DEFINITION

Students who feel they don't write well or stress over writing may or may not have an actual writing disability. In fact, most students do not have a writing disability, and even those students with a weakness in writing can learn how to write more effeciently and effectively.

WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE

• student procrastinates
• student communicates writing is hard for them
• student clearly shows signs of stress when preparing to write
• writing output appears to be below grade level
• teacher expresses a concern
• Cases of dysgraphia in adults generally occur after some neurological trauma or it might be diagnosed in a person with Tourette syndrome, ADHD or an autism spectrum disorder such as Asperger Syndrome.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

1. First, rule out a physical problem with writing (or vision). If your student has a hard time physically writing, then start developing their typing skills. It's almost never too early to being working on typing skills.
2. If fine motor skills are extremely severe, then you could try a computer program that allows students to speak into a microphone and the text is typed out for them.
3. Find a graphic organizer that works well for your student. Graphic organizers provide a template to start writing. The most difficult step for some students is just getting ideas down, because they think they need to have a rough draft in their mind before the write.
4. If your student is still haven't difficulties, then explore the below possibilities.

Could my child's writing difficulty be due to visual-spatial difficulties?

Visual Spatial Relationships  is the student’s ability to accurately perceive objects in space with reference to other objects.  Reading and mathematics are two subjects where accurate perception and understanding or spatial relationships are very important.  Both of these subjects rely heavily on the use of symbols such as letters, numbers, punctuation, and mathematics signs.  Students who struggle with visual spatial-relationships often have difficulty perceiving words and numbers as separate units, confuse similarly shaped letters such as b and d, or p and q, and have difficulty associating operation sings and directionality in mathematics equations.  Additionally, they are “clumsy” during physical activities such as P.E., sports, arts, and woodshop classes, often get lost, and have difficulty following directions using left/right orientation.

Could my child have a deficit in fine motor skills?

The physical act of getting one thoughts down on paper is more difficult for some students. If a student has weak fine motor skills, then the frustration of writing itself can interfere with producing written work. How do you know?

What is dysgraphia and how do I know if my child has it?

Dysgraphia is a type of learning disability affecting the ability to recognize forms in letters, to write letters and words on paper and to understand the relationship between sounds, spoken words and written letters.