Recognizing Dysgraphia Signs in Children

Learning writing skills is a significant part of early childhood. However, 5-20% of children have some type of writing difficulty that can impact their ability to excel in school. This can include difficulty forming letters, illegible or messy handwriting, poor pencil grip, and challenges with a written assignment. Knowing what dysgraphia is and understanding its signs and symptoms can help you be the best advocate for your child.

What Is Dysgraphia?

Dysgraphia is a specific learning disorder that impacts a child’s ability to develop the fine motor skills required for handwriting. It affects how children acquire written language and how they use writing to express their thoughts. Handwriting may be difficult to read, look distorted, or vary in size. A child who struggles with dysgraphia may also have difficulty with spelling, word spacing, expressing their thoughts on paper, and spatial planning. If your child struggles with writing, you’re not alone—this is a common challenge many families face.

Dysgraphia is often considered a disorder of written expression, meaning it affects how a child organizes and communicates ideas through writing. It is one of several learning disabilities that can impact academic performance. Writing requires coordination between language processing, fine motor coordination, and cognitive planning. When one or more of these systems are disrupted, writing can feel frustrating, and children may have trouble clearly expressing their ideas on paper.

Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder linked to differences in how the brain and body work together, including areas like the parietal lobe, which helps connect visual and motor processing. In simpler terms, this means the brain may have a harder time coordinating what a child sees with how they move their hands. Dysgraphia may also be associated with challenges in vestibular processing (how the body understands movement and balance) and overall muscle tone. Children with sensory processing disorder symptoms (SPD) are likely to have greater challenges with organizational skills, including organizing thoughts, language, and body movements.

It can be difficult to diagnose dysgraphia, but one important step is to evaluate whether a child’s writing skills fall substantially below what would be expected given their IQ. Professionals also look at the child’s learning strengths and weaknesses, educational history, specific learning difficulties, and current support. Diagnoses are typically made by a team of professionals, including occupational therapists, teachers, educational psychologists, speech therapists, physical therapists, and neuropsychologists. The goal is to better understand how your child learns so the right support can be put in place.

Who Does Dysgraphia Affect?

Dysgraphia is common in children, especially during early school years when writing demands increase. However, people with dysgraphia may continue to experience challenges into adolescence and adulthood.

While dysgraphia is often identified in childhood, it can affect both children and adults and may look different depending on age and expectations.

Three Types of Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia in children can be viewed through three different lenses: dyslexic, motor, and spatial. A child can demonstrate one, two, or all three types of dysgraphia.

Dyslexic Dysgraphia

Dyslexic dysgraphia affects written work, specifically poor spelling and illegible handwriting. Children with dyslexia experience weak phonological processing and visual-form memory, which prevents the ability to think of a word to write and then actually get it on paper.

Motor Dysgraphia

Motor dysgraphia affects fine motor skills needed for writing and drawing, for example, copying a specific picture or sentence accurately. This type is closely associated with developmental coordination disorder and exhibits symptoms such as an awkward pencil grip and poor handwriting.

Spatial Dysgraphia

Spatial dysgraphia affects awareness of the spatial relationship of written words, letters, and lines on paper. Motor memory deficits are common due to weak sensory feedback, poor visual-memory, visual-spatial, and visual-motor integration skills, and decreased muscle tone and postural support. Slanted or uneven writing commonly results from an irregular pencil grip. Spelling is usually intact, but spontaneous copying is poor to illegible.

How Can I Tell If My Child Has Dysgraphia?

The key to understanding dysgraphia is also understanding dysgraphia symptoms. Common signs of dysgraphia include:

• Poor letter formation, spacing, and size.
• Difficulty with a longer writing assignment.
• Poor pencil grip or grasp of writing utensils.
• Awkward stabilizing hand.
• General illegible handwriting.

The written work of a child does not reflect the child’s cognitive level or comprehension of the subject. In most instances, there is a gap between what the child knows and their written ideas. Children could be experiencing physical symptoms, such as pain when writing, as well as anxiety around a simple writing task. This often results in the child falling behind on schoolwork due to overall work avoidance.

Dysgraphia often occurs alongside other learning differences, such as developmental dyslexia, ADHD, or autism spectrum disorder. These conditions may share challenges in language processing, attention, or motor planning, which can further affect writing skills.

Understanding the connection between dyslexia and dysgraphia can help guide more effective support strategies.

What Is the Main Cause of Dysgraphia?

Dysgraphia generally falls into two categories: developmental dysgraphia, which appears during early learning, and acquired dysgraphia, which can occur after a brain injury or neurological condition. The exact cause of developmental dysgraphia is unknown. However, dysgraphia occurs when a disruption in brain pathways occurs, such as a brain injury, neurological disorder, degenerative condition, or metabolic dysgraphia.

Tips for Parents: Supporting Your Child with Dysgraphia at Home

As a parent, watching your child struggle with dysgraphia can be challenging. However, your support can make a significant difference in their learning journey and self-esteem. Here are some practical tips on how you can support your child with dysgraphia in your daily learning environment:

• Open Communication: Start with open and positive conversations about dysgraphia with your child. Help them understand that dysgraphia is simply a learning difference, not a limitation of their intelligence or creativity. Emphasize their strengths and let them know that everyone faces some challenges.
• Create a Supportive Learning Space: Designate a quiet, well-organized workspace for homework and studying. This space should include all necessary writing tools and aids, such as pencil grips, lined paper with raised lines, or paper with graphical organizers to support spacing and alignment.
• Embrace Technology: Utilize technology that can aid your child’s learning. Speech-to-text software and apps designed specifically for dysgraphia can make writing tasks less daunting. Encourage the exploration of different keyboards or electronic writing tablets to find the one that best supports their writing.
• Customize Study Sessions: Break down writing tasks into manageable steps and focus on one aspect at a time, such as brainstorming, drafting, or editing. Use timers to break work into short, focused intervals (Pomodoro Technique) to help maintain their concentration and reduce frustration.
• Practice Handwriting: Set aside regular, short practice sessions for handwriting. Use fun, multisensory approaches, like writing letters in the sand or shaping letters with clay, to engage their interest and make practice less of a chore.
• Foster Independence: Encourage your child to use tools and strategies independently. This could mean having them choose which writing aid to use for a task or deciding when to take a break. Building independence boosts confidence and coping skills.
• Advocate for Accommodations: Work with your child’s school to ensure they receive the necessary accommodations, such as extra time on assignments, the option to use a computer for written work, or alternative assessment methods.
• Focus on Strengths: Reinforce activities where your child excels or feels confident. Whether it’s a particular subject, a hobby, or a sport, focusing on their strengths can provide a much-needed confidence boost and remind them of their abilities outside of writing.
• Celebrate Progress: Recognize and celebrate improvements, no matter how small. Progress in dealing with dysgraphia can be slow and incremental, so acknowledging effort and improvement can motivate your child to keep going.
• Seek Support: Remember, you’re not alone. Join parent groups or online forums related to learning differences. Sharing experiences and strategies with other parents can provide additional support and ideas.

By implementing these tips, you can create a nurturing and supportive environment that empowers your child to navigate the challenges of dysgraphia with confidence. Your support and belief in their abilities can inspire resilience and a positive attitude towards learning.

Pediatric Occupational Therapy Can Help

Pediatric occupational therapists can help children struggling with dysgraphia by performing a task analysis, addressing the components needed to support performance, and breaking down the fundamental components of writing to make the process less overwhelming. The occupational therapist uses multisensory activities, visual processing interventions, hand and finger strengthening, and other accommodations to support children with dysgraphia. Our Occupational Therapists create customized treatment plans and will work with your family to put together a plan that helps your child reach their full potential, faster. Visit our website for location information or to request an appointment online.