Dysgraphia is a category that is closely related to dyslexia, in which the disorder negatively influences the individuals writing skills. This type of disorder is on a physical and mental level, as there are disabilities in the physical act of writing, but there are also issues in the mental process of creating and organizing information in order to create a written output. Diagnosis of a child often depends on the severity of the disability, as amore severe case can be recognized early on at the age of 7 or 8, while milder cases may go unnoticed up to 5th grade. Deficiencies in written expression such as not being spell accurately or showing incorrect usage of grammar or punctuation are common symptoms. Furthermore, individuals afflicted with this disorder will face difficulty in pre-visualizing letter formation and putting thoughts down on paper as clear, coherent and well-organized sentences.
On the more physical level of the process of writing, there may be a lack of clarity or organization in writing as the legibility or fluency of their handwriting may not be up to par. Despite appropriate time and attention given, they must have illegible and inconsistent writing, such as mixing print and cursive, upper case and lowercase or irregular slants and sizes of letters. It is likely that there will be unfinished words or sentences when they write, or instead there may be inconsistent spacing between letters or words. Overall, there will be a lack of spatial planning on paper that can be easily assessed by a teacher or counselor. Other than this, they may exhibit peculiar body or wrist position, or tilt the paper they are using in unnecessary and unusual ways. Although this trait is not an obvious and definite indicator, it does seem to indicate some warning of a struggle in the act of writing. It is likely that due to such strange postures and cramped and abnormal grip of the writing utensil may cause sore hands.
In the modern world, writing is not as necessary as it once was as technology has opened new possible ways to express ourselves through audio, video or other visual methods. These alternative ways allow children with such disabilities to live much more comfortably in society, as according to their needs, teachers often allow them to submit alternatives to a written assignment, such as a video explaining the same topic given to everyone else. Other ways that can be used are allowing the student to take notes on a laptop, allowing use of recording devices for lectures or providing notes, outlines and other relevant material. These methods also allow children to learn various skills with a greater interest and may result in them developing superior technical skills in something like video-making.
This is not to say that they should completely limit themselves in terms of writing, as with effort, proper guidance and support from their surroundings they should be able to improve greatly. Possible ways of improving their handwriting are by allowing them to use specially designed writing aids and wide-ruled or graph paper to better organize their written material. Throughout this process, it is essential to not chastise or make them feel bad for what may seem like sloppy and careless work, as taking care of the psychological condition of such children is of utmost importance.
