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At home, students can try different pencils, pens, and papers. Students can also continue to work on their fine motor skills as home to strengthen their handwriting.

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Some strategies in the home that can be implemented can be as simple as trying different pens, pencils, and papers. It is also important to help the student work on their motor skills in and outside of class, through play or practicing writing, for example.

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The disability can bring challenges to the family as well. As the student struggles, this can impact their performance in school, requiring the family to step in and advocate for their child with the school and try to help their child meet standards in the classroom. Families may also be unfamiliar with the disability and unsure of how to accommodate it. This can bring stress and discomfort to the family who wants to help their child but is unsure of how.

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Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder that affects your child's writing. It can cause their writing to be illegible with unusual letter formation, inadequate spacing, missing punctuation and capitalization, frequent spelling errors, and backward or inverted letters.

As a parent, you are likely concerned and unsure how to help your child. The good news is that we have the answer to how to help your child with dysgraphia.

Does My Child Have Dysgraphia?

You likely notice that your child has dysgraphia when they begin to have difficulty with writing. They might form their letters incorrectly, have inconsistent spacing, tails that do not go below the line, missing capitals or capitals where they don't belong, and forgetting punctuation. Even with instruction, the problem still persists. In fact, if they have received print instruction for two years or more and the problem is still there, it might be dysgraphia.

Your child might also have other learning disabilities that impact the way that they learn. Besides difficulty with writing, it can also cause unusual or incorrect spelling and difficulty with putting their thoughts on paper.

Does my child have dysgraphia? Some dysgraphia symptoms include:

Frequent erasing

Unusual paper or body position while writing

Cramped or odd pencil grip

Difficulty spacing items out

Illegible letter formation

Immature content

How To Teach a Child With Dysgraphia To Write

When your child has handwriting issues, let them use a stress ball in order to improve coordination. Talk to your child about what they're experiencing and how you're there for them.

Teach them different ways to relax before writing. Taking the stress out of writing can help whether it's rubbing their hands together beforehand, or listening to relaxing music.

Consider pencil grips for comfort as they write.

Consider reaching out to their school, teacher, and tutors to see what improvements can be made to help your child gain the confidence they deserve.

In some cases, an Occupational Therapist can work with your child to improve their fine motor skills and letter formation.

Since the symptoms of dysgraphia tend to include trouble with writing letters properly, writing large might help them. Have your child practice writing letters with fun activities such as writing letters in foam, shaving cream, or sand, or add sand to finger paint to encourage sensory learning.

2. Practice Makes Perfect

Since your child might have trouble holding a pencil, they can practice using pinching tools around your home. This can help them to improve the way that they hold pencils. Different pinching tools include chopsticks, ice tongs, and even tweezers.

Your child might be experiencing trouble with organizing information and placing their letters on paper. In order to help them, consider using wide-ruled lined paper or graph paper to help with spacing.

Another option is to change the color of the paper; choose pastel colors instead. Ask your child if there is a color that helps them "see" better when writing.

For some children, the starting and stopping of each letter when printing is problematic. Cursive, with its connected letters, can sometimes help a child produce more legible words.

Consider allowing your child to practice expressing themselves by using a keyboard. This can help them improve on their written content when spelling and penmanship interfere with what they would like to say.

6. Fine Motor Control Practice

Fine motor control is important to help your child strengthen their wrist and fingers. A fun activity for your child to practice fine motor control is by drawing.

The great part about drawing is that it's a low mess as well! Choose markers and fat pencils for them to draw with.

Another great option is threading. When your child first begins, give them large items with big holes to thread onto pipe cleaners. Once they become more skilled with it, there are different items that you can teach them to use.

Hole punching and cutting with scissors is another great activity that your child will love. It's a great option for coordination and hand strength. You can then encourage your child to make different designs with their hole punches.

7. Set Them Up For Success

Build strength through exercise! When you have your child build strength, they're more likely to sit up straight and hold their pencil in the proper position. Different activities can include playing basketball, playing on the monkey bars, crab walking, or push-ups.

Have your child include fun strength training activities throughout their day. You can head to the playground, local gym, or play right in the backyard.

When sitting down to write, encourage good posture, a table at the correct height, and feet flat on the floor with the paper directly in front of their body.

8. Practice Storytelling

Having your child practice structured storytelling might help them organize their thoughts. Ask them about their day and show them different introductions that they can begin with. Ask them questions to encourage storytelling such as what they did in the morning or afternoon. Encourage them to tell you how the day was overall. This can go for other activities that they do throughout the day and not just school. Avoid yes and no questions to encourage conversation.

If the physical act of writing is difficult for your child and their spelling impedes their written expression, consider technology with Speech to Text features. This way, your child can express themselves similar to how they speak without having to actually write it down.

Children with dysgraphia can learn to form their letters but often spelling hinders them from writing what they'd like. For example, if your child wants to use the word "humongous" to describe an animal but doesn't know how to spell it, they might use "big" instead. Even though they are capable of higher vocabulary, they may not use it. Tutoring in Structured Literacy can help improve your child's spelling and increase their confidence to use the vocabulary they would like to use.

Answering the Question: How To Help My Child With Dysgraphia

After exploring this guide, you should have a better idea of what to expect when it comes to answering the question of how to help your child with dysgraphia improve their writing and to feel more confident overall.

Are you looking for a program to help? At Read Academy of Sacramento, we empower students with dysgraphia to excel in their academic skills by providing instruction developed for them and suited to their unique learning styles.

Do you have questions? We can help! Contact us today, and we will help your child with their specific needs.

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How to Help My Child With Dysgraphia: A Parents' Guide

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Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder that affects your child's writing. It can cause their writing to be illegible with unusual letter formation, inadequate spacing, missing punctuation and capitalization, frequent spelling errors, and backward or inverted letters. As a parent, you are likely concerned and unsure how to help your child.

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Social Skills: We can prepare the student to have the confidence to advocate for themselves and the accommodations they may require in a work space or otherwise. When they have the skills to communicate their needs, they can go far and succeed greatly.

Problem Solving: Provide the students with resources to accommodate them in various aspects of their lives, given their disability. Teaching students their rights, resources, and ability to problem solve will make their transition into the postsecondary world a much easier one.

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To ease the learning process for students with dysgraphia, we can provide them with assistive technologies like pencil grips or speech-to-text. Pencil grips can provide an easier way for students who lack motor skills to hold a writing utensil to write on their assignments or take notes. Speech-to-text is a mid level AT that can be used for students with a more severe case of dysgraphia, as they can verbally speak what they need written down in text. To provide students with a higher-tech resource, a tablet can be utilized for typing. Some students with dysgraphia may find it easier to type rather than use a writing utensil to take notes.

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Assistive Technology For Dysgraphia | Veroniiiica

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My favorite assistive technology for dysgraphia that can help students that have handwriting difficulties, with low to high tech solutions

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“Using multisensory techniques, including saying the letter and/or the sequence of movements while writing the letter; using large air writing techniques (writing the letter in the air using two fingers, with wrist and elbow fairly straight, though not rigid); writing letters in texture, such as on fine sandpaper or in pudding; and writing large letters using a squirt bottle of colored water against an outside wall.” Writing can be tiring and painful to the hands leading to cramping, this is the same for someone who suffers from Dysgraphia, doing writing breaks or warm ups with help the individual such as:

Rub hands on the carpet in circles (or, if wearing clothing with some mild texture, rub hands on thighs, close to knees)

Use the thumb of the dominant hand to click the top of a ballpoint pen while holding it in that hand. Repeat using the index finger.

Perform sitting pushups by placing each palm on the chair with fingers facing forward. Students push down on their hands, lifting their body slightly off the chair.

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A common teaching technique is to have the students write information to reinforce the material. For example, spelling programs often encourage students to write each spelling word five times or 20 times. For many students, the kinesthetic process of writing reinforces what is to be learned. However, for a small group of students, rather than reinforcing and consolidating information, the process of writing actually interferes with learning. These students struggle to write and consequently spend much more time than their peers on a writing assignment. Even so, they remember less: the act of writing greatly interferes with learning. Cognitively, so much of their energy is spent on the process that they often do not learn or some times even process the content of what they are working on. Some students with severe dysgraphia may actually complete a writing assignment and then have to reread it to determine what they wrote, especially in a copying task or if they are focusing on neatness.

Educators expect students to learn from the process of writing, yet these students find that the process of writing actually interferes with learning. How, then, can they adequately learn to use the process of writing to express their ideas?

Why does this occur?

Dysgraphia is a problem with the writing process. For these students, there is an underlying reason that their papers are messy or that their speed is excessively fast or extremely slow. It is unfair to label them as poorly motivated, careless, lazy, or impulsive. While these interpretations may be true on the surface, they are not the root of what is happening. The root for dysgraphia is actually found within the processing system involved with sequencing, especially the motor movements which should be sequential and very automatic.

Students with dysgraphia need to develop both compensations and remediation strategies. Compensations are techniques to bypass the problem and reduce the negative impact on learning. This is accomplished by avoiding the difficulty, changing the assignment expectations, or using strategies to aid a particular aspect of the task. Compensations can also be termed bypass strategies or accommodations, the latter term used more frequently in legal situations. Remediation provides additional structured practice or re-teaching of the skill or concept using specialized techniques to match the student's processing style and need.

The astute teacher or parent must first determine the point at which the student becomes confused or begins to struggle. Does it begin as soon as the student starts to write? Is it halfway through the paragraph? Is it when the student tries to think about more complex ideas rather than just write a sentence or perform a copying task? When these determinations are made, it is important to identify which components of the task cause the confusions and/or struggles. Is it the use of manuscript, or the use of cursive? Is it the process of dealing with mechanics while writing? Is it the process of trying to think and plan while writing?

Remedial strategies

It is critical that students do not totally avoid the process of writing, no matter how severe their dysgraphia. Writing is an important life skill necessary for signing documents, filling out forms, writing checks, taking telephone messages or writing a grocery list. Therefore, students need to be able to write, even if they cannot maintain writing for long periods of time.

Young students should receive remediation in letter form, automaticity, and fluency. They need specific multisensory techniques that encourage them to verbalize the motor sequences of the form of letters (for example, b is big stick down, circle away from my body). Students should also use large air writing to develop a more efficient motor memory for the sequence of steps necessary in making each letter. This is because air writing causes students to use many more muscles than they use when writing with a pencil. Multisensory techniques should be utilized for teaching both manuscript and cursive writing. The techniques need to be practiced substantially so that the letters are fairly automatic before the student is asked to use these skills to communicate ideas.

Some students may be able to copy and write single sentences with a fair degree of ease, but they struggle tremendously with paragraph writing. These students will need to be taught techniques that enable them to perform each subpart prior to pulling together all the parts. Substantial modeling will be necessary at each stage for the student to be successful. For example, when writing a paragraph students can be taught the following eight steps:

1. Think about your ideas and elaborate on each part of the ideas.

2. Organize the ideas you want to express. This type of organization is easily performed using visual graphic organizers. For example, you can create a mind map so that the main idea is placed in a circle in the center of the page and supporting facts are written on lines coming out of the main circle, similar to the arms of a spider or spokes on a wheel. Many visual organizer formats can be used, with different formats appropriate for different situations.

3. Analyze your graphic organizer to determine if you included all of your ideas. If you have difficulty with spelling, make a list of the more difficult or important words you may want to include in your writing. Having this reference list will help your writing flow more because you will not have to stop to think of how to spell the big words.

4. Now, write a draft of your paragraph (or paper), focusing on the content or ideas. If you have a computer, it is best if you type your draft directly on the keyboard. This will make it much easier to proofread and revise.

5. Proof and editing: you will need specific techniques and strategies to proofread your paper, checking for appropriate use of punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. Then use a spell checker to fix your spelling.

6. Revise your paragraph, incorporating the corrections you determined above.

7. Proofread your paragraph again, editing and revising if necessary.

8. Develop a final product, either in typed or written form.

An easy way to remember these steps is to think of the word POWER.

P - plan your paper (step 1)

O - organize your thoughts and ideas (steps 2 and 3)

W - write your draft (step 4)

E - edit your work (steps 5, 6, and 7)

R - revise your work, producing a final draft (step 8)

The student may need substantial modeling at each stage to be successful.

Some dysgraphic students have great difficulty with spelling, especially if sequencing is a major issue for them. Additionally, many dysgraphic students experience dyslexia, a sequential processing problem that affects reading and spelling. These students need very specific remedial assistance in learning to spell phonetically. It is critical that they are able to represent unknown words using good phonetic equivalences. If they are able to spell logically and phonetically, they will be able to use a phonetically-based spell checker, such as a spell checker in one of the Franklin resource products. These handheld devices recognize words using phonetic logic rather than relying on the orthographic sequence, as do most spell checkers on a computer word processing program. The sidebar below presents a poem this author found on the Internet which exemplifies why a computer spell checker may not be sufficient for some students with spelling struggles.

A little poem regarding computer spell checkers...

Eye halve a spelling chequer It came with my pea sea It plainly marques four my revue Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.
Eye strike a key and type a word And weight four it two say Weather eye am wrong oar write It shows me strait a weigh.
As soon as a mist ache is maid It nose bee fore two long And eye can put the error rite Its rare lea ever wrong.
Eye have run this poem threw it I am shore your pleased two no Its letter perfect awl the weigh My chequer tolled me sew.

(author unknown; obtained from Internet)

Another vital aspect of remedial assistance that is especially important for young children, involves the student's pencil grip. Students should be helped and encouraged to use a consistent and efficient pencil grip right from the beginning of their writing experience. The distance from the student's finger to the pencil point should consistently be between 3/4"-1". Pressure on the pencil should be moderate, not too heavy and not too light. The angle of the pencil should be approximately 45% with the page and slanted toward the student's writing arm. The long edge of the student's paper and his writing arm should be parallel, like railroad tracks. With some young students, pencil habits can be changed to a more appropriate form by using a plastic pencil grip (many of which are on the market in a variety of shapes and formats), It is much easier and more efficient to encourage students at the very beginning of their writing experience to develop these appropriate habits through frequent modeling and positive feedback. Older students who have developed firm habits, even if the habits are not efficient, find that it is very time consuming to make changes. Therefore, when making a decision on adapting a student's habits, it is extremely important to consider the time/energy ratio. Is it worth the amount of time necessary to make the change to help the student be more efficient? If not, it is critical to make sure the student has efficient and automatic compensatory strategies.

Many students with dysgraphia are extremely slow in their writing performances. When this is the case, it is critical to determine what is causing the slowness. Is it the formulation of ideas? or the organization of ideas? If so, more work needs to be done on pre-organization strategies and this student's language formulation skills need to be thoroughly assessed by a speech and language pathologist. Is the student's slowness a result of slowness in actually making the letters? If this is the case, the student needs much more remedial practice in forming letters independently, without having to think about content. This should be done using multisensory techniques, including saying the letter and/or the sequence of movements while writing the letter; using large air writing techniques (writing the letter in the air using two fingers, with wrist and elbow fairly straight, though not rigid); writing letters in texture, such as on fine sandpaper or in pudding; and writing large letters using a squirt bottle of colored water against an outside wall.

Some students struggle with writing and become readily fatigued with the process of writing because of their inefficient pencil grip and poor motor sequencing. Many times an occupational therapist, especially one using a sensory integration philosophy, can help in the remedial process with such students. There are also temporary remedial techniques a teacher or parent can use as warmups or as a writing break. Some suggestions for helping relieve stress and relaxing the writing hand follow. Students can perform any of these for about 10 seconds before writing or in the middle of writing.

Shake hands fast, but not violently.

Rub hands together and focus on the feeling of warmth.

Rub hands on the carpet in circles (or, if wearing clothing with some mild texture, rub hands on thighs, close to knees)

Use the thumb of the dominant hand to click the top of a ballpoint pen while holding it in that hand. Repeat using the index finger.

Perform sitting pushups by placing each palm on the chair with fingers facing forward. Students push down on their hands, lifting their body slightly off the chair.

Compensatory strategies

The overall goal of compensations is to help the student perform more automatically and still participate in and benefit from the writing task. The goal is to allow the student to go around the problem so that she can then focus more completely on the content. Some example strategies include:

Understanding-Understand the student's inconsistencies and performance variabilities.

Print or cursive-Allow the student to use either form. Many dysgraphic students are more comfortable with manuscript printing.

If getting started is a problem, encourage pre-organization strategies, such as use of graphic organizers.

Computer-Encourage student to become comfortable using a word processor on a computer. Students can be taught as early as 1st grade to type sentences directly on the keyboard. In doing so, do not eliminate handwriting for the child: handwriting is still important but computer skills will be invaluable for longer and important tasks.

For older students, encourage use of a speech recognition program combined with the word processor so the student can dictate his papers rather than type them. This increases speed and efficiency and allows the student to focus more completely on complex thoughts and ideas.

Encourage consistent use of spell checker to decrease the overall demands of the writing task and encourage students to wait until the end to worry about spelling.

Encourage use of an electronic resource such as the spell check component in a Franklin Language Master® to further decrease the demands. If student has concurrent reading problems, a Language Master® with a speaking component is most helpful because it will read/say the words. This author prefers the Language Master 6000 because of its large font size and speech clarity.

Do not count off for poor spelling on first drafts, in-class assignments, or on tests. However, depending on age, student may be held responsible for spelling in final drafts completed at home.

Have student proofread papers after a delay, using a checklist of the points to check. If students proofread immediately after writing, they may read what they intended rather than what was actually written.

If necessary, shorten writing assignments.

Allow extra time for writing activities.

Note taking: Provide student with copy of completed notes (perhaps through a note taking buddy who can use carbon paper) to fill in missing parts of his own notes.

Note taking: provide a partially completed outline so the student can fill in the details under major headings. As a variety, provide the details and have student fill in headings while listening.

Allow student to tape record important assignments and/or take oral tests.

Staging: have students complete tasks in logical steps or increments instead of all at once.

Prioritization: stress or de-emphasize certain task components during a complex activity. For example, students can focus on using descriptive words in one assignment, and in another, focus on using compound sentences. Also, design assignments to be evaluated on specific parts of the writing process (prioritization).

Remove neatness as a grading criteria, except on computer-generated papers.

Reduce copying aspects of tasks, such as providing a math worksheet rather than requiring student to copy problems from the book. A copying buddy can be helpful in copying the problems using carbon paper.

Have younger students use large graph paper for math calculation to keep columns and rows straight. Older student may use loose leaf paper turned sideways to help maintain straight columns.

Allow and encourage use of abbreviations for in-class writing assignments (such as b/4 for "before" or b/c for "because"). Have the student keep a list of appropriate abbreviations in his note book and taped to his desk for easy reference. Begin with only a few and increase as the first few become automatic.

Reinforce the positive aspects of student's efforts.

Be patient.

Encourage student to be patient with himself.

A note on creativity

Dysgraphia does not have to limit creativity, as identified by the sample below composed on a computer by a 12-year-old dyslexic and dysgraphic student.

1. First draft of creative story as typed by 12-year-old student:
the way I descride a bumby ride is like wothgan mowtsarts mowsek. eshe bumby rowd is like a song. Eshe bumb is the a note eche uncon at the sam time ste is. that was the mewstere to mowts mowsuk it was vare metereus and unperdekdable.So the next time you drive down a bumby theak of mowtsart.

2. Same story. Student read to teacher using his draft:
"The way I describe a bumpy ride is like Wolfgang Mozart's music. Each bumpy road is like a song. Each bump in the road is a note. Each bump is uncontrolled at the same time it still is controlled. That was the magic to Mozart's music. It was very mysterious and unpredictable. So the next time you drive down a bumpy road think of Mozart."

A note regarding development of word processing skills

Many dysgraphic students have difficulty with correct fingering in keyboarding skills. However, it is important to expose students to the correct fingering to develop quick visual locating skills for letters on the keyboard, ideally without having to look each time. One important strategy is to have the student practice keyboarding skills approximately 10 minutes a day (this can be part of a homework assignment). The student should use a variety of child-oriented typing tutor programs and work to develop appropriate skills to the best of her ability. At the same time, whenever the student types for ideas or content, whether a word, a sentence or a whole paragraph, she should be allowed to use whatever fingering she wants. Eventually, the goal is for the student to automatically incorporate at least some correct keyboard fingering when typing content. This author has seen dysgraphic students use a combination of correct keyboard fingering with their own style and reach typing speeds of 60 wpm. With this degree of speed and efficiency, it is unnecessary to force a student to use standard keyboarding techniques. However, many students do begin to use the correct techniques, as this is often much more efficient. However, if practice with correct fingering is avoided or not used frequently enough, the student will never have the opportunity to incorporate the correct skills.

Related articles

Many appropriate related articles can be found in the Spring 1998 issue of Perspectives, the magazine of the International Dyslexia Association (www.interdys.org). This issue focused on the theme of technology and learning disabilities and includes the following articles which relate to dysgraphia: Jerome Elkind (The Lexia Institute, Los Altos, CA) "Computer Reading Machines for Poor Readers." Charles A. MacArthur, Ph.D. (University of Delaware) "Assistive Technology for Writing." Marshall H. Raskind, Ph.D. (The Frostig Center, Pasadena, CA) "Assistive Technology for Individuals with Learning Disabilities: How Far Have We Come?" Thomas G. West (Visualization Research, Washington, D.C.) "Words to Images: Technological Change Redefines Educational Goals." Marshall H. Raskind, Ph.D. and Toby Shaw, M.A. (The Frostig Center, Pasadena, CA) "Assistive Technology for Persons with Learning Disabilities: Product Resource List."

Diagnosis of dyslexia and dysgraphia

Green, Jane Fell and Moats, Louisa Cook. "Testing: Critical Components in the Clinical Identification of Dyslexia," in The Emeritus Series, International Dyslexia Association .

Richards, Regina G. "The RET Assessment for Dyslexia," in The Source for Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. Linguisystems , Inc., 3100 4th Avenue, East Moline, IL 61244-9700, Ph. 1-800-PRO IDEA

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A common teaching technique is to have the students write information to reinforce the material. For example, spelling programs often encourage students to write each spelling word five times or 20 times. For many students, the kinesthetic process of writing reinforces what is to be learned.

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Emotional Regulation: Adults with dysgraphia may feel flustered, frustrated, or upset about their learning experience, or how dysgraphia affects their day to day life. To help adults facing this, it is important for them to be surrounded by support people. It is also important to teach them some coping skills, such as deep breathing exercises or mindfulness. Grace

Communication: Adults with dysgraphia may have a hard time with taking notes and keeping up with certain tasks. Ways that will help them in school or work is by taking pictures of the whiteboard, recording a presentation to listen, and getting invoiced emails. Avoid using pens and use pencil and pencil grips to write and have line paper to write down the important things needed to help them remember. “It can be severe and cause an almost total lack of writing ability, or it can be mild and only disturb one aspect of the writing process, such as the coherence of written text vs. the physical act of putting words on paper.”
https://www.readandspell.com/us/dysgraphia-in-adults Natgeene

Advocacy for Needs: To support adults with dysgraphia in their advocacy for their needs, we first must make sure they know the options available to them in regards to assistive technology. Then, we must make sure they know the law supports them in their right. Finally, we must point them to the correct resources to help. Grace

Independence: Some tips on how to help adults with dysgraphia gain more independence would be making sure you are not trying to control what they are doing but instead supporting them. By allowing them to work on their own and providing them with the resources that will help them when they are alone, they will be able to work more independently and not rely on someone else to help them do their work. https://www.endeavour.com.au/about-us/our-stories/blog-posts/21-tips-promoting-independence-adults-with-disability Maddie

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Independence means different things to different people. Ask two people what it means to them and you will likely get four answers. For the purposes of this blog, the definition of promoting independence is: working with individuals to optimise their abilities to function and to make their own choices in all aspects of their lives.

Today we are focusing four types of independence:

Here are our tips for working towards a more independent lifestyle for people with disability.

Support

1. Seek to support, not control, what people do

We all do our best as parents and carers, often under challenging circumstances.

But, sometimes when we care about someone's well-being we want to control the situation to protect and nurture them. Releasing control of the situation can feel like the end result is out of our hands.

Instead of seeking to manage every interaction and decision, begin to find ways that you can gradually switch to a mode of offering support instead.

Sometimes the shift from "control" to "support" can be as simple as some small tweaks to the language you use. Instead of telling someone what to do, ask him or her what they would like to do.

Making this a gradual process will give your family member a sense of security in the process of moving towards greater self-determination.

2. Establish a trusted support network

Establishing a trusted support network is something that can take some time as you look for people that you trust, your loved one also trusts, and who are ready and willing to contribute to this journey.

These type of people aren't necessarily going to be easy to find, but the best place to start is close to home. Think about your family, your friends, your neighbours, or even a select few "outsiders" from within the local community.

The reality is that by trying to do everything yourself there is also every chance you may be inhibiting the development and progression of independent living.

You are looking for a small group of supporters that your loved one can talk to openly about their situation, and ask them to contribute in some way, big or small, to your loved ones independence goals.

3. Search for meaning, rather than judging someone's behaviour

Remember that we are all different and we all see the world through a different lens. That lens is shaped by our situation, our upbringing, our lifestyle and a long list of other contributing factors.

This means that your interpretation of a situation or behaviour could be significantly different to that of your loved one. So if you ever feel yourself moving towards judgement, take a deep breath and try to look at things from a different perspective. Take a moment to view the world through their eyes, and try to understand why they are doing whatever it is they are doing.

This search for meaning will not only improve your relationship, but it will also help you educate others and break down the external barriers to independence.

4. Lead with positivity

Emotions are contagious. Feelings like fear, anxiety and negativity can be felt by those around you, even when you don't put them into words. They can grow like wildfire in the wrong hands. But emotions such as hope, happiness and positivity are just as catchy and contagious and make it easier for everyone involved to embrace change

The journey toward independence can be a slow and challenging one, so celebrate the small wins. Be positive and exude energy at every opportunity. Others will feed off your energy and build confidence as a result.

5. Learn from each other and adapt

It's good to be open to learning and developing yourself. It's not just a one-way street.

The more you, your loved one, and your support network can work together to adapt and understand each other, the quicker progress will be toward independence.

Talk openly about the things you are struggling with, ask for guidance, search for meaning.

Do whatever you can to build a trusted level of communication that brings the cause of challenges to the surface more quickly, so they can be addressed.

6. Respect and recognise multiple identities

Society can be harsh. Often as a group we are quick to label people and disregard their rights, hobbies and lifestyle choices.

This kind of "labelling" can be an obstacle to promoting independence in people with disability. Even with the best of intentions, our community and sometimes even carers can forget about the person behind the disability.

We should all have the right to be recognised by the things that make us unique, whether that is being a "soccer fan", a "horse rider" or a "chess player". Respecting and recognising that each person has multiple identities and interests, and removing unfair labels, will help build confidence and the desire to become more independent.
Find out how we can support you
Confidence and control

7. Start slow with daily life decisions

Promoting independence requires patience. It's about a series of small steps and 1% changes that add up to a more empowered lifestyle and more choice for the individual.

The challenge is that many people with disability have experienced strong nurturing and highly protective environments. Independence and decision-making power may be foreign concepts, which means that if things happen too quickly, fear and anxiety can take over.

The solution is to start slowly, by empowering the individual with daily life decisions. It can be simple things like how to wash the dishes, or what to cook for dinner. As they build up decision-making confidence with everyday activities, then begin to transfer that confidence into new and more challenging situations. Over time, their confidence will grow and the breadth of responsibility will widen.

8. Allow choice about friends and lifestyle

Everyone deserves the opportunity to choose their own friends and decide what hobbies they would like to do on the weekend. Enabling this power of choice is an important way to support individual growth and development.

9. Provide decision-making power

People with disability in Australia have a choice on where and how to access their support network and care, using their NDIS support package. The change has come about because NDIS funding is directed by the individual with disability (or their decision maker).

This is a significant step towards increased independence across the board, meaning that carers and the support network of each individual are in a position to increase people's ability and opportunities to be involved in decision-making about their own life.

For ideas about how to do this, read our blog 'How can I involve the person I support in decision making'.

10. Get into community activities

Once this journey to independence begins to progress beyond decisions related to daily at-home rituals, you can integrate the process with community activities.

For example, you may be able to encourage your loved one to catch the train to the grocery store and pick up the shopping. Initially they may need support on these trips, but after a while they may be able to go independently. It's another small step towards building their capacity for independence.

Get support when engaging in the local community. Our experienced support team works with your loved one to understand their needs.

11. Join mainstream community groups

Try to find community groups that closely relate to your loved one's interests and hobbies. This will get them excited to go along and accelerate the building of self-confidence.

Of course, with any of these activities it may be necessary to check out the groups prior to going along. See how they interact, get to know some of the people yourself and evaluate with your loved one whether you both think the group would be a good fit.

12. Encourage interactions with others

Anything you can do to break the cycle of dependence will help, no matter how small you may think it is at the time.

By interacting with more and more people outside of the primary carer and direct support network, your loved one will build confidence and start taking initiative.

Provide opportunities for socialisation and independent living, and over time you can allow this to happen without you being present.

Learn how to make and keep friends.

13. Get your vote on

As well as increasing social interactions, you can begin the journey to increased independence by encouraging other confidence-building activities.

For example, registering your loved one to vote in local, state or federal elections is a great way to give them a voice in the community.

The Australian Electoral Commission provides easy read resources to explain how to vote.

Education

14. Encourage your community to embrace diversity

Education plays an important role in increasing independence for people with disability. This education is not, however, always targeted at the individual.

It's important for our local communities to be open and willing to embrace diverse cultures, religions and abilities - and this can take some educating.

Many people are misinformed, or uneducated, about the abilities that people with disability actually have. This isn't their fault. Often people are too concerned about offending someone to ask these sorts of questions. Give them a helping hand to understand, so they can act accordingly. It all helps towards an inclusive community.

Some people may find our blog with tips on improving communication with people with disability useful.

15. Living a healthy lifestyle

It's common for people with disability to have a fairly inactive lifestyle and unhealthy diet. This lifestyle can lead to obesity and more severe diseases such as diabetes or heart disease.

When you are looking to promote independence, you need to be aware of the education required to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Education alone won't cut it though. You may need to help your loved one create daily habits that will contribute to a healthy and happy life while they are not with you. A great place to start is with a daily dose of light exercise and a healthy, balanced diet.

16. Let's talk about sex

For some reason the topic of sexual health as it applies to people with disability is somewhat of a taboo subject, but it shouldn't be. In fact, we need to talk about it more.

Independence comes in many forms, including by empowering each individual to participate as much as they are able to in their own sexual health decisions.

Of course there is a certain degree of education required for everyone involved to keep these decisions on the right track. Be aware of the risks of sexual abuse for dependent people, particularly people with disability, but don't let them dominate the way you provide choice and freedom.

People with disability want to explore and express their sexuality just the same as anyone else. Recognising this and providing an environment where they can make decisions to do so, in a safe and informed way, will help promote further independence in their life.

For more information, read about disability and sexuality produced by the Victorian Government.

17. Consider options for learning, employment or volunteering

Working - whether to learn, to make money, or to volunteer your time - can provide people with a sense of purpose. It's an opportunity to contribute to society and develop improved self-confidence and interpersonal skills.

Employment or volunteer work is a critical component of independent living and helps promote inclusion and build friendships.

Endeavour Foundation is the largest employer of people with disability in Australia, and also offers vocational training, so if you are looking for somewhere to get started, please click on the button below.

Find out more about employment opportunities for people with disability.

Training and skills

18. Provide training to improve the required skills for independence

Increased independence often comes with the need for a new skill set. The key components required to help people improve their skills are access and support. People with disability must have access to the right learning opportunities - tailored to their interests and abilities - and support from a network of friends, family and mentors.

Encourage your loved one to build a learning and career plan. Something that maps out a pathway to achieve their goals and acquire the knowledge or qualifications they need to sustain meaningful employment.

This plan will help out at some of the hardest crossroads in life, such as transitioning from school to work, and eventually making the move towards a more independent lifestyle.

You may look to extend your support network to include mentors, trainers and teachers that can facilitate and progress this plan. Sometimes all it takes is someone from outside the family circle who can identify new skills and abilities, and champion your loved one on into greater personal achievements.
Learning and life skills opportunities for people with disability
19. Start with daily living skills

The secret to promoting independence and making it sustainable isn't about making one "big" change. It's a series of smaller changes that combine to look like a bigger change from the outside.

So start developing skills with daily activities - the cooking, the washing and the ironing. Then when you're both ready, move onto social and life skills - communication, relationships, shopping and participation in local community groups.

These daily life skills will build confidence and prepare your loved one for the next step, which is developing employment skills - money handling, using technology and taking part in interviews.

20. Leverage technology to develop skills

Advancements in technology continue to make learning and development a faster and more approachable endeavour.

Perhaps the most widely used piece of technology in learning for people with disability is the iPad or electronic tablet. The iPad is intuitive to use, and can offer a customised learning environment for every individual.

On top of the learning opportunities, iPads are fun to use and don't come with any of the negative stigma associated with 'special equipment'.

21. Use repetition by creating daily rituals and habits

We are creatures of habit. Most of the thoughts we have and the activities we do every day are exactly the same. Breaking these habits, or creating new ones, can be hard because often we resist change.

But you can use this to your advantage to help others develop skills and learn new things. Repetition is the key. If you do something enough times it will soon become second nature.

Conclusion

Promoting independence for people with disability can be a hard and confronting journey, because your instincts encourage you to protect and nurture.

But if you can embrace the uncertainty and commit to supporting your loved one on this adventure, the end result will be a positive and life-changing one for both of you.

Here are the key takeaways for promoting independence in people with disability:

Empower your loved one to make decisions and actively involve them in decision-making

Trust others and build a support network in the community

Be positive and celebrate small improvements

Make learning a daily habit for both of you

Focus on the 1% changes, and don't get caught up trying to make a "big" difference, it doesn't have to happen overnight.

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21 tips that promote independence in adults with disability

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Independence means different things to different people. Ask two people what it means to them and you will likely get four answers. For the purposes of this blog, the definition of promoting independence is: working with individuals to optimise their abilities to function and to make their own choices in all aspects of their lives.

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One strategy that families can use to reinforce their child's writing skills would be having the child practice pinching. This way they can strengthen their fingers and it will help them gain more ability to grip their writing utensil.

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Does your child struggle with handwriting? Has he been diagnosed with dysgraphia? These exercises from handwriting specialists are fun, effective and easy to practice at home.

Taking away one sense experience often heightens the others. Experts advise trying activities that help your kid focus on feeling-not seeing-how a letter is made.

For example, use your finger to trace a letter on your child's back. Or he can close his eyes while you trace a letter on his palm. Then see if he can reproduce that letter on your back or on a piece of paper.

You can make things more challenging by writing a capital letter and asking him to write it as a lowercase one, or vice versa.

Kids with dysgraphia usually have trouble remembering how to form letters correctly. One way therapists make the process more memorable is by having kids write in ways that use large motor movements and multisensory materials.

At home, young kids can spray big shaving cream letters on the tile wall at bath time. Or they can smooth out the cream on the tile and write letters in the foam. They can practice making letters in a plastic tub of damp sand. Adding sand to finger paint is another way to increase sensory input.

Clay is a wonderfully versatile medium. It's dense and responsive. And mistakes can disappear with just a pinch.

Roll clay into ropes and practice making letters with your child. It builds hand strength and boosts fine motor skills. And it reinforces the shapes of letters in his mind, too.

Another option: Smooth a layer of clay on a cookie sheet. Then invite your child to etch letters into the surface with a pencil. The clay provides sensory feedback, which gives more information to the brain about how the letters are formed.

Holding a pencil properly is a challenge for many kids with writing difficulties. Your child can strengthen his fingers and improve his "pencil grip" using "pinching" tools found around the house. These include tweezers, children's chopsticks (joined at one end) and ice tongs.

Try this game: Toss pieces of cereal, balled-up scraps of paper or small pencil erasers onto a tabletop. Then see how many you and your child can pick up with a pinching tool in a minute.

Another option: Play board games and use pinching tools to move the playing pieces.

5. Start cross-body training.

For a child to write properly, both sides of his body need to work together: One arm holds the paper stable. The other does the actual pencil work.

Any activity that encourages coordinated movement on both sides of the body provides good reinforcement. This includes crafts that use scissors: One hand holds, the other cuts.

Physical exercises that require cross-body coordination are helpful, too. See if your child will give windmills, jumping jacks, touching alternate toes, and mountain climbers a whirl before sitting down to write.

6. Build strength and stability.

Writing may not seem physically demanding. But sitting properly and controlling pen and paper require muscle strength and stability in the shoulders and core.

Activities that condition these areas can help. These include planks, push-ups, wheelbarrow walking, crab walking, shooting baskets, hanging from monkey bars and rope climbing. Even reading while lying tummy-down on the floor builds strength.

So set aside time for your child to include activities like these in his day. He can do them at a local gym, at the playground, or right in your own backyard or playroom.

7. Practice "organized" storytelling.

Kids with dysgraphia often have trouble organizing their thoughts. You can help your child by practicing structured storytelling.

At bedtime, ask him to tell you about his day. Have him start with an introduction, like "Today was Thursday and boy, was it a busy day for me and my friends." Ask him to describe what he did in the morning, the afternoon and the evening. Then he can wrap things up with how the day went overall.

You can use this approach with just about any experience your child wants to share with you.

Kids with dysgraphia may be brimming with great ideas. But putting those ideas into written words can be a frustrating hurdle for them.

Encourage your child to record himself (on a smartphone or other device) while he talks through his thoughts or the story he'd like to tell. He can then play the recording back when he sits down to write. This can be a helpful and confidence-boosting tool.

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8 Expert Tips on Helping Your Child With Dysgraphia

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Learn about skillbuilding and strengthening activities that can help kids who struggle with handwriting. Get tips for helping your child with dysgraphia.

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1. https://www.davidsongifted.org/gifted-blog/dysgraphia-q-a/
Dysgraphia is typically assessed through IQ tests, academic assessments, measures of fine motor skills, writing samples, and tests that involve copying designs.

https://www.understood.org/en/articles/at-a-glance-classroom-accommodations-for-dysgraphia
Accommodations can be pencil grips, hand outs, copies of notes, extra time, audio recorders, laptops, raised line paper, and graph paper.

Some strategies to help with completing assessments are early instructions, breaking assignments down into steps, go over each step on the rubric, and offer alternatives such as oral reports.

2. One accommodation is giving students extra time. Based on needs and deficit areas, this can be adjusted based on the length of the extra time given. Another accommodation is a pencil grip. This can be adjusted based on the type of grip, students can try multiple and see which feels best.  A third accommodation is graph paper or lined paper. This can be adjusted based on the type, such as graph, line, or raised line.

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Publisher: 2e Newsletter
Year: May/June 2011
This article was reprinted with permission from the May, 2011, issue of 2e: Twice-Exceptional Newsletter.
Q. What is dysgraphia?

A. Dysgraphia is a learning disability that involves difficulty with writing. This processing disorder can affect one or more of these abilities:

Forming letters, numbers, and words by hand

Spelling correctly

Organizing and expressing thoughts on paper.

Q. Does having bad handwriting mean that a person has dysgraphia?

A. Not necessarily. Some individuals with dysgraphia can print very neatly, but it takes them a great deal of time and effort to do so.

Q. How can you tell if your child has dysgraphia?

A. The child will probably be much better able to communicate ideas through speech rather than through writing. Other signs may include:

An awkward pencil grip

Unusual position of the wrist, body, or paper

Quickly becoming tired from writing and/or complaining of discomfort

Poorly formed and inconsistently formed letters

Copying or writing that is slow or labored * Avoiding writing or drawing tasks

Saying words out loud while writing or carefully watching the hand that is writing

Failing to finish words or omitting words from sentences

Difficulty following spelling and grammar rules

Poor spatial planning on paper, with uneven spaces between letters or words, difficulty keeping writing on the line, or difficulty maintaining left and right margins

Orienting letters incorrectly

Difficulty organizing thoughts on paper

Inability or difficulty performing tasks that require thinking and writing at the same time, such as taking notes.

Q. What are the effects of dysgraphia on a child?

A. Children with dysgraphia often suffer emotional stress. They are likely to feel frustration over their inability to do what their classmates can do and may be unfairly criticized for being sloppy, inattentive, careless, or lazy in their work. Students are also likely to fall behind with school work, which may lead not only to poor grades but also to anxiety or depression.

Q. What causes dysgraphia?

A. Writing is a highly complex process that involves various senses, muscles, and parts of the brain. Problems in any of these can result in writing difficulties. In his book, Developmental Variation and Learning Disorders, Dr. Mel Levine identified seven types of neurodevelopmental problems that can cause writing difficulties, as shown below.

Q. How is dysgraphia diagnosed?

A. Dysgraphia is typically diagnosed by a professional, such as a physician or licensed psychologist, who specializes in the as-sessment and diagnosis of learning disabilities. Other professionals, such as an occupational therapist, school psychologist, or special educator, may also be involved. Among the tests often included in an evaluation for dysgraphia are:

An IQ test

Academic assessment that includes reading, arithmetic, writing, and language tests

Measures of fine motor skills related to writing

Writing samples evaluated for spelling, grammar, and punctuation as well as the quality of ideas presented

Tests that involve copying designs.

According to the International Dyslexia Association, children who are twice exceptional - gifted and dysgraphic - are especially under-diagnosed and underserved because teachers mistakenly assume that if a student is bright and cannot write it is because the student is not trying.

Q. What can be done to help a child who has dysgraphia?

A. Three common options are:

Handwriting instruction using multisensory approaches, like the programs Handwriting without Tears® or the Orton-Gillingham Method, commonly used with children who have dyslexia.

Therapy from an occupational therapist trained to address children's writing problems.

Accommodations, mainly using a keyboard or other electronic technology to write instead of writing by hand.

Children with dyslexia can also benefit from direct instruction in spelling, grammar, and composition.

Q. Is it common for children with dysgraphia to have other learning disabilities as well?

A. Dysgraphia may occur alone, but it's not unusual to find it with these other learning disabilities:

Dyslexia (reading disability)

Oral and written language learning disability (also referred to as selective language impairment)

Attention-deficit disorder (inattentive, hyperactive, or combined subtypes)

Asperger Syndrome.

Q. How common is dysgraphia?

A. According to Drs. Fernette and Brock Eide in their book The Mislabeled Child, as many as one in five children (more commonly boys) have difficulty expressing themselves through writing.
References
The following resources were consulted for this article:

Disclaimer: The appearance of any information in the Davidson Institute's Resource Library does not imply an endorsement by, or any affiliation with, the Davidson Institute. All information presented is for informational and archival purposes only. The Davidson Institute bears no responsibility for the content of republished material. Please note the date, author, and publisher information available if you wish to make further inquiries about any republished materials in our Resource Library.

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This article contains answers to commonly asked questions about dysgraphia. Publisher: 2e Newsletter Year: May/June 2011 This article was reprinted with

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With dysgraphia, comorbidity is not incredibly common. Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder, and because of this, many illnesses and disorders may stem from the same root cause, but it is entirely dependent on the neurological issues that may influence dysgraphia.

The M Center's "Dysgraphia: Symptoms, Diagnosis, Comorbid Conditions" describes potential comorbidity in dysgraphia. It states that dysgraphia is found along with ADHD and PANDAS, as these are both neurological disorders.
https://www.psy-ed.com/wpblog/what-is-dysgraphia/ This resource states that dysgraphia is sometimes seen along side ADHD and SLIs.

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Do/Can any other disabilities exist in addition to this primary diagnosis?

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There are a lot of different characteristics that are involved with Dysgraphia. People who suffer from Dysgraphia often space their letters and words poorly and they also cannot form their letters correctly which can make their writing hard to read. Another characteristic of Dysgraphia is not having a consistent pencil grip which makes it harder to write because it may feel awkward or uncomfortable. The Special Programs article explains the potential characteristics that someone with Dysgraphia may face and also what can cause these characteristics.
Some other characteristics that are involved with Dysgraphia are the individual may lack certain motor skills which makes it very difficult for them to complete simple writing tasks. Their work also is not clear and can be hard to read due to them being unable to write clearly.
https://www.starhealth.in/blog/what-is-dysgraphia-types-characteristics-symptoms-causes-everyone-should-know
As stated in this article, individuals who suffer from dysgraphia have a hard time writing because they lack the fine motor skills that are connected to writing.

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Difficulty with handwriting frequently occurs in children with dyslexia. When Texas passed dyslexia legislation, the co-existence of poor handwriting with dyslexia was one reason why dysgraphia was called a related disorder. Subsequently, dyslexia and dysgraphia have been found to have diverse co-morbidities, including phonological awareness (Döhla and Heim, 2016). However, dyslexia and dysgraphia are now recognized to be distinct disorders that can exist concurrently or separately. They have different brain mechanisms and identifiable characteristics.

Dysgraphia is related to dyslexia as both are language-based disorders. In dyslexia, the impairment is with word-level skills (decoding, word identification, spelling). Dysgraphia is a written language disorder in serial production of strokes to form a handwritten letter. This involves not only motor skills but also language skills-finding, retrieving and producing letters, which is a subword-level language skill. The impaired handwriting may interfere with spelling and/or composing, but individuals with only dysgraphia do not have difficulty with reading (Berninger, Richards, & Abbott, 2015).

A review of recent evidence indicates that dysgraphia is best defined as a neurodevelopmental disorder manifested by illegible and/or inefficient handwriting due to difficulty with letter formation. This difficulty is the result of deficits in graphomotor function (hand movements used for writing) and/or storing and retrieving orthographic codes (letter forms) (Berninger, 2015). Secondary consequences may include problems with spelling and written expression. The difficulty is not solely due to the lack of instruction and is not associated with other developmental or neurological conditions that involve motor impairment.

The characteristics of dysgraphia include the following:

Variably shaped and poorly formed letters

Excessive erasures and cross-outs

Poor spacing between letters and words

Letter and number reversals beyond early stages of writing

Awkward, inconsistent pencil grip

Heavy pressure and hand fatigue

Slow writing and copying with legible or illegible handwriting (Andrews & Lombardino, 2014)

Additional consequences of dysgraphia may also include:

Difficulty with unedited written spelling

Low volume of written output as well as problems with other aspects of written expression

Dysgraphia can be due to:

Impaired feedback the brain is receiving from the fingers

Weaknesses using visual processing to coordinate hand movement and organize the use of space

Problems with motor planning and sequencing

Difficulty with storage and retrieval of letter forms (Levine, 1999)

Despite the widespread beliefs that handwriting is purely a motor skill or that only multisensory methods are needed to teach handwriting, multiple language processes are also involved in handwriting. Handwriting draws on language by hand (letter production), language by ear (listening to letter names when writing dictated letters), language by mouth (saying letter names), and language by eye (viewing the letters to be copied or reviewing for accuracy the letters that are produced from memory) (Berninger & Wolf, 2016).

Sources for Definition and Characteristics of Dysgraphia

Andrews, J. and Lombardino, L. (2014). Strategies for teaching handwriting to children with writing disabilities. ASHA SIG1 Perspectives on Language Learning Education. 21:114-126.

Berninger, V.W. (2004). Understanding the graphia in dysgraphia. In Developmental Motor Disorders: A Neuropsychological Perspective. D. Dewry and D. Tupper (Eds.), New York, NY, US: Guilford Press.

Berninger, V.W. (2015). Interdisciplinary frameworks for schools: Best practices for serving the needs of all student. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Berninger, V.W., Richards, T.L. and Abbott, R. D. (2015) Differential Diagnosis of Dysgraphia, Dyslexia, and OWL LD: Behavioral and Neuroimaging Evidence. Read Writ. 2015 Oct;28(8):1119-1153.

Berninger, V., & Wolf, B. (2016). Dyslexia, Dysgraphia, OWL LD, and Dyscalculia: Lessons from Science and Teaching (Second ed.). Baltimore, Maryland: Paul H Brookes Publishing.

Döhla, D. and Heim, S. (2016). Developmental dyslexia and dysgraphia: What can we learn from the one about the other? Frontiers in Psychology. 6:2045.

Levine, M.D. (1999). Developmental Variation and Learning Disorders. Cambridge, MA: Educators Publishing Service, Inc.

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Difficulty with handwriting frequently occurs in children with dyslexia. When Texas passed dyslexia legislation, the co-existence of poor handwriting with dyslexia was one reason why dysgraphia was called a related disorder. Subsequently, dyslexia and dysgraphia have been found to have diverse co-morbidities, including phonological awareness (Döhla and Heim, 2016).

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Some of the characteristics include not being able to spell correctly or capitalize. Mixing of cursive and print letters when writing. Writing is slow and the sizing and spacing of words in too large or small. There is difficulty with being able to visualize the words prior to writing them plus not being able to comfortable hold the writing utensil resulting to hand cramps. Some students may say the words out loud first or while writing them.
Madison Schmitt

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Some struggles for behaviors for a child who has dysgraphia may lead to them falling behind and not wanting to do any work making them irritable and stressed. It says in the article "Parents and teachers expect them to write at the same level as they speak." So this makes the kids feel like they aren't smart and less motivated about doing any written assignments because others think they should be good at both.

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Children with dysgraphia struggle to write, often causing them to experience emotional stress and anxiety. Because they have good verbal skills, parents and teachers expect them to write at the same level as they speak; when they don't, they may be mistakenly thought of as lacking motivation or careless.

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Those with dysgraphia struggle with the proper motor skills to physically and functionally write things down. Motor skills allow individuals to hold a pencil, place their arms in the correct spot to write, and format their writing. When these skills are lacking in a person, their writing can become disorganized, hard to read, or incomplete. These individuals often find it difficult to properly concentrate due to their struggle to focus on the way they are writing.
https://www.healthline.com/health/what-is-dysgraphia#symptoms

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At a glance

Dysgraphia refers to a challenge with writing.

It impacts skills like handwriting, typing, and spelling.

There are many ways people with dysgraphia can improve their writing skills.

Dysgraphia is a term that refers to trouble with writing. Many experts view dysgraphia as challenges with a set of skills known as transcription. These skills - handwriting, typing, and spelling - allow us to produce writing.

Trouble expressing your thoughts in writing isn't formally recognized as part of dysgraphia. That's a learning disability known as written expression disorder. But when people struggle with transcription, it can get in the way of thinking about ideas and how to convey them.

For example, people with dysgraphia may write more slowly than others. That can affect how well they express themselves in writing. Plus, they tend to have trouble with spelling because it's hard for them to form letters when they write.

Dysgraphia isn't a matter of intelligence. The challenges are often caused by trouble with motor skills. Those skills can improve with help. And people with dysgraphia may also be eligible to use accommodations at work or at school.

About the author

About the author

The Understood Team is made up of passionate writers and editors. Many of them have kids who learn and think differently.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Charles A. MacArthur, PhD is a professor emeritus of special education. He researches writing instruction, self-regulated strategies, and assistive technology.

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Dysgraphia is a writing challenge that affects skills like handwriting, typing, and spelling. It's not technically a learning disability, but it can affect learning.

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Academic things they struggle with are letter formation and being able to space letters correctly. When writing they may write words backward or may not be able to write in a straight line. They also struggle to write at a normal speed because of not remember certain letters.

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What is dysgraphia?

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. Dysgraphia can present with many different symptoms at different ages. It's considered a learning difference.

Writing is a complex process that involves many skills and brain functions, including:

Fine motor skills.

Spatial perception (ability to perceive the space around you).

Working memory (ability to hold and manipulate information in your mind).

Orthographic coding (ability to form, store and recall letters, numbers and symbols).

Language processing.

Conceptualization.

Organization.

Because of this, dysgraphia is somewhat of a catch-all term to diagnose issues with writing and can be difficult to diagnose.

Dysgraphia generally appears when children are first learning to write. This is called developmental dysgraphia. People can also develop dysgraphia suddenly after some type of head or brain trauma. This is called acquired dysgraphia.

Dysgraphia is considered a "specific learning disorder" - more specifically, a "specific learning disorder in written expression."

Is dysgraphia a form of dyslexia?

Dyslexia and dysgraphia are two distinct neurological conditions, though they're easy to confuse because they share symptoms and often occur together.

Dyslexia is a learning difference that makes it harder for people to learn to read. If you have dyslexia, you may read more slowly or have trouble recognizing words. Often, people with dyslexia read at a lower level than expected. People with dyslexia may struggle to break words into sounds or relate letters to sounds when reading.

Dysgraphia involves difficulty with the act of writing. Difficulties can range from issues with physically writing words to issues with organizing and expressing thoughts in written form.

Is dysgraphia a form of autism?

Dysgraphia isn't a form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Though dysgraphia commonly occurs in people with autism, you can have dysgraphia without having autism.

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by:

Difficulties in social communication differences.

Deficits in social interactions.

Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities.

Sensory problems.

Who does dysgraphia affect?

Dysgraphia can affect children and adults. As with many neurodevelopmental conditions, dysgraphia is more common in children assigned male at birth (AMAB) than in children assigned female at birth (AFAB).

You're more likely to have dysgraphia if other family members also have it, and dysgraphia is common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

How common is dysgraphia?

Dysgraphia is common. Researchers estimate that 5% to 20% of people have dysgraphia. The estimated range is large because dysgraphia often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

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Dysgraphia: What It Is, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment

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Dysgraphia is a neurological condition in which someone has difficulty with writing skills for their age despite exposure to adequate instruction.

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What are the academic, behavioral, or functional areas of struggle based on this disability?

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Adults with dysgraphia will experience messier hand writing they’ll also appear in the purposeful avoidance of writing and in weak fine motor skills.

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Many adults have handwriting that would make an elementary school teacher cringe - but if your handwriting is so messy that even you can't read it, it could be a sign of dysgraphia.

What is dysgraphia? In short, it's a learning disability that affects fine motor skills like writing, buttoning a shirt, or tying a shoelace - as well as the mental processes associated with writing, like picking a topic, organizing ideas, and making a coherent point. Since most children with dysgraphia are otherwise bright (and are often skilled readers and speakers), writing-related challenges early in life are frequently missed or chalked up to sloppiness. This means that a child with dysgraphia could easily reach adulthood without receiving a diagnosis - missing out on life-changing treatment and suffering harsh blows to her self-esteem.

Since so many adults with dysgraphia remain undiagnosed, it's difficult to estimate just how many are living with the condition. In children, the rate is often estimated between 4 and 20 percent - and since dysgraphia can't be outgrown, just as many adults are living with this learning disability. Dysgraphia affects men more often than women, and can go hand-in-hand with other learning disabilities or a related condition like ADHD.
[Take This Dysgraphia Symptom Test for Adults]
Dysgraphia Symptoms at Home

If writing has been a lifelong challenge, you've likely devised strategies to compensate or to avoid writing altogether. With that in mind, symptoms of dysgraphia in adults will manifest as more than just messy handwriting - they'll also appear in the purposeful avoidance of writing and in weak fine motor skills. Symptoms of dysgraphia at home might look like:

Highly illegible handwriting, often to the point that even you can't read what you wrote

Struggles with cutting food, doing puzzles, or manipulating small objects by hand

Uses a pen grip that is "strange" or "awkward"

Slow to understand the rules of games or follow sequential directions

Trouble reading maps

Difficulty drawing, tracing, or painting

Avoids writing whenever possible; prefers a digital grocery list to a written one, for instance

Makes spelling errors in simple notes

May also dislike texting

Dysgraphia Symptoms at Work

As more and more jobs depend on computers, writing may not factor in to your day-to-day life at work. Even if that's true for you, dysgraphia can still cause challenges at work by making other fine motor tasks - like handling small objects - difficult. Symptoms of dysgraphia at work might include:

When using spell-check on a computer, often has difficulty picking out the correct word from a list of similar words

Trouble filling in routine forms by hand, particularly if they require fitting words into set boxes

Illegible handwriting; can't read own meeting notes or coworkers complain that memos are indecipherable

Mixes lowercase and uppercase letters, or print and cursive letters, seemingly randomly

Often leaves out individual letters or the ends of words, particularly when writing quickly

In some cases, may have trouble with typing as well

Experiences hand cramps or pain when writing

Has trouble telling when words are misspelled

Often uses grammatically incorrect sentences in emails or reports

May be overly reliant on simple sentence structures

Prefers to give or get directions orally, instead of in writing

Has trouble "getting to the point" in written communication; emails may be rambling, or reports may repeat the same ideas several times

Able to explain self clearly when speaking, but not when writing

Dysgraphia is a brain-based disorder, and it can be improved with accommodations and, in some cases, occupational therapy. If you think you might be showing signs of dysgraphia, talk to your primary care doctor. He or she should be able to refer you to a neuropsychologist or another learning specialist who can diagnose you with dysgraphia and work with you on an effective treatment plan.

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What Does Dysgraphia Look Like in Adults?

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If dysgraphia isn't diagnosed in childhood, it often leads to further challenges or self-esteem problems for adults who live with the condition and have trouble writing. Learn how to spot dysgraphia in adults.

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“Children with dysgraphia struggle to write, often causing them to experience emotional stress and anxiety. Because they have good verbal skills, parents and teachers expect them to write at the same level as they speak”

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Children with dysgraphia struggle to write, often causing them to experience emotional stress and anxiety. Because they have good verbal skills, parents and teachers expect them to write at the same level as they speak; when they don't, they may be mistakenly thought of as lacking motivation or careless.

Dysgraphia can occur alone, or in children who also have dyslexia, other language disorders, or ADHD.

Causes

Writing is a complex process. It involves working memory and shifting among tasks that include generating ideas, thinking of words and word meaning, organizing good sentences, planning, and self-monitoring-all executive functions. Difficulty in any of the basic language or motor skills or in the executive functions needed to combine them end with the same result: problems with written expression.

In addition, difficulty controlling fine motor skills, sequencing the hand movements needed to write, or controlling spatial accuracy can cause non-language based dysgraphia.

Treatment

It is critical to identify the underlying problems resulting in dysgraphia; there might be more than one. An Occupational Therapist using a multi-sensory approach can address problems with handwriting, motor sequencing or visual spatial skills. A Speech and Language Therapist or a Special Education teacher can help with language-based problems such as the mastery of grammar, word usage, sequencing, and composition of sentences. A Special Education teacher will work with tools such as a graphic organizer, thought bubbles, and other strategies to help deal with specific executive function problems.

Accommodations are often needed to help dysgraphic children handle written work, including reduction of the load of writing in class and in homework, extended time to produce written work, and assistive technology to allow dictation.

Most dysgraphic children benefit from being allowed to use a keyboard and a word processing program, which reduces motor demands and allows them to edit and reorganize written work. Since writing is difficult, children benefit from Smart Boards on laptops or tablets to record writing on the board, and accommodations for note taking, such as using another student's notes or a study guide/outline of lecture information provided by the teacher. Many children with dysgraphia are allowed to use alternative methods to demonstrate knowledge rather than written exams.

Demands for written expression are constant across every subject and increase in every grade. Even in early grades, teachers need to be sensitive to dysgraphia when assigning projects to produce posters to be hung on the classroom walls or to write letters correctly on the lines. Children with dysgraphia need encouragement and remediation; there is nothing more discouraging than getting a paper back filled with red circles, corrections, and criticism.
Marcia Eckerd is an evaluator, consultant, and therapist who specializes in working with children with NLD and autism-spectrum disorders.
Related Smart Kids Topics

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Children with dysgraphia struggle to write, often causing them to experience emotional stress and anxiety. Because they have good verbal skills, parents and teachers expect them to write at the same level as they speak; when they don't, they may be mistakenly thought of as lacking motivation or careless.

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~Having a hard time writing in a straight line.
~writing letters in reverse.
~Having trouble finding out/ recalling how words are formed.
~Having difficulty understanding where lowercase and uppercase letters are.

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Identify challenges in the following areas:
- School
- Home
- Community
- Employment (for adults)
- Relationships
- Social and Emotional

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https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23294-dysgraphia

This resource outlines what dysgraphia is, how common it is, symptoms and causes, how one gets diagnosed, and more. The resource would be extremely helpful if you do not know much about Dysgraphia.

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The rate is between 4-10% in children. It's seen that dysgraphia affects more men than women. There are lots of people living with it that don't realize it because it often goes undiagnosed or even misdiagnosed.
Madison Schmitt

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The exact number of people effected is unknown but it is relatively common. Researchers estimate between 5% to 20% of people have Dysgraphia.

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In the section that describes what dysgraphia is, the article discusses some links that have been found between certain events and the development of dysgraphia. While no causes can be confirmed, they do provide some events that frequently line up with the development of dysgraphia.

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National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

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Learn About Clinical Trials

Clinical trials are studies that allow us to learn more about disorders and improve care. They can help connect patients with new and upcoming treatment options.

How can I or my loved one help improve care for people with dysgraphia?

All types of volunteers are needed- those who are healthy or may have an illness or disease- of all different ages, sexes, races, and ethnicities to ensure that study results apply to as many people as possible, and that treatments will be safe and effective for everyone who will use them.

For information about participating in clinical research visit NIH Clinical Research Trials and You . Learn about clinical trials currently looking for people with dysgraphia at Clinicaltrials.gov .

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Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder characterized by writing disabilities. Specifically, the disorder causes a person's writing to be distorted or incorrect.

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This source discusses a few potential causes of dysgraphia and answers some common questions about the disability. It is a very informational source that could assist in helping families learn about their child's disability.

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What is dysgraphia?

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. Dysgraphia can present with many different symptoms at different ages. It's considered a learning difference.

Writing is a complex process that involves many skills and brain functions, including:

Fine motor skills.

Spatial perception (ability to perceive the space around you).

Working memory (ability to hold and manipulate information in your mind).

Orthographic coding (ability to form, store and recall letters, numbers and symbols).

Language processing.

Conceptualization.

Organization.

Because of this, dysgraphia is somewhat of a catch-all term to diagnose issues with writing and can be difficult to diagnose.

Dysgraphia generally appears when children are first learning to write. This is called developmental dysgraphia. People can also develop dysgraphia suddenly after some type of head or brain trauma. This is called acquired dysgraphia.

Dysgraphia is considered a "specific learning disorder" - more specifically, a "specific learning disorder in written expression."

Is dysgraphia a form of dyslexia?

Dyslexia and dysgraphia are two distinct neurological conditions, though they're easy to confuse because they share symptoms and often occur together.

Dyslexia is a learning difference that makes it harder for people to learn to read. If you have dyslexia, you may read more slowly or have trouble recognizing words. Often, people with dyslexia read at a lower level than expected. People with dyslexia may struggle to break words into sounds or relate letters to sounds when reading.

Dysgraphia involves difficulty with the act of writing. Difficulties can range from issues with physically writing words to issues with organizing and expressing thoughts in written form.

Is dysgraphia a form of autism?

Dysgraphia isn't a form of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Though dysgraphia commonly occurs in people with autism, you can have dysgraphia without having autism.

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by:

Difficulties in social communication differences.

Deficits in social interactions.

Restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities.

Sensory problems.

Who does dysgraphia affect?

Dysgraphia can affect children and adults. As with many neurodevelopmental conditions, dysgraphia is more common in children assigned male at birth (AMAB) than in children assigned female at birth (AFAB).

You're more likely to have dysgraphia if other family members also have it, and dysgraphia is common in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and/or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

How common is dysgraphia?

Dysgraphia is common. Researchers estimate that 5% to 20% of people have dysgraphia. The estimated range is large because dysgraphia often goes undiagnosed or misdiagnosed.

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Dysgraphia: What It Is, Symptoms, Diagnosis & Treatment

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Dysgraphia is a neurological condition in which someone has difficulty with writing skills for their age despite exposure to adequate instruction.

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One potential cause of the development of dysgraphia is trauma. There has been a link shown between trauma and this disability. Any event that causes damage to the parietal lobe could be seen as a potential cause of dysgraphia. No cause has been identified for certain, but there have been links seen between these events. This disorder is usually identified when students begin to write, but it can be identified later in life in some cases.

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With dysgraphia, kids or adults have a harder time planning and executing the writing of sentences, words, and even individual letters. It’s not that you don’t know how to read, spell, or identify letters and words. It’s simply that you have a hard time processing certain words

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Dysgraphia makes it difficult for a person to form letters in writing. It's a neurological disorder that can affect children or adults. People with dysgraphia may also use the wrong word for what they're trying to communicate.

The cause of dysgraphia isn't always known, though in adults it sometimes follows a traumatic event.

Once the condition is diagnosed, you can learn strategies to help overcome some of the challenges it presents in school and in life.

Illegible handwriting is a common sign of dysgraphia, but not everyone with messy penmanship has the disorder. It's also possible to have neat handwriting if you have dysgraphia, though it may take you a long time and a lot of effort to write neatly.

Some common characteristics of dysgraphia include:

incorrect spelling and capitalization

mix of cursive and print letters

inappropriate sizing and spacing of letters

difficulty copying words

slow or labored writing

difficulty visualizing words before writing them

unusual body or hand position when writing

tight hold on pen or pencil resulting in hand cramps

watching your hand while you write

saying words aloud while writing

omitting letters and words from sentences

Other effects of dysgraphia

People with dysgraphia often have trouble concentrating on other things while writing. This can make it difficult to take notes during class or a meeting because so much attention is being paid to getting each word down on paper. Other things that are said may be missed.

Students with dysgraphia may also be accused of being sloppy or lazy because their handwriting isn't neat. This can affect self-esteem and lead to anxiety, a lack of confidence, and negative attitudes toward school.

If dysgraphia appears in childhood, it's usually the result of a problem with orthographic coding. This is an aspect of working memory that allows you to permanently remember written words, and the way your hands or fingers must move to write those words.

With dysgraphia, kids or adults have a harder time planning and executing the writing of sentences, words, and even individual letters. It's not that you don't know how to read, spell, or identify letters and words. Instead, your brain has problems processing words and writing.

When dysgraphia develops in adults, the cause is usually a stroke or other brain injury. In particular, injury to the brain's left parietal lobe may lead to dysgraphia. You have a right and left parietal lobe in the upper part of your brain. Each is associated with a range of skills, such as reading and writing, as well as sensory processing, including pain, heat, and cold.

Researchers are still learning the reasons why some children have learning disabilities, such as dysgraphia. Learning disabilities often run in families or are related to prenatal development, such as being born prematurely.

Children with dysgraphia often have other learning disabilities. For example, having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may raise the risk of having dysgraphia. That's because attention is closely linked to both writing and reading abilities.

Other learning disabilities associated with dysgraphia include dyslexia (trouble reading), and oral and written language (OWL) learning disability. OWL symptoms include trouble placing words in the right order in a sentence and difficulty remembering words.

Dyslexia is a reading disorder and dysgraphia is a writing disorder, but the conditions may sometimes be confused for one another. That's because people with dyslexia may also have problems with their writing and spelling.

It's possible to have both learning disabilities, but it's important to get a proper diagnosis so you know if one or both conditions require attention.

Diagnosing dysgraphia often requires a team of experts, including a physician and a licensed psychologist or other mental health professional trained in working with people who have learning disabilities. An occupational therapist, school psychologist, or a special education teacher may also help make the diagnosis.

For children, part of the diagnostic process may include an IQ test and an assessment of their academic work. Specific school assignments may also be examined.

For adults, examples of written work or written tests administered by a doctor may be evaluated. You will be observed as you write to look for fine motor skills problems. You may be asked to copy words from one source to another to help understand if there are language-processing problems.

Occupational therapy may be helpful in improving handwriting skills. Therapeutic activities may include:

holding a pencil or pen in a new way to make writing easier

working with modeling clay

tracing letters in shaving cream on a desk

drawing lines within mazes

doing connect-the-dots puzzles

There are also several writing programs that can help children and adults form letters and sentences neatly on paper.

If other learning disabilities or health issues are present, treatment options will need to address those conditions as well. Medications may be needed to treat ADHD, for example.

Living with dysgraphia

For some people, occupational therapy and motor skills training can help improve their writing ability. For others, it remains a lifelong challenge.

If you have a son or daughter with dysgraphia, it's important to work with your child's school and teachers on accommodations that are appropriate for this type of learning disability. Some classroom strategies that may help include:

a designated note taker in the classroom

use of a computer for notes and other assignments

oral exams and assignments, instead of written ones

extra time on tests and assignments

lesson or lecture notes provided by the teacher as printouts, recordings, or in digital form

pencils or other writing implements with special grips to make writing easier

use of wide-ruled or graph paper

And if you feel that the treatment you or children receive for dysgraphia isn't sufficient, don't give up. Look for other therapists or resources in your community that may help. You may need to be an aggressive advocate for your child, but keep in mind that there are laws and school policies designed to serve students with all types of learning challenges.

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Dysgraphia is a learning disability that can make it difficult for you or your child to write. It's different from dyslexia, though the two conditions can sometimes occur together. We explain symptoms, treatment options, and tips for helping you or your child to manage this condition.

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One of the possible causes of dysgraphia is result of an orthographic coding issue. The working memory combines the ability to permanently remember written words and how the fingers move in order to write the words. The brain struggles with processing words and writing them, even if they know how to read or spell.
Sometimes in adults the cause can be from. a stroke or brain injury of some kind. Usually it's when the left parietal lobe is injured.
Madison Schmitt

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The causes of Dysgraphia in adults can be caused by some form of trauma and usually associated with damage Parietal lobe of the brain. According to Psych Central, Dysgraphia in a child is unknown They may have difficulty learning how to write despite getting adequate instruction in school and having the appropriate cognitive level to learn.

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Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder that can make it difficult for a person to form letters in writing. People who have dysgraphia may also use the wrong words when they are communicating. The cause is not always known, and once diagnosed, strategies can be implemented to assist in the challenges it presents.

Healthline's "What Is Dysgraphia?" is a resource that describes what dysgraphia is, potential causes, symptoms, risk, assessments, and treatments.
https://www.ninds.nih.gov/health-information/disorders/dysgraphia#:~:text=Dysgraphia%20is%20a%20neurological%20disorder,are%20first%20introduced%20to%20writing. This resource from NIH describes what dysgraphia is categorized as, symptoms, early signs, potential causes, and other challenges individuals with dysgraphia may face.

Both resources state that dysgraphia is a neurological disorder characterized by writing disabilities. It causes the writing to be distorted or wrong. There are usually no social or other academic problems, and cases in adults generally occur after trauma. Treatment will vary and may focus on controlling movements or addressing impaired memory.

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Dysgraphia makes it difficult for a person to form letters in writing. It's a neurological disorder that can affect children or adults. People with dysgraphia may also use the wrong word for what they're trying to communicate.

The cause of dysgraphia isn't always known, though in adults it sometimes follows a traumatic event.

Once the condition is diagnosed, you can learn strategies to help overcome some of the challenges it presents in school and in life.

Illegible handwriting is a common sign of dysgraphia, but not everyone with messy penmanship has the disorder. It's also possible to have neat handwriting if you have dysgraphia, though it may take you a long time and a lot of effort to write neatly.

Some common characteristics of dysgraphia include:

incorrect spelling and capitalization

mix of cursive and print letters

inappropriate sizing and spacing of letters

difficulty copying words

slow or labored writing

difficulty visualizing words before writing them

unusual body or hand position when writing

tight hold on pen or pencil resulting in hand cramps

watching your hand while you write

saying words aloud while writing

omitting letters and words from sentences

Other effects of dysgraphia

People with dysgraphia often have trouble concentrating on other things while writing. This can make it difficult to take notes during class or a meeting because so much attention is being paid to getting each word down on paper. Other things that are said may be missed.

Students with dysgraphia may also be accused of being sloppy or lazy because their handwriting isn't neat. This can affect self-esteem and lead to anxiety, a lack of confidence, and negative attitudes toward school.

If dysgraphia appears in childhood, it's usually the result of a problem with orthographic coding. This is an aspect of working memory that allows you to permanently remember written words, and the way your hands or fingers must move to write those words.

With dysgraphia, kids or adults have a harder time planning and executing the writing of sentences, words, and even individual letters. It's not that you don't know how to read, spell, or identify letters and words. Instead, your brain has problems processing words and writing.

When dysgraphia develops in adults, the cause is usually a stroke or other brain injury. In particular, injury to the brain's left parietal lobe may lead to dysgraphia. You have a right and left parietal lobe in the upper part of your brain. Each is associated with a range of skills, such as reading and writing, as well as sensory processing, including pain, heat, and cold.

Researchers are still learning the reasons why some children have learning disabilities, such as dysgraphia. Learning disabilities often run in families or are related to prenatal development, such as being born prematurely.

Children with dysgraphia often have other learning disabilities. For example, having attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) may raise the risk of having dysgraphia. That's because attention is closely linked to both writing and reading abilities.

Other learning disabilities associated with dysgraphia include dyslexia (trouble reading), and oral and written language (OWL) learning disability. OWL symptoms include trouble placing words in the right order in a sentence and difficulty remembering words.

Dyslexia is a reading disorder and dysgraphia is a writing disorder, but the conditions may sometimes be confused for one another. That's because people with dyslexia may also have problems with their writing and spelling.

It's possible to have both learning disabilities, but it's important to get a proper diagnosis so you know if one or both conditions require attention.

Diagnosing dysgraphia often requires a team of experts, including a physician and a licensed psychologist or other mental health professional trained in working with people who have learning disabilities. An occupational therapist, school psychologist, or a special education teacher may also help make the diagnosis.

For children, part of the diagnostic process may include an IQ test and an assessment of their academic work. Specific school assignments may also be examined.

For adults, examples of written work or written tests administered by a doctor may be evaluated. You will be observed as you write to look for fine motor skills problems. You may be asked to copy words from one source to another to help understand if there are language-processing problems.

Occupational therapy may be helpful in improving handwriting skills. Therapeutic activities may include:

holding a pencil or pen in a new way to make writing easier

working with modeling clay

tracing letters in shaving cream on a desk

drawing lines within mazes

doing connect-the-dots puzzles

There are also several writing programs that can help children and adults form letters and sentences neatly on paper.

If other learning disabilities or health issues are present, treatment options will need to address those conditions as well. Medications may be needed to treat ADHD, for example.

Living with dysgraphia

For some people, occupational therapy and motor skills training can help improve their writing ability. For others, it remains a lifelong challenge.

If you have a son or daughter with dysgraphia, it's important to work with your child's school and teachers on accommodations that are appropriate for this type of learning disability. Some classroom strategies that may help include:

a designated note taker in the classroom

use of a computer for notes and other assignments

oral exams and assignments, instead of written ones

extra time on tests and assignments

lesson or lecture notes provided by the teacher as printouts, recordings, or in digital form

pencils or other writing implements with special grips to make writing easier

use of wide-ruled or graph paper

And if you feel that the treatment you or children receive for dysgraphia isn't sufficient, don't give up. Look for other therapists or resources in your community that may help. You may need to be an aggressive advocate for your child, but keep in mind that there are laws and school policies designed to serve students with all types of learning challenges.

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Dysgraphia is a learning disability that can make it difficult for you or your child to write. It's different from dyslexia, though the two conditions can sometimes occur together. We explain symptoms, treatment options, and tips for helping you or your child to manage this condition.

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This is another source that provides information regarding what dysgraphia is. It describes the disorder and provides information regarding assisting individuals who have this disability.

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At a glance

Dysgraphia refers to a challenge with writing.

It impacts skills like handwriting, typing, and spelling.

There are many ways people with dysgraphia can improve their writing skills.

Dysgraphia is a term that refers to trouble with writing. Many experts view dysgraphia as challenges with a set of skills known as transcription. These skills - handwriting, typing, and spelling - allow us to produce writing.

Trouble expressing your thoughts in writing isn't formally recognized as part of dysgraphia. That's a learning disability known as written expression disorder. But when people struggle with transcription, it can get in the way of thinking about ideas and how to convey them.

For example, people with dysgraphia may write more slowly than others. That can affect how well they express themselves in writing. Plus, they tend to have trouble with spelling because it's hard for them to form letters when they write.

Dysgraphia isn't a matter of intelligence. The challenges are often caused by trouble with motor skills. Those skills can improve with help. And people with dysgraphia may also be eligible to use accommodations at work or at school.

About the author

About the author

The Understood Team is made up of passionate writers and editors. Many of them have kids who learn and think differently.

Reviewed by

Reviewed by

Charles A. MacArthur, PhD is a professor emeritus of special education. He researches writing instruction, self-regulated strategies, and assistive technology.

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Dysgraphia is a writing challenge that affects skills like handwriting, typing, and spelling. It's not technically a learning disability, but it can affect learning.

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- neurological disorder - writing disability
- causes distorted writing
- use of the wrong words when trying to communicate
- people with this disability don't have any other social or academic struggles
- children find it difficult to keep up with notes - they sometimes miss big ideas
- writing at a pace slower than usual

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This week, you will be working in groups based upon your chosen disability. During each class, you will be given a set of criterion to follow to construct your own research and find resources to create a disability padlet. On Friday of this week, you will be teaching another group about your disability using the padlet you have created, which will lead into our second edition of the Who Am I? Demystification poster regarding Specific Learning Disabilities.

Tasks: Conduct your own research (I have given you a head start with the resource hub) on each of the subtopics for each day. As always, based on course policy, do not copy and paste. Quote, summarize, and paraphrase. For each subtopic, you will also be required to find two resources (videos, links, websites, pdfs, etc.) to assist and teach others. Provide a brief description for each of your resources as well.

Subtopics: In each subtopic, you will need the following:
- Defining, summarizing, quoting, or paraphrasing to give an understanding of each one.
- Two resources + an explanation of each one.