Dysgraphia Defined

Dysgraphia Defined

BY LAURA SPAULDING Staff Writer/Educational Consultant

October is Learning Disabilities Awareness Month. This year, we are asking our community to join us as we spread awareness of the Learning Disorders and Related Conditions listed on the Learning Disability Association’s website.1 Starting with Dysgraphia, each week we’ll highlight a Learning Disability; sharing definitions, descriptions, and some common academic interventions for each.

Dysgraphia is a specific learning disability impacting written expression. It involves an impairment in producing legible and automatic letters, numerals, words, and sentences. According to LDA, dysgraphia “is rooted in difficulty with storing and automatically retrieving letters and numerals.“2  It is also known as Written Expression Disorder and is categorized as a Neurodevelopmental Disorder under the umbrella of Specific Learning Disorders by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- 5th Edition.3

Dysgraphia is diagnosed by an educational or therapeutic specialist, including occupational therapists, physical therapists, educational psychologists, or neuropsychologists. A dysgraphia diagnosis is made when a child’s writing ability is inconsistent with same-age peers despite appropriate instruction and cognitive potential. Having this disability makes writing hard, but it is not a handwriting disorder or related to intelligence. 

Dysgraphia is common. Researchers estimate between 5-20% of children have some type of writing deficit. The extensive range in estimates is due to researchers’ beliefs the condition is significantly misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed. Dysgraphia often coexists with other learning differences and difficulties, such as Dyslexia and ADHD, commonly accompanied by deficits in executive functions. 

Writing is a complex task requiring many simultaneous brain functions. The mechanism behind why a child struggles with written expression is incredibly varied as is the presentation from one child to the next. Some of the most common presentations include illegible, slow, or inconsistent handwriting and poor or inconsistent writing mechanics such as spelling, grammar, and sentence structure. Some students will struggle with writing due to motor coordination deficits, predisposing them to other fine motor difficulties. These difficulties include drawing, painting, buttoning, cutting, or tying shoelaces. For students whose deficits in written expression are related more to processing and perceptual challenges, we tend to observe difficulties related to incoherence, incorrect word choice, awkward sentence structure, and disorganized or incomplete paragraphs and essays. A common struggle facing students with dysgraphia is difficulty planning, initiating, and organizing their written work, often avoiding writing tasks altogether. 

The most effective interventions for students with dysgraphia are direct and systematic instruction in handwriting and writing mechanics. The goal is to automatize as much of the writing process as possible so that when a child faces a written task, they can spend their energy and time processing new information and idea formation without considering the physical mechanics or writing rules involved. Directly teaching correct pencil grip, letter formation, and proper size and spacing of letters, numbers, and words can help dysgraphic students make sense of the spatial or physical aspects of writing their minds might not automatically understand. Direct and systematic instruction in spelling, grammar, capitalization, and sentence formation can also help a child produce more automatic and fluent writing. Some children will benefit from the use of specialized writing tools such as special paper, pencil grips, or pencils and pens of various sizes and weights. For others, learning cursive or keyboarding skills is a way to produce more automatic and legible written content. 

There are also many accommodations and assistive technologies available to individuals with dysgraphia. Graphic organizers, outlines, and mind-mapping tools abound and most word-processing software comes with built-in editing tools such as spelling and grammar checks. Other software that can be added as overlays on a computer include speech-to-text software and word prediction software, both enabling someone to more efficiently and quickly get their thoughts and words on a page.

1Learning Disabilities Association of America - Support. Educate Advocate. (ldaamerica.org)
2Dysgraphia - Learning Disabilities Association of America (ldaamerica.org)
3Disorder of written expression and dysgraphia: definition, diagnosis, and management - PMC (nih.gov)

If you or someone you love has been impacted by dysgraphia, help spread awareness by sharing this post, and learn more by joining us for a tour.

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