Dysgraphia

What is dysgraphia?

Dysgraphia is a learning disability that involves writing. It may involve extreme problems with either the physical act of writing (holding the pencil awkwardly or bad handwriting) or with putting thoughts on paper.

Signs of Dysgraphia

• Problems with the steps of putting together a written composition
• Bad or unreadable handwriting
• Awkward or cramped pencil grip
• Difficulty developing ideas on paper – although they may be very good at discussing ideas orally. They may write short, disorganized compositions with few details.
• Print or write letters and words differently within the same piece of writing
• Avoid tasks that involve writing
• Trouble writing within the margins or lines and different spacing between words
• May overestimate or underestimate their ability to write
• Some may have a writing problem, but no problem with reading - while others may have problems with both reading and writing

What specific strategies can help?

• The goal should be "Can I read it?" not getting it perfect.
• Provide alphabet charts with correctly written letters & syllabics to keep. The charts can have arrows showing the direction the pencil should go, and be used for tracing letters if needed.
• Try different paper angles for the paper, different writing tools and different types of paper to see what works best.
• Put graph paper under the writing paper so the vertical lines can be seen through the top paper. This helps some people line up their letters better.
• Help people find writing styles that work for them instead of insisting on a particular style
• If they can print, but aren’t able to master cursive writing even though they practiced a lot, encourage them to continue printing.
• Some people do better with cursive writing than with printing because they don’t have to decide where to start each letter – in cursive, all letters start on the line.
• Encourage people to learn keyboarding and word processing– but be aware that at first the same problems that make handwriting hard may also make keyboarding hard.
• Encourage use of the spellchecker, grammar checker and thesaurus on the computer.
• Provide computers with a speech recognition program if needed, so the person can dictate their written work.
• Provide checklists - eg. steps in making an outline or steps in the writing process.
• Focus on the purposes and meaning for writing rather than the mechanics (spelling, punctuation, capitals).
• Allow people to do projects in alternate forms – drama, video or audio recordings, oral presentations, drawings or demonstrations
• Encourage meaningful writing, instead of writing 'exercises', eg. journals, letters, filling out banking forms, writing shopping lists, to-do lists or questions.

Designed and hosted by in collaboration with The Nunavut Literacy Council