Dyslexia is a two part learning disability. Characteristics are not limited to poor handwriting but include difficulty putting thoughts and ideas on paper. Children with dysgraphia rely heavily on visual feedback and have a tough time playing video games, threading needles, drawing, and navigating with a mouse on the computer. Think of a child learning the motor skills required to write at the same time they are learning cognitive skills needed to express their thoughts on paper. Dysgraphia is a processing disorder that may also include problems with spelling. Problems with dysgraphia may change over time. Unfortunately, a child with dysgraphia is often seen as lazy, oppositional and unmotivated. Difficulties arise when the child gets stuck on the mechanics of writing and forgets what they were going to write. Quite often, children with dysgraphia will engage in avoidance behaviors in order to postpone writing. The student will write as little as possible because overlapping the physical (writing on paper) and mental (organizing thoughts) overlap and it is fatiguing and frustrating. Writing is not a positive activity for these children. Some children show a tendency to get letters in words and numbers in math problems out of sequential order. Experts agree that writing language on paper is the most difficult form of expressing one's self. Writing speed and clarity suffer as the child rushes to get words on paper before they forget what they were going to write. Words might be crammed together or spread willy nilly across the page without regard to staying on or within the lines. Words may be inserted or omitted in sentences. Writing is laborious for children who sometimes have to stop and think of how to form a letter in additon to all of the other skills that go into a written assignment. Consult an occupational therapist for an evaluation to see what strategies may help your child. |
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