How much do you know about dysgraphia?
Different Abilities within Disabilities
How many learning disabilities do you know of? If you’re like most people, dyslexia and ADHD come to mind. But have you heard about dysgraphia, aphasia, dyscalculia, or the myriad of other conditions out there? Here, we’ll explore some of the different learning disabilities out there, how they hinder a student’s learning, and how we can work around those challenges to find the ability within disability.
Has you ever been told that your handwriting is illegible? Or as a writer, is spelling your nemesis? In some cases, there’s a name for that! Dysgraphia is the “condition of impaired letter writing by hand” (International Dyslexia Association). In this article, we will look into the causes of dysgraphia, examine how it may affect learners, and what mentors and teachers can do to assist students with dysgraphia.
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A paper written in 2020 by Chung et al, who are researchers in pediatric medicine, highlights various subtypes of dysgraphia. These subtypes include:
Motor/peripheral dysgraphia: in this form of dysgraphia, “hindrance in fine motor coordination” leads to illegible or slowly-formed writing.
Spatial dysgraphia: the primary impairment for those who have spatial dysgraphia is their perception of space, which can impact spacing of letters and drawing abilities.
Dysorthography (also known as linguistic dysgraphia or dyslexic dysgraphia): Our handwriting, like many things, is connected to memory! Orthographic coding is the formal term for how we store written words in our working memory and how we create permanent memories of word sounds and shapes. This type of memory is often impaired in those with this form of dysgraphia, making it hard to remember how to write and spell words.
Signs of dysgraphia include trouble writing in a straight line, trouble holding and controlling writing tools, and difficulty forming and spacing letters appropriately (Understood). However, the International Dyslexia Association notes that those with dysgraphia do not have primary developmental motor disorder and that there are other causes for poor handwriting and transcription skills.
As a mentor, teacher, or educator in a student’s life, you have a significant ability to assist those with dysgraphia. Remember that the quality of a student’s writing does not necessarily correlate to the effort and thought that went into their work. There are also a variety of accommodations that may help students, such as using a larger pencil with a special grip, being given extra time to complete writing-based tasks, or typing instead of writing notes (ADDitude). The International Dyslexia Association has also compiled a list of instructional exercises to help children with dysgraphia improve their writing.
