Does my Child Have Dysgraphia?Posted by: Livia McCoy on Nov 22, 2010 in School Success, Parent Involvement, Motor Skills, Livia McCoy, Learning Disabilities, Learning Activities, Kids Writing, Kids Learning |
At the risk of causing a controversy, I am going to tell you what I think dysgraphia is! The reason I say this is controversial is that the definition of dysgraphia has changed through the years, and I disagree with the direction it took.
Dysgraphia is a neurological problem. People who are dysgraphic do not have fine motor control of their fingers; therefore they cannot write legibly. They cannot control the pencil and make it do what they need it to do.
If a child writes poorly after they have been taught how to write, they are often incorrectly labeled dysgraphic. But, many children are not ready to learn to write at the point they are taught how. I believe this especially to be true of boys who developmentally are not ready to sit down and concentrate on forming their letters correctly. I have personally witnessed many of these children learn how to write quite legibly in middle and upper school. This is because they are developmentally ready to learn when they are older. Dysgraphic people cannot learn how to write legibly because they do not have the ability to control the muscles involved in their hand.
If you have an older child who does not write legibly, it is possible that they can still learn if given proper instruction. I’ll write about that "proper instruction" very soon!
Posted by - JennyC on Jan. 26, 2012
"Dysgraphia is a neurological problem. People who are dysgraphic do not have fine motor control of their fingers; therefore they cannot write legibly. They cannot control the pencil and make it do what they need it to do."I disagree with this statement. My son has been diagnosed with Dysgraphia (by not only the school, but through evaluation with a private Occupational Therapist recommended by our family physician). He has great motor skills when it comes to playing baseball and video games and other areas that are not as detailed as the task of writing. My son (11 years old) can't tie shoes, either. But he is cross dominant- can use both left and right hand in many activities- including baseball. It isn't that he can't control the pencil- that doesn't define the neurological aspect of this disorder. My son actually experiences pain when he is writing- it starts in the forearm, but radiates through the nerves throughout his body. The neurological aspect is that while he formulates thoughts fluidly and coherently, he has difficulty getting those thoughts into words on paper- partly because he is concentrating so hard on writing, partly because it is the nature of this neurological disorder.
"Dysgraphic people cannot learn how to write legibly because they do not have the ability to control the muscles involved in their hand."
I again, disagree. Dysgraphic people CAN learn to write legibly. Perhaps not as legibly as someone without the disorder, but given enough time and working with an Occupational Therapist, a dysgraphic person CAN learn to write. I think you are VERY uninformed about this disorder. And I find it atrocious that you want to write off a very serious learning disability with the notion that "kids aren't ready to learn" and "teach them later." Later means failing grades in school and the feeling that you are stupid because other kids can do it and you can't. As the parent of a child with this serious learning disability, I am deeply offended by your article.
Posted by LiviaMcCoy on May. 17, 2011
Judith,Your daughter has more than one issue going on, so it is hard to say whether her writing issues are from her vision impairment or if she is dysgraphic. To make sure that her handwriting is not holding her back in completing her work, she needs to have a better way of producing written work. She is not too young to learn how to use a computer for writing. Computers have the capability of enlarging the writing on the screen so that she can see it better. She might also benefit from using Dragon Dictation (free for iPod Touch) where she talks and it writes for her. These can be incorporated into her 504 Plan which she absolutely needs! Meanwhile, she can practice handwriting separately from producing her schoolwork. She may dictate an answer with 12 words in it that is very good; but if she is required to handwrite it, the same answer might only be 3 words long. First step is to meet with the school psychologist about her 504 Plan and make sure they are accommodating for her visual impairment in this way.
Posted by - Judith A Ruhulessin on May. 17, 2011
My child, has many traits of possibly having this problem.. But she is also visually impaired to the degree of 20/800 vision. With reading glasses, she does write, but hates to. Hates writing. She is 7 yr old.When she writes very slow, her letters are very legable, but rarely leaves spaces between her words,and puts both large and small case letters together in same words. Mixes up L s and mixes up b s, and d s.... If I let her write on her own, she flys through her writing, and it looks like a page of unrecognizable letters. also cannot stay straight across on the lines but goes all over the spaces lines. Then again, ill insist on slower writing, and spaces, and staying inside lines, and she'll co-operate.Im lost...Posted by - Daniel on Dec. 15, 2010
Dysgraphic people can definitely learn how to write legibly it just takes some extra help. Dysgrpahic people can learn to write fine, however when they want the words to come out legibly they need to write slower and concentrate on forming the words. Symptoms of dysgraphia include pain after extended durations of writing, mixture of upper and lower case letters, and mixing up letters like b and d or mixing up if an L goes sticks out left or right. I know these things because i was diagnosed with dysgraphia in the second grade I believe. After going to occupational therapy I was able to write legibly, although my hand writing is poor, it is readable. I hope I was able to contribute to this article.Posted by - Kranowitz & Newman on Nov. 30, 2010
Livia,We STRONGLY AGREE with your comment "But, many children are not ready to learn to write at the point they are taught how. I believe this especially to be true of boys who developmentally are not ready to sit down and concentrate on forming their letters correctly." As a rule, children should not be expected to write until they can walk up and down stairs one step at a time. Our new book, "Growing an In-Sync Child" discusses how movement is sequential and integral to development and we can't rush our kids. Check out our book to understand all the steps that go into writing. See the chart on page 25-26.
The book also provides 60 activities for children that encourage the development of fine and gross motor skills needed for the tasks we expect of our children, like writing. For instance, "Back Drawing" and "Write Through Me" are activities to enhance and develop children's concept of letter formation.
We are giving books away right now on our Facebook page "Growing an In-Sync Child" and on Twitter @InSyncChild. So come visit us there.
Thanks for writing on this important topic to many kids and parents!
-Carol S. Kranowitz & Joye Newman