A licensed psychologist trained in learning disorders
can diagnose dysgraphia. This could be your child's school psychologist. The specialist will give your child academic and writing tests that measure their ability to put thoughts into words and their fine motor skills.
At what age is dysgraphia diagnosed?
Therefore, DCD is commonly diagnosed
after age 5 years
, when the motor problems are becoming increasingly apparent (highlighted by the structured demands of the child' environment) and can no longer be attributed to a developmental delay.
Can you self diagnose dysgraphia?
If you have concerns about the possibility of dysgraphia, see a health professional.
An accurate diagnosis can only be made through clinical evaluation
. This screener is for personal use only.
How do you know if a student has dysgraphia?
- Cramped grip, which may lead to a sore hand.
- Difficulty spacing things out on paper or within margins (poor spatial planning)
- Frequent erasing.
- Inconsistency in letter and word spacing.
- Poor spelling, including unfinished words or missing words or letters.
What does dysgraphia feel like?
Symptoms of dysgraphia at home might look like:
Highly illegible handwriting
, often to the point that even you can't read what you wrote. Struggles with cutting food, doing puzzles, or manipulating small objects by hand. Uses a pen grip that is “strange” or “awkward”
Is dysgraphia a learning disability?
Affects a person's handwriting ability and fine motor skills. Dysgraphia is a
learning disability
which involves impaired ability to produce legible and automatic letter writing and often numeral writing, the latter of which may interfere with math.
Does dysgraphia affect math?
Impact of dysgraphia doesn't limit to words and writing—it also
affects a students' ability to learn, apply, and communicate mathematics skills
. For instance, students with dysgraphia may have difficulty in learning place value, fractions, aligning numbers, organizing complex mathematics expressions and equations.
Is dysgraphia inherited?
Like other learning disabilities,
dysgraphia is highly genetic and often runs in families
. If you or another member of your family has dysgraphia, your child is more likely to have it, too.
What do people with dysgraphia struggle with?
Dysgraphia is a term that refers to
trouble with writing
. Many experts view dysgraphia as challenges with a set of skills known as transcription. These skills — handwriting, typing, and spelling — allow us to produce writing. Trouble expressing your thoughts in writing isn't formally recognized as part of dysgraphia.
What are the characteristics of dysgraphia?
- Variably shaped and poorly formed letters.
- Excessive erasures and cross-outs.
- Poor spacing between letters and words.
- Letter and number reversals beyond early stages of writing.
- Awkward, inconsistent pencil grip.
- Heavy pressure and hand fatigue.
Can dysgraphia be mild?
In some children, dysgraphia is mild
, in others, the symptoms are severe. That means that the impact of dysgraphia is different for each person. Here are some of the more common areas of difficulty for children (and adults) with dysgraphia: Life: Children with dysgraphia may have trouble with their fine motor skills.
Does dysgraphia go away?
There's no cure for dysgraphia
. Treatment varies from child to child and depends on whether they have any other learning disabilities or health conditions. Medication used to treat ADHD has helped with dysgraphia in some kids who have both conditions.
Is dysgraphia a mental illness?
It is
not a mental health disorder
, but rather a brain-based learning disability marked by difficulty forming letters, spelling words correctly, staying within lines, writing legibly, or organizing and expressing one's ideas on paper.
Does dysgraphia affect intelligence?
Fact: It's a myth that people with learning and attention issues have poor intelligence, and children with dysgraphia are no exception. In fact, kids with
dysgraphia usually have average or above-average intelligence
. They just struggle with writing down on paper what they know.
How do you accommodate dysgraphia?
Provide extra time to take notes and copy material.
Allow the student to use an audio recorder or a laptop in class
. Provide paper with different-colored or raised lines to help form letters in the right space. Provide graph paper (or lined paper to be used sideways) to help line up math problems.
