Millions of children face various learning issues without anyone noticing or helping them. They go through school struggling with some form of learning and grow up thinking everyone faces such difficulties. In reality, they might have a learning disorder that often goes unnoticed.
That’s why educating parents and teachers about various learning difficulties and disorders, such as dysgraphia, is immensely important. It’s also why it will be our topic for today.
Keep reading to learn more about what it is, how it manifests, what signs of dysgraphia look like, and what you can do about it at home and as a parent.
In this article
To understand how dysgraphia works, its symptoms, and what you can do about treatment, we must first define dysgraphia and get to the root of the problem.
According to DSM 5, dysgraphia was never a separate disorder and was, instead, branched under “specific learning disorder” and described as a disorder that impacts writing abilities and motor skills. However, dysgraphia is no longer a formal diagnosis, even if the challenges people with it face are genuine and frustrating.
That also means that there aren’t any particular tests you can use to diagnose dysgraphia, and parents need to track their child’s writing skills on their own. However, schools can notice writing difficulties and help diagnose them, but it would still be best to take your child to a physical therapist to test for dysgraphia.
Various independent researchers have been working on dysgraphia, and there are estimates that it affects around one-fifth of the population. However, it’s often inaccurately diagnosed, causing people with it other emotional or social issues.
Although dysgraphia isn’t a matter of intelligence, it’s often labeled a neurological disorder. In that sense, it works by impacting various motor skills, causing difficulties in proper pen or pencil holding, and impacting a person’s writing abilities.
It makes transcription difficult, and children with dysgraphia often lack writing skills that are common for their age, causing them to fall behind and be ridiculed, which leads to low self-esteem, anxiety, confusion, etc.
Individuals often confuse dysgraphia and dyslexia, and that’s somewhat understandable as these learning difficulties have similarities and share particular symptoms. However, they’re also quite different and affect different aspects of learning, and it’s essential to tell them apart as treatments are also vastly different.
On the one hand, dyslexia is much more infamous, and a more substantial number of people have at least heard of it. People with dyslexia often have problems reading written words or matching sounds to letters, but it can also affect writing, speaking, and spelling or cause difficulties in memorizing how words look like.
On the other hand, dysgraphia is a learning difficulty that primarily affects writing, and kids suffering from it often have issues gripping a pen the right way, which causes various writing problems. These include a mix of small and big words, a mix of cursive and print letters, odd spacing, lack of punctuation, slow writing, and sentences that are difficult to read or follow.
People with dysgraphia will often have different writing challenges, and the “disorder” will present itself in various ways. However, all of these issues affect transcription and are related to problems with handwriting, spelling, and typing.
For example, many people with dysgraphia write letters backward, which can indicate they have dysgraphia. On the other hand, it’s also essential to correctly diagnose this learning difficulty, and writing letters in the opposite direction isn’t enough for a confident diagnosis.
Others with dysgraphia will often use an eraser as they have trouble recalling what specific words look like and constantly end up rewriting what they’ve written. Moreover, they might also have to erase because they’ve forgotten a single word or more.
Kids with dysgraphia sometimes have sore hands as they’re not holding a pen or pencil properly, leading to additional and unnecessary strain on both fingers and wrists. That can also be the case with adults, but they’re more likely to adapt to this issue as they grow older.
Since dysgraphia is believed to impact anywhere between 5% and 20% of the population, it’s understandable that it affects different people differently. That’s why dysgraphia can have various symptoms, which include the following and more:
- Problems writing in a straight line;
- Issues when gripping a pen or pencil;
- Needing to write some letters backward;
- Forgetting a word or more when writing a complete sentence;
- Struggling with grammar, including spelling and punctuation;
- Problems with using pronouns and verbs correctly;
- Using uppercase and lowercase letters interchangeably;
- Changing the word order in a sentence;
- Forgetting how a letter or a word looks like.
However, it’s also worth noting that recognizing one or two of these symptoms in yourself or your child doesn’t necessarily mean it has to be dysgraphia, and the “disorder” should be properly diagnosed.
A standardized or official test for dysgraphia doesn’t exist. However, if you look into your child’s writing and observe how they go about it, chances are, you’ll be able to notice signs of dysgraphia. Test your kid’s writing skills and find out more about the type of writing difficulty they have.
If you suspect dysgraphia, you can take your child for a test and get a professional opinion, and the sooner you do it, the better. Various healthcare, education, and psychology specialists can help create a diagnosis, even if there’s no official test for dysgraphia. Instead, they can give your child a few writing tests to measure their writing speed and test fine motor skills.
Even if it turns out your child has dysgraphia, there’s nothing to worry about, as it’s treatable, and you can find more about that below.
Although dysgraphia can’t be prevented and is often diagnosed quite late, it can always be treated, and people with this learning difficulty can still improve their writing skills and decrease the challenges they often face.
However, treatment will depend on the individual, and what works for one person with dysgraphia might not work for another. Moreover, treatment will depend on the person’s age, as adults and kids must be treated differently.
For example, parents can collaborate with schools and discuss special accommodations for such children, where the child will have access to a friend or teacher’s notes, receive verbal instructions instead of written ones, have more time for written tests, etc.
On the other hand, an adult with dysgraphia can make certain workplace modifications, allowing them to reduce dysgraphia symptoms by using practical applications and tools. They can ask employers for less challenging instructions and tasks with shorter and clearer steps if they have to be written.
Receiving verbal instructions and being able to report verbally instead of through email can also be incredibly helpful, and that’s why these work accommodations and regulations are highly beneficial for people with dysgraphia and should be looked into.
Although people with dysgraphia will need much more work to improve their writing skills, kids have it a bit easier, as the earlier the therapy starts, the better the outcome. Parents with children suffering from dysgraphia can begin at home and focus on techniques and exercises that improve their child’s writing skills.
Below are a few examples of what can be done for dysgraphia treatment.
Even if many parents consider technology and smartphones a necessary evil and try to use them only to keep their children engaged when they’re busy, it’s not all bad. Hundreds of apps can help children with writing issues and improve their motor skills.
That’s why a writing app is an excellent place to start. A child with dysgraphia can practice handwriting and spelling using numerous dysgraphia-helping apps such as Ghotit, Grammarly, Evernote, SnapType, and many others.
However, there is also some truth to the opinion that computers and smartphones can harm children. That’s why using a parental control app, such as Wondershare FamiSafe, is highly recommended to prevent other harmful apps from influencing your child.
An app like FamiSafe can help you block harmful apps and websites, give you insight into your child’s browser, YouTube, or TikTok history, scan for inappropriate content both online and on the phone, and even let you know your child’s location so you don’t have to worry about where they are and who they’re with.
Clay is another valuable item often underrated but with various uses which can help parents decrease the effects of dysgraphia. You can significantly improve your child’s motor skills by letting them play with clay.
Start by rolling clay into letters and letting your child do the same. Make them practice forming and shaping letters with clay, as it’ll help them create a better mental picture of what each letter should look like, improving their writing in the future.
Of course, making the exercise fun can be highly beneficial, and your child is more likely to practice that way. For example, you could organize a contest where the best clay decoration would win a prize.
Alternatively, you can bake a cake with your child, during which you can make them a mock cake on which they can practice creating letters with whipped cream or let them decorate a real cake once they’re better at writing.
Dysgraphia often affects the ability to write letters of the same size, and that’s why many children with it have problems writing correctly. For example, they might write “dOg” instead of “dog” or “sChooL” instead of “school.”
However, this can be fixed by letting them write in giant letters at first and then gradually decreasing their size as they practice more and become better at it. Practicing each day is vital, as dysgraphia can only be treated by continuous work and practice.
Even if your kid is giving you trouble about it and doesn’t want to practice, it’s essential to create fun activities and maybe even reward them if they practice.
You can find numerous ways to let them practice, such as allowing your kids to write a single letter per piece of paper, writing in sand, or even letting them write on the bathroom mirror after steam forms.
Many children with dysgraphia have difficulties holding a pen or pencil. To combat it, you should help them practice the pinching technique, which can significantly improve their motor and writing skills.
A fun idea that can help deal with dysgraphia is to let your kid use tweezers and help you get rid of some frustrating hairs on an arm or a leg. Such activities can be fun, and when you “ask for help,” your child is more likely to participate than if they were just told they must practice pinching.
Chopsticks are another way to go about it, and you could help a child with dysgraphia by organizing an eating challenge involving these items. It can be fun and helpful at the same time, and your child will strengthen their fingers and use a pen or pencil much better the next time they write.
Another excellent solution to dealing with dysgraphia is to help your child practice structured storytelling, as such kids often have issues keeping the structure straight because their thoughts run in all directions.
To improve upon this aspect, take your child for a walk or ask them to tell you what they’ve learned after you’ve just picked them up from school. Listen to what they’re saying and whether they’re doing it right.
If they’re struggling, come up with an example story and show them what structured storytelling is supposed to look like. Then, when it’s their turn, listen, check, and keep practicing. Of course, you can also do this before bedtime and ask them to tell you everything about their day.
Many people confuse dysgraphia and dyslexia since both are learning differences, but these are different learning challenges. Unlike dyslexia which affects a person’s reading ability, dysgraphia affects writing skills, including handwriting, spelling, and typing, making expressing in written form incredibly challenging.
This learning difficulty can have various symptoms, and we’ve shown you examples of how it displays in children and adults, how it’s diagnosed, and what to focus on.
Fortunately, dysgraphia is treatable, and the treatment can involve special accommodations and modifications in schools or workplaces, depending on the person’s age. Parents can try various techniques at home, such as practicing storytelling, pinching, writing large letters, forming letters with clay, etc.
Various dysgraphia-helping apps can also be used, but it’s also essential to protect children from other harmful material online, and you can do so with Wondershare FamiSafe, as this parental control app can block dangerous apps and websites and create a safe environment.