Dysgraphia is a specific learning disorder featuring difficulties with language, (regardless of reading ability), including the inability to; produce legible, meaningful, structured writing; express ideas clearly; and spell accurately. Quite surprisingly, there are two types of dysgraphia: motor-based and language-based.
Motor-based dysgraphia
Motor-based dysgraphia sufferers experience difficulties with fine motor skills that affect their handwriting. Some signs of this type of dysgraphia include:
- Writing unclear, irregular, inconsistent letters which may have different slants, shapes, a mixture of upper and lower case letters, and a mixture of print and cursive
- Frequently erasing their work or missing letters
- Copying and writing slowly, especially when copying from the board
- Having an awkward or cramped grip or unusual wrist, body or paper position when writing which sometimes results in a tired or sore hand
- Having poor spatial planning (difficulty spacing things out on paper)
Language-based dysgraphia
Language-based dysgraphia is where sufferers have issues changing the sounds of a language into a written form. Some signs of this type include:
- Experiencing troubles with sentence structure when writing but not when speaking
- Having difficulty organising sentences and ideas on paper and keeping track of thoughts
- Displaying a wide gap between spoken and written comprehension of a topic
- Having issues with writing and thinking simultaneously
- Having difficulties with creative writing tasks
Supports and strategies
There are various supports and strategies that can be undertaken to assist students. Motor-based sufferers will benefit from learning tools. Such as, speech to text applications, wide-ruled paper, as well as pencil grips or aids when they have to write. Because of this, they should be assessed on their knowledge of a subject, not their ability to handwrite. Language-based dysgraphia sufferers will benefit from explicit teaching and modelling. Some will find value in speech to text applications, but others won’t need it. They may need extra support with sentence structure and grammar.
The following supports and strategies are helpful for all dysgraphia sufferers, (as well as students in general):
- Break down activities into steps
- Provide key word vocabulary, visual supports, checklists
- Allow time to plan visually (for example, mind or story maps)
- Allow extra time to write and proofread
Moving forward
The difficulties experienced by people with dysgraphia can naturally stress them and affect their wellbeing. It is important to keep this in mind because they
are at risk of becoming disengaged at school and work. However, the more people who know what dysgraphia is the better. More sufferers can receive assistance and understanding from the wider community.