We hope that this post might help clarify a few things about Dysgraphia, as OT’s we know it is confusing, and there can be a lot of different terminology around challenges with writing, reading letters and words!
Here are 10 facts about Dysgraphia to help make understanding it that little bit easier:
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Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder characterised with significant difficulties with writing.
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Dysgraphia will cause a person’s writing to be distorted, and incorrect - this could mean recurring challenges with placement, formation of letters, size, spacing, and also writing words wrong/misspelling them, despite thorough instructions, prompting and assistance.
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Dysgraphia is also linked to poor spatial awareness, so the child may have trouble writing from left to right on a page, seeing the margins, and then being able to consistently place their words on the line, with the appropriate spacing.
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Dysgraphia will be present in children as soon as they are first introduced to writing. It does not generally develop or become present later in life, unless an individual has experienced a stroke or other traumatic brain injury.
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Children that present with dysgraphia can sometimes (but not always) have other learning difficulties and they will often not have any social, or any other academic challenges.
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The cause of dysgraphia is currently unknown, but because writing is such a complex task it is believed that many areas of the brain are involved.
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OT’s cannot diagnose dysgraphia, but a paediatrician or psychologist trained in specific learning disorders can - they will carry out a range of assessments that look at academic, writing and motor skills.
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When children with dysgraphia are provided with intervention early on, and their difficulties are identified, there is a much better prognosis, and chance for improvement with their writing ability.
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The treatment often involves targeting the child’s motor skills, and finding and providing strategies that can be applied to the school and home environments to help them find success, be more confident, and make writing tasks that little bit easier.
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There are also so many alternatives to writing, so although it is important to help a child still develop this skill to a functional standard, there are many alternative options for written expression: typing, voice to text and voice recording technologies are all really accurate! And within the schooling system (including HSC) there are other options for assessments, such as having a scribe or orally answering rather than writing.
If this has raised some questions for you, please contact us to have a chat. While OT’s cannot formally diagnose Dysgraphia, the team at KFOT have a lot of experience in this area and know we can help you!
Podcast on Dysgraphia: https://www.nccd.edu.au/professional-learning/classroom-adjustments-specific-learning-needs-dysgraphia