Dysgraphia support in school
What is dysgraphia?
Does your child have spider writing with letters of all shapes and sizes, appearing above and below the line, some joined-up, some printed with a random mixture of CApitAl and loWer-caSE letters? Do they avoid writing or tire easily when writing? Are they unwilling or unable to copy from the board? Do they have an awkward or tense pencil grip? Is their work littered with spelling mistakes?
If you recognise some, or all, of these symptoms in your otherwise fairly bright, articulate child, they may well suffer from developmental co-ordination difficulties.
Dysgraphia, dyspraxia and developmental co-ordination difficulties
These children struggle with handwriting, holding a pencil, organising letters on a line, spelling, processing their thoughts and writing them down. Dysgraphia frequently co-occurs with other SpLDs such as dyslexia. Developmental co-ordination difficulties affect all ages of children and adolescents, and frequently co-occur with ADHD and autism.
Signs of dysgraphia
Your child is quite possibly:
Motor skills and co-ordination difficulties
Clumsy and uncoordinated
Poor at ball or team sports
Having difficulties with using a pencil or scissors
Prone to motion-sickness
Ambidextrous
Directionally challenged: may confuse left/right, over/under, etc...
Spatial awareness and organisation
Many have associated difficulties with directions, spatial awareness and arranging letters or numbers in order.
Help for children with dysgraphia
Alternatives to handwriting
Providing alternatives to handwriting can help. This could include touch-typing and using voice recognition software such as Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech-to-text software, which may make written tasks easier. If homework is tricky suggest to the teacher that you and your child alternate the writing – your child writes a sentence or answers a question, you write down their answer to the next question, they write the next one and so on. Sometimes a sloping desk is helpful, particularly for a child with poor muscle tone.
Practising handwriting skills
Try out different pencil grips and widths
Use paper with guide lines
Provide additional help to develop handwriting skills
Practise letter formation, using a steamed up mirror or sand as well as a pen and paper
Practise colouring in letters
Try cursive handwriting
Write short thank you letters, using notelets, pictures and photos to make the task simpler and more fun.
Exam access arrangements for dysgraphia
To qualify for help in examinations a pupil and their school must fulfil the criteria set by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ). A child with dysgraphia may qualify for extra time and other concessions in public examinations, such as using a laptop, having a scribe or use of a transcriber.
Help from an occupational therapist (OT)
OTs work with children with DCD to improve posture, muscle tone and strength. Writing is a physical task, so don't be surprised if your child is given hand strengthening exercises. Specialist equipment includes soft-squidgy balls, bands and similar tools, but a tennis ball will often suffice.
Exercises and activities for dysgraphia
Even if your child isn’t referred for therapy, there is no reason why you can’t try out simple exercises such as squeezing a ball, counting to five, releasing and repeating 10 times, or squeeze thumb and index finger together. Exercises needn’t be a chore: make a necklace (threading beads), do a jigsaw, go swimming, throw and catch a ball, play piggy-in-the middle or tennis – all can help.
