Dysgraphia: A Quick Look

What you should know about dysgraphia:

Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects written expression.

It makes the act of writing difficult.

Individuals with dysgraphia can have difficulty organizing letters, numbers and words on a line or page:

• Visual-spatial difficulties - which result in a person having trouble processing what the eye sees
• Language processing difficulty - which result in a person having trouble processing and making sense of what the ear hears.

Like all learning disabilities, dysgraphia is a life-long challenge.

Using alternate learning methods, people with dysgraphia can learn how to achieve success.

Dysgraphia: Warning Signs by Age

Early Writers

• Tight, awkward pencil grip and body position
• Avoiding writing or drawing tasks
• Difficulty forming letters shapes
• Inconsistent spacing between letters/words
• Poor understanding of upper and lowercase letters
• Inability to write or draw in a line or within margins
• Tire quickly while writing 

Young Students

• Illegible handwriting
• Mixture of cursive and print writing
• Saying words out loud while writing
• Concentrate on writing so much that they don't comprehend what they've written
• Difficulty thinking of words to write
• Unfinished or omitted words in sentences

Teenagers & Adults

• Difficulty organizing thoughts on paper
• Trouble keeping track of thoughts already written down
• Difficulty with syntax structure and grammar
• Large gap between written ideas and understanding demonstrated through speech

If a person continues to display difficulty over time in the areas outlined above, testing for dysgraphia should be considered.

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Reprinted with permission from the National Center for Learning Disabilities, Inc. All rights reserved.