DYSGRAPHIA

  

Learning different skills is a foundational necessity. We are all trained to learn to read and write at home and school from a young age. However, the pace at which we all learn differs at various levels. 

Dysgraphia is a common learning disability that impairs one’s ability of writing. Approximately 5 – 20% of all children struggle with writing. Children with Dysgraphia require more attention and better practice to yield their skills. Often these conditions are mistaken for laziness, inattentiveness, or disinterest towards studies. As a result of improper educational techniques, children lack the motivation to improve. 

As parents and teachers, we must be aware and understand this existing distinction among children and work towards assisting improvement.  

What is Dysgraphia? 

Dysgraphia is a learning disability that hampers one’s writing abilities. Children with dysgraphia struggle with handwriting issues, misspellings, special distortion, copying down words, putting their thoughts into words, and so on. Dysgraphia can manifest at a very young age and make it difficult for one to learn to write and perform at par with other students in class.  

 

Dysgraphia is not just trouble with illegible handwriting, but overall expression through words. The lack of proper processing of words and added motor inefficiency makes writing a difficult task. This can challenge their potentials and often discourage the process of learning among toddlers. 

Writing is a primary skill and is needed by everyone. Hence, kids with dysgraphia must be given support with fun and effective learning opportunities that encourage development. 

It is important to understand that dysgraphia is not a problem with intelligence. It is only a different ability to learn and struggles in motor abilities that can be improved with time and the right practices. 

What are the causes of Dysgraphia? 

Like several other kinds of learning disabilities, dysgraphia is also usually inborn. The cause of it lies in one’s neurological built. An insufficiency in the brain’s motor skills development portion leads to such troubles. 

Pregnancy defects or drug abuse can also be causes of dysgraphia. Moreover, brain development can even suffer due to severe injuries or illness, further manifesting into a learning disability like dysgraphia.  

A small shortcoming in orthographic coding and memory is the reason behind the challenges faced during writing. This means that the child has a hard time remembering written information.  The analysis of the written words is comparatively slow and disoriented, which affects the long-term memory.  

An early diagnosis of this condition can be very helpful for the child. Parents and teachers can often make out the hardships faced by a child while writing. It can also be found out as a result of constant down performance in classes. 

School and physical therapists can also evaluate Dysgraphia among children more accurately. Furthermore, they can devise methods to help children overcome it through multi-sensory learning exposures. 

 

Types of Dysgraphia 

Every child with dysgraphia may face different troubles. Not all of them have trouble writing or with spelling. They all deal with rather one or more of the following types of dysgraphia: 

• Dyslexia Dysgraphia – in this type, a child shows illegible writing when it is not copied from a source. On the other hand, drawings or writings copied from references are clear. 
• Motor Dysgraphia – the overall writing of a child is untidy and illegible. Be it copied from a source or not, due to ineffective fine motor skills, handwriting is impacted. 

• Spatial Dysgraphia – refers to an inability in spatial awareness like writing within lines and with uniform spacing. 

• Phonological Dysgraphia – refers to misspellings seen in phonetically irregular words. 

• Lexical Dysgraphia – is when a child resorts to writing spellings relying on sound-to-letter patterns.   

All these types of dysgraphia and their intensities of occurrence need to be taken into consideration. 

Signs of Dysgraphia 

Common signs of dysgraphia among children are: 

-  Illegible and untidy handwriting 

- Labored and uneasy grip on pencils and pens 

- Unfinished words and sentences 

- Misspellings and grammatical errors 

- Slow pace 

- Inconsistent spacing, inability to write within the lines 

- Irregular font and handwriting 

- Inability to express feelings in written words 

- Difficulty in planning writing tasks 

- Disinterest in writing/drawing 

Etc.  

Treating Dysgraphia 

Dysgraphia is not a disorder but just a learning difference that can be tackled through more focused educational techniques. Treating children inferiorly or comparing them to their peers can cause emotional setbacks in their learning procedures. 

It is very essential to treat these children equally, empathize with them, and extend positive support at all times. These mere behaviors can motivate learning and upgrade their self-image.  

There are plenty of remediation techniques out here. However, it is crucial to apply them as per the needs of the child, review them regularly, and upskill with time.  

To help better perception and retention, these children need multi-sensory learning to encourage memory with sensory practice.  This memory requires hundreds of exposures formed into fun ad distinct activities that excite and nurture them. 

Some common ways of remediation include: 

- Using comfortable tripod grips  

- Writing on sand/rice to arouse sensory memory 

- Writing numbers, letters, shapes in the air to increase muscle memory 

- Writing on paper with raised lines 

- Calculating on graph papers 

- Teaching typing 

Other accommodative means may include: 

- Providing more time to complete tasks 

- Not judging on handwriting and neatness 

- Using spell-checkers 

- Reducing written work burden  

- Recording notes instead of writing 

- Breaking down writing tasks 

- Drafting and re-reviewing work 

Explicit teaching of phonetic and spelling tasks devised in games is a way of keeping the students inspired. Increased practice nourishes these skills among students that prepare them with necessary writing abilities.  

 

At Manas learning, we focus on yielding the best of your child’s ability through effective tutoring. We aim at personally customizing techniques to serve children on a one-on-one basis.  

Our classrooms break the conventional teaching norms to assist children to build better skills. We aim to provide the right growing environment to overcome challenges with confidence through learning.