Specific Learning Disability
Dysgraphia
Specific Learning Disorder in Written Expression
- Rich oral expression
- Visual & spatial reasoning
- Strong verbal storytelling
Definition
Dysgraphia is a neurological condition in which someone has difficulty turning their thoughts into written language for their age and ability to think, despite exposure to adequate instruction and education. Acquired dysgraphia occurs when existing brain pathways are disrupted by an event (e.g. brain injury, neurologic disease, or degenerative conditions), resulting in the loss of previously acquired skills. Developmental dysgraphia is the difficulty in acquiring writing skills despite sufficient learning opportunity and cognitive potential.
— National Library of Medicine
In plain language
Dysgraphia is a disorder of writing ability at any stage, including problems with letter formation and legibility, letter spacing, spelling, fine motor coordination, rate of writing, grammar, and composition.
A quick clarification
- Dysgraphia and dyslexia are two distinct neurological conditions, though they're easy to confuse because they share symptoms and often occur together.
- Dysgraphia is not a form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Though dysgraphia commonly occurs in people with autism, you can have dysgraphia without having autism.
In the classroom
Students with Dysgraphia may show one or more of the following — patterns vary widely and rarely look the same in any two learners.
- Poor handwriting: illegible, messy, or difficult-to-read writing
- Slow writing speed: taking an unusually long time to write
- Spelling errors: frequent spelling mistakes, even with common words
- Grammatical errors: difficulty with sentence structure and punctuation
- Difficulty with letter formation: trouble forming letters correctly, reversing letters, incorrect capitalization
- Spacing issues: letters crowded together or too far apart
- Awkward pencil grip: holding the pencil in an unusual or uncomfortable way
- Fatigue while writing: feeling tired or sore after writing for short periods
- Avoiding writing tasks: reluctance to write or engage in activities that involve writing
Support strategies
Materials & layout
- Pencil grips of different size, material, and texture so each student can find what works best
- Handouts where the title, name field, and date field appear in a uniform location (e.g. top right) on every page
- Printed notes for the lesson
- Outlines of key headings, names, dates, formulas, vocabulary, and definitions
- Graphic organizers — for class discussions, body paragraphs, 5-paragraph essays, lab reports, research projects, and study guides
- Graph paper (or lined paper used sideways) to help line up math problems
Instruction & assessment
- Assistive technology — speech-to-text, word prediction, digital note-taking apps
- Extra time on written assignments
- Alternative assessments — oral presentations or fill-in-the-blank questions instead of solely written responses
- Explicit phonics and spelling instruction
- Structured handwriting practice focused on letter formation and proper pencil grip
Resources
- National Library of Medicine — "Disorder of written expression and dysgraphia: definition, diagnosis, and management"
- Cleveland Clinic — "Dysgraphia"
- ADDitude — "What is Dysgraphia?"