Dysgraphia:

Dysgraphia is a lifelong learning disability

that affects writing abilities (difficulty in

expressing thoughts in writing).

It is a biologically based disorder with

genetic and brain bases

It can manifest itself as:

• difficulties with spelling.

• poor handwriting.

• trouble putting thoughts on paper.

• understanding the relationship between sounds, spoken

words and written letters.

Can result partly from:

Visual- Spatial: trouble processing what the eye sees

Language processing difficulty:

trouble processing and making sense of what the ear

hears

• Their handwriting may include reversals ,spelling errors, and

may be illegible.

• have normal levels of intelligence, no problems expressing

themselves verbally

Characteristics of Dysgraphia:

• In dysgraphia, individuals fail to develop normal connections

among different brain regions needed for writing.

Signs and symptoms

Tight, awkward pencil grip and body position

Trouble forming letter shapes.

Inconsistent spacing between letters or words.

Poor understanding of uppercase and lowercase letters.

1- Young Children

Illegible handwriting.

Mixture of cursive and print writing.

Saying words out loud while writing.

Concentrating so hard on writing that comprehension

of what's written is missed.

Trouble thinking of words to write.

2- School-Age Children

• Trouble 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

3- Teenagers and Adults

1- Dyslexic (processing) Dysgraphia:

- Spontaneously written work: illegible.

- Copied work: good.

- Spelling: bad.

A Dyslexic Dysgraphic does not necessarily have Dyslexia.

Types of Dysgraphia

2- Motor Dysgraphia:

Deficient fine motor skills, poor muscle tone, motor clumsiness.

(Writing is often slanted due to holding a pen or pencil incorrectly).

- Spontaneous work: poor to illegible.

- copied work: poor to illegible.

- Spelling skills: not impaired.

Due to a defect in the understanding of space.

often have trouble (keeping their writing on the lines and difficulty

with spacing between words).

- Spontaneously work: illegible.

- Copied work: illegible.

- Spelling: normal.

3- Spatial Dysgraphia

writing and spelling disturbances.

(impaired spelling of unfamiliar words, non-words, and

phonetically irregular words).

Individuals are unable to hold phonemes in memory and blend

them in their appropriate sequence to produce the target word

4- Phonological Dysgraphia

5- Semantic/Syntactic Dysgraphia:

• An inability to master the rules for grammar which dictate precisely how words

and phrases can be combined.

• misspelling of irregular words.

• This is more common in a language such as English which is less phonetic than a

language such as Arabic or Spanish.

• This type of Dysgraphia is very rare in children.

What skills are affected by dysgraphia?

Academic

Fall behind in schoolwork (it takes them so much

longer to write).

- Taking notes is a challenge

- They may avoid writing assignments.

Basic life skills

fine motor skills may be weak (hard to do everyday

tasks)

- buttoning shirts

- making a simple list.

Social-emotional

- may feel frustrated about their academic and life challenges.

- If not identified: they may be criticized as sloppy or lazy (causing stress).

What skills are affected by dysgraphia?

But, the impact on a child’s development varies, depending on the

symptoms & their severity

• Speech therapy can play an important role in managing the disorder.

• An SLP can evaluate where the child’s personal weaknesses are in

writing, and help devise strategies to compensate.

• An SLP can also work with classroom teachers to help the child

succeed with his academic work.

Role of speech therapist:

Strategies for Dealing with Dysgraphia

Accommodation Modification Remediation

Reduce the

impact writing

has on learning

Change

assignments/expect

ations to meet the

student’s individual

learning needs

Structured re-

teaching of skills

using techniques

to match student's

processing style.

132

Compensation

4

using

strategies/aids to

aid a particular

aspect of the task

1- Accommodation:

Reduce the impact writing has on learning or expressing knowledge without

substantially changing the process/ product by changing:

The rate of producing

written work

The volume of the work

to be produced:

The complexity of the

writing task

Example:

Allow more time for

written tasks

Example:

abbreviations in some

writing (such as b/c for

because)

Example:

Break writing into stages

(brainstorming, drafting,

editing, and proofreading,

etc.) and teach students to

do the same

1- Accommodation:

2- Modification:Change assignments/expectations to meet the student’s individual

learning needs, modifications can include:

The volume of the work to be

produced

The complexity of the writing task

Example:

Reduce length requirements on

written assignments, stressing

quality over quantity.

Example:

Develop cooperative writing projects

where students play different roles

such as the organizer of information,

writer, and illustrator.

3- Remediation:

Use options to provide instruction and opportunity for improving

handwriting

Structured re-teaching of skills using techniques to match student's

processing style.

Example: (air writing to develop a more efficient motor memory for the

sequence of steps necessary in making each letter).

4- Compensation:• using strategies to aid a particular aspect of the task

• The aim is to allow the student to get around the problem so that they

can focus more completely on the content

encourages good grip and helps both the left and right-handed child to form letters correctly.

Special pens:

Avoiding written tasks which can make the process of learning easier.

Computer

programs

Assess writing

Assess cognitive

constructs

Components to Assess Writing: Hybrid Model (Baker & Hubbard, 2002)

1- Fluency : measure the number of words written and spelled correctly in a

specified time period.

2- Grammar : take writing sample and informally assess.

3- Vocabulary : take writing sample and assess variety by dividing the number

of different words used by total number of words.

We collect a writing samples: three samples of writing are obtained: a passage of

free composition on a particular topic, a piece of dictation, and a copy of some

printed material

4- Sentence Structure : summarize sentences as being incomplete, simple,

compound, complex, run-on, or fragmented.

5- Conventions : a- Words spelled correctly

b- Proportion of errors per 100 words

c- Correct writing sequence.

We also have to observe legibility and posture and methods of holding the pen.

Cognitive Constructs to Measure:

Attention Measures

Visual-Motor Integration

Phonological Awareness

Skills

Writing and Spelling

Skills

Working Memory

2- Attention Measures: three aspects of attention are particularly important while

writing:

• the ability to shift attention inward to the internal world of thoughts and ideas begins

the writing process.

• sustaining attention to task to maintain thoughts.

• focusing attention on relevant information and inhibit distracting thoughts. (Tea-Ch &

CAS tests).

1- Visual-Motor Integration: evaluation of:

• pencil grip

• Fatigue

• motor skill dexterity.

3- Working Memory:

grammatical procedures, maintenance of sentence structures, punctuation,

monitoring spacing between letters and words.

4- Writing and Spelling Skills: Analysis of students’ writing skills factors such as:

• phonological and syntactical awareness skills

• knowledge of punctuation and grammar rules

• sentence structure.

(PAL II and OWLS).

5- Phonological Awareness Skills:

Segmenting, inverting segments, omissions…

AutomaticityResearch

BasedClassroom strategies

A- Dysgraphia Interventions: Automaticity:

Motor Skills Automaticity: For students with working memory difficulties, or

those who struggle with divided attention. Key interventions:

• Handwriting without tears

• Computer Assistive Technology (Kurzweil Writing System)

Spelling Automaticity:

For students with attention difficulties

• Ladders to Literacy

• Road to the Code

Language Automaticity:Students who lack verbal fluency skills often struggle

• Teaching word classes to facilitate retrieval of words (nouns, verbs… and their types).

• Scaffolding exercises such as “ the missing link” game.

Writing Strategies : Specific strategies to promote self regulation and revisionary

practices in writing.

(example: TREE mnemonic where students learn to craft sentences using a Topic

sentence, Reasons to support the topic sentence…).

Key Elements of Writing Instruction: (Graham & Perin, 2007)

B- Research Based Dysgraphia Interventions: (Graham and Perin (2007))

Summarization : Instruction in how to summarize readings, chapters…

Sentence Combining: Instruction in combining simple sentences into longer

and more complex sentences.

Prewriting : Using various planning techniques and graphic organizers before

composing.

C- Dysgraphia Intervention: Classroom Strategies:

Five Major Steps of the Written Language Process (Ray, 2001):

1- Prewriting.

2- Drafting: showing students how to translate their planning notes to text using a

model, explicit instruction…

3- Revising: prompting students to check for organization and content errors, in

addition to elaborating on text and making connections to main ideas.

4- Editing: prompting students to check for typical errors (capitalization,

punctuation…).

5- Publishing: use peer assisted strategies and teach students how to appropriately

give and receive constructive feedback.

References:• Book: Dyslexia

• Sites:

• http://www.greatschools.org/special-education/LD-ADHD/860-dysgraphia-learning-disability-writing.gs?page=3

• http://tutoringduluth.com/dysgraphia/

• http://www.ldonline.org/article/5890/

• http://speechassociatesofnewyork.wordpress.com/2013/11/22/what-is-dysgraphia/

• http://www.resourceroom.net/readspell/dysgraphia.asp

• http://www.dyslexiaa2z.com/learning_difficulties/dysgraphia/dysgraphia_handwriting.html

• https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/dysgraphia/understanding-

dysgraphia?utm_source=pinterest&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=understoodorg#item7

• https://www.understood.org/en/learning-attention-issues/child-learning-disabilities/dysgraphia/understanding-

dysgraphia

• http://www.davidsongifted.org/db/Articles_id_10709.aspx