. There are several different kinds of dysgraphia. Some people with dysgraphia have handwriting that is often illegible and shows irregular and inconsistent letter formations. Others write legibly, but very slowly and/or very small. When these individuals revert to printing, as they often do, their writing is often a random mixture of upper- and lowercase letters. In all cases of dysgraphia, writing requires inordinate amounts of energy, stamina, and time.Dysgraphia can interfere with a student’s ability to express ideas. Expressive writing requires a student to synchronize many mental functions at once: organization, memory, attention, motor skill, and various aspects of language ability. Automatic accurate handwriting is the foundation for this juggling act. In the complexity of remembering where to put the pencil and how to form each letter, a dysgraphic student forgets what he or she meant to express. Dysgraphia can cause low classroom productivity, incomplete homework assignments, and difficulty in focusing attention.

Emotional factors arising from dysgraphia often exacerbate matters. At an early age, these students are asked to forego recess to finish copying material from the board, and are likely to be sent home at the end of the day with a sheaf of unfinished papers to be completed. They are asked to recopy their work but the second attempt is often no better than the first. Because they are often bright and good at reading, their failure to produce acceptable work is blamed on laziness or carelessness. The resulting anger and frustration can prevent their ever reaching their true potential.

What causes dysgraphia?
A few people with dysgraphia lack only the fine-motor coordination to produce legible handwriting, but some may have a physical tremor that interferes with writing. In most cases, however, several brain systems interact to produce dysgraphia. Some experts believe that dysgraphia involves a dysfunction in the interaction between the two main brain systems that allows a person to translate mental into written language (phoneme-to-grapheme translation, i.e., sound to symbol, and lexicon-to-grapheme translation, i.e., mental to written word). Other studies have shown that split attention, memory load, and familiarity of graphic material affect writing ability. Typically, a person with illegible handwriting has a combination of fine-motor difficulty, inability to re-visualize letters, and inability to remember the motor patterns of letter forms.

What are the different types of dysgraphia?
While dysgraphia may be broadly classified as follows, there are many individual variations that affect both treatment and prognosis:

1. In dyslexic dysgraphia, spontaneously written text is illegible, especially when the text is complex. Oral spelling is poor, but drawing and copying of written text are relatively normal. Finger-tapping speed (a measure of fine-motor speed) is normal.
2. In motor dysgraphia, both spontaneously written and copied text may be illegible, oral spelling is normal, and drawing is usually problematic. Finger-tapping speed is abnormal.
3. In spatial dysgraphia, people display illegible writing, whether spontaneously produced or copied. Oral spelling is normal. Finger-tapping speed is normal, but drawing is very problematic.

Who is qualified to diagnose dysgraphia?
Dysgraphia cannot be diagnosed solely by looking at a handwriting sample. A qualified clinician must directly test the individual. Such a test includes writing self-generated sentences and paragraphs and copying age-appropriate text. The examiner assesses not only the finished product, but also the process, including posture, position, pencil grip, fatigue, cramping, or tremor of the writing hand, eyed-ness and handedness, and other factors. The examiner may assess fine-motor speed with finger tapping and wrist turning.

What is the treatment for dysgraphia?
Prevention, remediation and accommodation are all important elements in the treatment of dysgraphia. Many problems can be prevented by early training. Young children in kindergarten and grade one should learn to form letters correctly; kinesthetic memory is powerful and incorrect habits are very difficult to eradicate.

Muscle training and over-learning good techniques are both critical for the remediation of dysgraphia. Specifically designed exercises are needed to increase strength and dexterity. A specialist can recommend the most appropriate plan of exercises. For all students, kinesthetic writing, that is writing with eyes closed or averted, is a powerful reinforcer. Work needs always to begin with the formation of individual letters written in isolation. Alphabets need to be practiced daily, often for months.

Finally, individuals can benefit from a variety of modifications and accommodations. One effective method is to teach the use of a word processor, by-passing the complex motor demands of handwriting. Many students may find learning the keyboard by the alphabet method easier than beginning with the home keys. For many, touch typing offers a whole new opportunity to learn to spell through a different kinesthetic mode. Students should also experiment with different writing tools; some people with dysgraphia may find pencil grips helpful. Other bypass methods include allowing the student to answer questions orally or into a tape recorder instead of writing, modifying written assignments so that less writing is required, and allowing extended time to complete tests and assignments. Copying from the board is an especially difficult task. Teachers need to provide notes. Photocopying the notes of another student is one possibility. Providing an outline, with spaces left for the student to fill in information, is another. Writing on a slightly inclined plane may be helpful.

Should people with dysgraphia use cursive writing instead of printing?
For many children with dysgraphia, cursive writing has several advantages. It eliminates the necessity of picking up a pencil and deciding where to replace it after each letter. Each letter starts on the line, thus eliminating another potentially confusing decision for the writer. Cursive also has very few reversible letters, a typical source of trouble for people with dysgraphia. It eliminates word-spacing problems and gives words a flow and rhythm that enhances learning. For children who find it difficult to remember the motor patterns of letter forms, starting with cursive eliminates the traumatic transition from manuscript to cursive writing. Writers in cursive also have more opportunity to distinguish b, d, p, and q because the cursive letter formations for writing each of these letters is so different.

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) thanks Diana Hanbury King for her contribution to this fact sheet. This fact sheet is the summary of work by Ruthmary Deuel, M.D., Betty Sheffield, and Diana Hanbury King.

Reference:
Deuel, Ruthmary K., M.D. Developmental Dysgraphia and Motor Skills Disorders. Journal of Child Neurology, Vol. 10, Supp.1. January 1995, pp. S6-S8.

© Copyright 2000, The International Dyslexia Association (IDA). IDA encourages the reproduction and distribution of this fact sheet. If portions of the text are cited, appropriate reference must be made. Fact sheets may not be reprinted for the purpose of resale.

Page name: dysgraphia.html

Dyslexic Dysgraphia

The DSM IV identifies dysgraphia as a “Disorder of Written Expression” as “writing skills (that) …are substantially below those expected given the person’s …age, measured intelligence, and age-appropriate education”.

With dyslexic dysgraphia, spontaneously written work is illegible, copied work is fairly good, and spelling is bad. Finger tapping speed (a method for identifying fine motor problems) is normal, indicating the deficit does not likely stem from cerebellar damage. A dyslexic dysgraphic does not necessarily have dyslexia. (Dyslexia and dysgraphia appear to be unrelated.)

Symptoms of dysgraphia

A mixture of upper/lower case letters, irregular letter sizes and shapes, unfinished letters, struggle to use writing as a communications tool, odd writing grip, many spelling mistakes (sometimes), pain when writing, decreased or increased speed of writing and copying, talks to self while writing, and general illegibility. Reluctance or refusal to complete writing tasks.

Pain while writing

Many people who are dysgraphic will experience pain while writing. The pain usually starts in the center of the forearm and then spreads along the nervous system to the entire body. This pain can get worse or even appear when a dysgraphic is stressed. Few people who do not have dysgraphia know about this, because many with dysgraphia will not mention it to anyone. There are a few reasons why pain while writing is rarely mentioned:

• Sufferers do not know that it is unusual to experience this type of pain with writing.
• If they know that it is different from how others experience writing, they know that few will believe them.
• Those that do believe that the pain while writing is real will often not understand it. It will usually be attributed to muscle ache or cramping, and it will often be considered only a minor inconvenience.

Common problems that are often associated with dysgraphia

Stress

There are some common problems not related to dysgraphia but often associated with dysgraphia, the most common of which is stress. Often children (and adults) with dysgraphia will become extremely frustrated with the task of writing (and spelling); younger children may cry or refuse to complete written assignments. This frustration can cause the child (or adult) a great deal of stress and can lead to stress related illnesses. Other common environmental sources of stress in the classroom setting are (a) high levels of environmental noise, and (b) over-illumination.

Treatment

Treatment for dysgraphia varies and may include treatment for motor disorders to help control writing movements. Other treatments may address impaired memory or other neurological problems. Some physicians recommend that individuals with dysgraphia use computers to avoid the problems of handwriting.

Occupational therapy could be considered to strengthen muscle tone, improve dexterity, and evaluate eye-hand coordination. Dysgraphic children should also be evaluated for ambidexterity, which can delay fine motor skills in early childhood.

Often small things can help a student with Dysgraphia, such as allowing them to use a preferred writing utensil or allowing them to submit typed work instead of hand written documents.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysgraphia