DYSGRAPHIA

Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia

INTRODUCTION

 Learning disabilities can be caused by a variety of factors including genetic defects? injury? or illness. All of the disabilities have a physical counterpart? meaning they are caused by anomalies in physical structures or biochemistry. Students may be obviously physically disabled? emotionally disturbed? autistic? sensory impaired? or mentally impaired (Clark and Starr 1996? 301). These handicapping conditions present a multitude of challenges to the learning objectives of schools? individuals? and society.

In the words of Samuel T. Orton? "since any disorder in the normal acquisition of spoken or written language serves as a severe hindrance to academic advancement and often also lies at the root of serious emotional disturbances? the studies here recorded may prove of interest to teachers? parents? and physicians . . . (Orton 1937? 12)"

"Dysgraphia" is a learning disability resulting from the difficulty in expressing thoughts in writing and graphing. It generally refers to extremely poor handwriting.

Each State has its own criteria which determine if a student has a learning disability as it is defined by special education guidelines. When a student's writing or graphing difficulties are severe enough to meet these criteria? special education services are indicated. Problems arise because "dysgraphia" has no clearly defined criteria. A student with any degree of handwriting difficulty may be labeled "dysgraphic" by some educational specialists? but may or may not need special education services.

Most learning disabled students experience difficulty with handwriting and probably could be considered "dysgraphic". However? the term is seldom used within public schools because of the lack of any generally recognized or measurable criteria.

Underlying Causes

Students with dysgraphia often have sequencing problems. Studies indicate that what usually appears to be a perceptual problem (reversing letters/numbers? writing words backwards? writing letters out of order? and very sloppy handwriting) usually seems to be directly related to sequential/rational information processing. These students often have difficulty with the sequence of letters and words as they write. As a result? the student either needs to slow down in order to write accurately? or experiences extreme difficulty with the "mechanics" of writing (spelling? punctuation? etc.). They also tend to intermix letters and numbers in formulas. Usually they have difficulty even when they do their work more slowly. And by slowing down or getting "stuck" with the details of writing they often lose the thoughts that they are trying to write about.

Students with an attention deficit disorder (especially with hyperactivity) often experience rather significant difficulty with writing and formulas in general and handwriting in particular. This is because ADHD students also have difficulty organizing and sequencing detailed information. In addition? ADHD students are often processing information at a very rapid rate and simply don't have the fine-motor coordination needed to "keep up" with their thoughts.

Some students can also experience writing difficulty because of a general auditory or language processing weakness. Because of their difficulty learning and understanding language in general? they obviously have difficulty with language expression. Recall that written language is the most difficult form of language ...