Dysgraphia – causes, symptoms, treatment and exemplary exercises [EXPLAINED]

Proven content

Dysgraphia, or problems with writing, is one of the most common causes of problems in children at school, next to dyslexia and dysorthography. If we have noticed that our child has a particularly slurred handwriting and is very tired of writing, and does not like drawing or painting at the same time, it is worth contacting a specialist doctor who will check our child for these disorders.

Dysgraphy (agraphia) is defined as a partial or complete loss of the ability of a graphically correct handwriting, which often makes it completely illegible. It is important to remember that dysgraphic problems do not necessarily result from a child’s intellectual disability, people struggling with agraphia do not have any deficiencies in this regard, and their development is normal in all other respects.

Check out more information on: Child Development

The causes of dysgraphia may also include some anomalies in the work of the hand, such as muscle tonus (too much muscle tension), especially in the case of fingers and wrist, fixed incorrect writing habits as well as incorrect writing gimmick.

Dysgraphia may also have its source in the child’s psychomotor disorders, hyperactivity and neurosis. There is also the so-called undefined dysgraphia, which may be caused by neglect in the child’s education or mental development disorders. Then it becomes noticeable that mental development is not going as it should.

Dysgraphy very often accompanies diseases such as ADHD, Tourette’s syndrome and autism. Very often, parents of children struggling with dysgraphia also have a problem with it. If we notice dysgraphia in adulthood, we may have neurological problems.

Read more on: Neurological diseases are affecting younger and younger people

Dysgraphia – characteristic symptoms

Often, due to the large number of people in the class, not every teacher is able to detect that a given student is dysgraphic. The teachers assume that the illegible and not very aesthetic handwriting is due to the student’s lack of concentration and effort. Dysgraphia is primarily characterized by an illegible style of writing, which is associated with writing letters:

1. imprecisely reproduced, irregular;
2. too inclined from vertical;
3. differing in size within one word;
4. confusing letters, i.e. l-ł, pg, bd, pb;
5. about an uncertain, trembling line;
6. lost diacritics and punctuation marks;
7. not falling within the designated lines.

If we notice in our child, in addition to the unsightly and illegible handwriting style, symptoms such as improper, clenching of the pen, fatigue while writing quickly and aversion to drawing, we can quite boldly suspect dysgraphy.

In school-age children, symptoms of dysgraphia appear in the form of illegible handwriting, word skipping, incomplete sentences, some letters bent to the right, others to the left. There are also problems coming up with the words to write. A child very often focuses on the very fact of writing a given word, but does not understand what he is writing.

Adolescents and adults have difficulty expressing and transferring thoughts on paper, and with grammar and syntax. Writing is much more difficult for them than speaking. There is also a large mismatch between what a person will write and what he actually knows.

Are you interested in the topic of concentration exercises with children? Read: Practice your concentration with your child

Spatial dysgraphy:

A child with this type of dysgraphia does not have spelling errors in the written text. Difficulties arise when copying or rewriting other texts. Additionally, difficulties with drawing are also noticeable.

Dysgraphy:

A student struggling with dysgraphia makes a huge number of spelling mistakes in the written text. Usually, the sounds at the end of a word become voiceless, the child “writes as he hears”. There are no problems with rewriting and copying other texts. There is also no difficulty in drawing.

Motor dysgraphy:

A child struggling with a motor disorder mainly has problems with writing and prescribing. The biggest obstacle is the lack of motor coordination. Typically, the copied text contains a significant number of errors. Dictated text is easy, but there are drawing problems. A child with motor dysgraphia is often unable to draw a straight line.

Learn more and read the article: Fine motor skills – characteristics, disorders and exercises

Dysgraphia – treatment. Sample writing exercises

There are three ways to treat dysgraphia. You can swap writing for another form of expressing and presenting what you know. If a child struggles with motor disorders, he can write on the computer and pass his knowledge orally. One of the forms of treatment of dysgraphia may also be a change in requirements for a person affected by this problem.

The last solution for dysgraphics may be special exercises involving the hand, eye and our focus, and not only a pen and a piece of paper will be useful for them, but also crayons, paints, markers, colored paper and other plastic media. In this way, your child’s exercise turns into fun.

Treatment of dysgraphia should be carried out with the help of a special set of tasks developed by a psychologist or educator. These tasks should be individually tailored to the child’s predispositions and capabilities.

Below we present a set of ten sample exercises.

1. Drawing “lazy eights” – we move our hands in the air, freely drawing large eights.
2. Correcting and thickening the contours of pictures with felt-tip pens or felt-tip pens. Follow the line of the picture.
3. Pattern tracing. This can be a template cut from cardboard with simple shapes at the beginning. You can also ask the child to trace his own hand or foot on paper.
4. Drawing large, free movements on paper or other medium using a brush, marker, crayon.
5. Covering one selected part of a sheet of a specific shape with a color. You can ask your child to paint over, for example, the square on the corner of the page.
6. Accurate drawing of the lines, preferably in checkered notebooks, where the child will find more points of reference while drawing.
7. Calculation of drawings, and for more advanced ones: copying them, which can be easier for a child by drawing a grid on the picture and on a blank sheet of paper, which will help to find points of reference for redrawing.
8. Connecting dots and marked points with solid lines.
9. Rewriting letters in lines – like learning to write.
10. Associating pictures with relevant concepts. Draw various objects on a piece of paper, and write their names underneath, and ask the child to match and combine them, and then color the pictures.

Dysgraphia is one of the diseases that can be associated with bad memories from school times that accompany us throughout our lives. It is important to diagnose the problem quickly and start treatment as soon as possible. If we observe these symptoms in a child, it is necessary to start occupational therapy with a pedagogue or psychologist.

Check what are the types of occupational therapy. Read: Occupational Therapy – Types of Therapy, Benefits, Occupational Therapist

Dysgraphy and left-handedness

Very often dysgraphia is diagnosed in people who are left-handed or ambidextrous. It is related to lateralization, i.e. the predominance of the right or left hand, including the dominant hand, which takes place in the nervous system. It is worth remembering that left-handedness or two-handedness is not synonymous with dysgraphia.

Often left-handed people are known for their shapely and beautiful handwriting. One of the interesting facts about dysgraphia is that left-handed children who are forced to write with their right hand can acquire it very quickly.

Are you interested in this topic? Read the article: Lateralization – the bias, asymmetry of the human body

Dysgraphy and unsightly writing

It happens that a child has ugly handwriting, but does not display the features attributed to dysgraphia. We are talking especially about sloping, overlapping or large-spaced letters and the difficulties in combining them.

Children or adults who do not show signs of dysgraphia and have unsightly handwriting can improve their skills. Calligraphy workshops, which have become very popular recently, are a good idea. If we decide not to send the child or attend these types of classes alone, it is worth practicing on your own. These exercises are sure to bring beneficial effects that will affect both the writer and the environment.

Unfortunately, this method is very rarely used in Poland. In this respect, we are far behind Western countries, where students with similar disorders can keep an electronic notebook. A student diagnosed with dysgraphia obtains an appropriate declaration in a psychological and pedagogical clinic. It is similar in the case of dyscalculia or dysorthography.

Content from the site medTvoiLokony they are intended to improve, not replace, the contact between the Website User and his doctor. The website is intended for informational and educational purposes only. Before following the specialist knowledge, in particular medical advice, contained on our Website, you must consult a doctor. The Administrator does not bear any consequences resulting from the use of information contained on the Website.