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DYSGRAPHIA

Definition

According to the Dyslexia-SPELD Foundation's article "What is Dysgraphia," "dysgraphia is a specific learning disability that affects written expression." It may appear as difficulties with spelling, handwriting, or expressing thoughts on paper. However, people with poor handwriting or spelling skills don't necessarily have dysgraphia, it is a more serious neurological disorder. Because it is associated with poor spelling or handwriting, though, many people mistake it with laziness in handwriting, which it most definitely is not. It generally appears in younger children and can be reduced, especially if it is diagnosed early. A person with dysgraphia may have trouble forming written sentences with correct grammar and punctuation, write their letters in reverse, have trouble recalling how certain letters are formed, or have trouble knowing when to use lower or upper case letters. A person with dysgraphia may order their words incorrectly or use the wrong part of speech (such as confusing verbs with nouns or using the wrong verb tense or pronoun). However, in most cases, a person with dysgraphia may speak more easily and fluently than they write. 

Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects the fine motor skills needed for writing. 

Dysgraphia can be seen in approximately 1 in 5 students and is more common in boys. Accommodations as well as physical therapy can help students work to their best ability or improve the fine motor skills that are affected by dysgraphia.

Instructional Strategies

  • Provide typed copies of class notes. This will help a student in order to be able to read the notes without having to rewrite them themselves. They won't have to stress out about their handwriting or struggle to read it later when reviewing notes. 

  • Give the student extra time to take notes or tests. This will provide the student extra time to focus on getting the right answers or writing down the correct information as well as focus on the mechanics of writing and making sure their handwriting looks good and their words are spelled correctly. 

  • Allow the use of a laptop for notes or writing. This allows a student to type instead of write and therefore be able to read their notes later. It also provides spell check so that their words are spelled correctly.

  • Allow the student to record lectures. This would more likely be used for older students but can be used in younger grades. With this, a student can record the information without writing it and listen to it later instead of read it.

  • Allow the student to start assignments early or give extra time for assignments. This gives the student extra time to focus on the content as well as the spelling and handwriting of their assignments. 

  • Provide papers with information such as name and date already filled in. This gives the student less writing to worry about on their own. 

  • Provide outlines of lessons or worksheets or printed power point slides. This provides the student with information that they can take extra notes on, but they have the main information printed so that they can learn and not focus on trying to scribble down information as fast as possible. 

  • Give examples of finished assignments. The student will know what their assignment should look like completed. 

  • Break writing assignments into steps. Expressing written ideas can be hard for students with dysgraphia. Breaking it down into steps can help graph out their ideas.

  • Provide papers with raised different-colored lines to help with writing in the right place or provide papers with bigger spaces between lines. These can both help with organizing handwriting. 

  • Don't grade based on handwriting or spelling! 

  • Be patient and positive! 

Useful Websites

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Research 

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ967123.pdf 

This research explains dysgraphia and studies a child named Sam who has dysgraphia and works with him to try to improve his handwriting. There are two methods used over an 8-week period in order to improve the handwriting. One is a drill activity which involves showing Sam the teacher's handwriting and having him practice it over and over again until he gets it right. The second method involves practicing activities to improve overall fine motor skills. At the end of the research, they concluded that it is best to use a combination of both drill and fine motor activities and that together they improved his handwriting.  

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http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1105516.pdf

This research concentrates on second graders with dysgraphia. It studies 39 students with dysgraphia, placing 19 in a control group that uses traditional methods of education for dictation (writing, speaking, typing words and ideas). The other 20 students learn dictation through educational multimedia that associates words with sounds and pictures. The research explains that the brain learns easier when these things are put together. The study concludes that the multimedia approach is better in improving dictation for students with dysgraphia. 

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http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1148351.pdf

This study researched 500 elementary school teachers to examine their awareness of specific learning disabilities. It showed that overall, elementary school teachers have an average awareness of learning disabilities, which you would expect would be higher considering there are many students with learning disabilities in classes. It showed that female teachers, rural teachers, and government employed teachers had a higher awareness than male teachers, urban teachers, and aided or unaided teachers. However, it showed that teaching experience didn't play a role in awareness. 

Citations

What is Dysgraphia? (2014). Retrieved October 24, 2017, from https://dsf.net.au/what-is-dysgraphia/

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