Understanding Dysgraphia

What Teachers Should Know
Regardless of their reading ability, people with dysgraphia have difficulty writing, and may have problems with spelling, writing legibly, or putting their thoughts on paper.

Kids and teens with dysgraphia may have:

• poor fine-motor skills
• visual-spacial difficulties
• language-processing deficits

Students with dysgraphia may:

• frequently misspell words or incorrectly place words on a page
• have an exceptionally slow and difficult time writing
• have an awkward pencil grip
• have messy or illegible handwriting
• have trouble taking notes or tests or completing their schoolwork
• avoid writing and become extremely frustrated with schoolwork

What Teachers Can Do

If you think a student might have dysgraphia, recommend seeking an educational evaluation to a parent or guardian, an administrator, or a school counselor.

Writing is one of the most important keys to academic success. Give students with dysgraphia plenty of extra time to practice their writing skills. Teach them how to organize their thoughts and encourage them to edit and proofread their work.

If students continue to struggle with handwriting, try:

• using graph paper, wide-ruled paper, or paper with raised lines
• allowing students with dysgraphia to choose the writing utensils they are most comfortable with
• making sure the pencil is properly positioned, using a tripod grasp, which means the pencil should rest near the base of the thumb and be held in place with the thumb, index, and middle fingers (certain kinds of pencil grips can be helpful, too)
• modifying the writing utensil grip as needed
• recommending occupational therapy to help with writing skills

Additional accommodations may be necessary, including:

• giving more time to complete tests and written assignments
• allowing for oral and visual assessments of knowledge
• using assistive technology, such as word processing and note-taking software

Taken from HERE ......... 

RARE: Noah

My son Noah has Mosaic Trisomy 16 ..... He is extremely rare. While I was pregnant with him, I was given NO HOPE. None. But I still continued to have hope. I continued to love him and protect him in my womb. I was told he would be born still. If he wasn't, he would take his last breath sometime with in the first 24-48 hours of his life. He was born early, 1lb 12oz. Instead of taking his last breath in that time.... at around 40 hours old, he was breathing on his own - unassisted - and removed from the vent. My child, that I was told would not live, would not be compatible with life, would be so mentally and physically delayed, it wouldn't be "worth it" to continue with the pregnancy (that I flat out refused to listen to that advice).. thrived. That child I was told would not live, is 12 years old. He has developmental delays, medical issues, and hurdles to over come .... but don't tell me he doesn't have a quality of life! He is amazing, everyday he is amazing!

Here is a list I recently compiled with the things that Noah has dealt with and is dealing with that is of current concern....

Medical Issues we have dealt with that may not be a big concern at the moment: severe asymmetrical IUGR, low fluid, small poorly functioning placenta, heart decelerations, bilirubin in amniotic fluid, Low Micro-Preemie Birth Weight, On Vent for 40 hours, Brachycephaly craniosynostosis, enlarged right kidney, ASD & VSD (3 holes in his heart all together), eye pupils shaped like footballs, Hypospadious, Natural Circumcision, Hyperbilirubinemia, he had both Apnea and Bradycardia (Brady’s he had, Apnea he didn’t start until a few weeks before his due date)... Brain scan at one point showed some fluid on his brain that was later declared a "variation of normal", umbilical & double groin hernias, oral sensitivity issues (taste & texture)... sound sensitively issues... speech delays....low muscle tone, tone issues from his hips to his toes, C-DIFF bacterial infection from antibiotics and started to go into Kidney Failure, Broken Nose, Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome ....    He has had surgeries to repair his hypospadious, hernias, and to put in ear tubes, also dental surgery... and he has been put in the hospital/put under for countless tests.

Medical Issues we are currently dealing with: Mosaic Trisomy 16, Glomerulonephritis & Hematuria (both kidney issues), Hearing Loss (in his left ear, he has a hearing aid).  Fine Motor Delay, Mixed Receptive-Expressive Language Disorder, Dyslexia & Dysgraphia.  Tone issues & Supinated feet. (his list is a lot longer, but this is the basics right now), Sensory Processing Disorder, environmental allergies, braces, skin growths/moles that are being "watched," he has ongoing Speech, Occupational, and Physical Therapies .... he homeschools due to having a poor immune system and catching everything he's around, missing more school than being there.

Facebook Signs ...

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I was talking to my girlfriend and telling her how I was annoyed with some people.  I would ask people who are my "friends" and "family" to go like our facebook page.  What is the big deal?  You go like a page, you get our various graphics we share on your page.  So much of it has to do with awareness for different things, or uplifting words - or news articles.  I share a lot of things from other pages, and then I save them and I post them in the albums on our facebook.  We have about 38 or so albums right now.  There are a bunch of different Autism albums, there is one for IEPs, Chromosome Abnormalities, Learning Disabilities, Inspirational Words, General "Special Needs," Bullying, Love Letters to Special Needs Parents, Premature Birth, Growth Issues, and a lot more things.  

So anyway - I share something - I ask for people to like the page....  hours later...  nothing.  Not even one like.  It's been like pulling teeth to get people to follow the page.  At first I just didn't care ...  but I really do want to help bring awareness to these medical issues.

So I ask people, and I message people on facebook ....  and still nothing.  But I see them share stuff of other peoples kids, that they don't even know personally, and I see them share crap like "Share this Llama for no reason" and it's just IRRITATING ....  it's like, fine ... I guess you don't support our kids.  Thanks.... no not really ....  just actually hurts a little.

So my girlfriend suggested that I do those pictures with the kids holding up the signs.  I'm like, okay ... that's a good idea.  So today I did some with the kids.  I'm gonna share one a day for the next few days and see how it goes.  But here are the pictures.

If you read this and you'd like to LIKE the page, we'd appreciate it.  Trust me, we'd really appreciate it.  Nathan "helps" me with the page and Noah asks how many people have liked it everyday.  It's not just my thing, it's theirs too.  It's the whole families.

 **Update**  We were at 63 likes prior to starting the pictures. We'd get one or two likes a week - if that - prior to that.   So now we're up to 88.   I know we won't get to 1,000 anytime soon.  I only put 1,000 on the cards so that we could use them for awhile.

Dysgraphia ...

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Shortly after moving from WI to WA - we put Calahan through some testing through the school ...  for learning disabilities.... 

Results came back that he has Dysgraphia ....

I did some inital research on it - but it wasn't until I really started looking into Dyslexia that I saw that Dysgraphia is under the umbrella of Dyslexia ....  and ADHD is under the umbrella too?? 

So I knew that Dysgraphia meant that he had an extremely hard time getting things from his brain out through his hand.....  I knew if he verbalized answers, it was better...   He is FAILING all his classes... and his IEP is not being followed... and after bringing it up - continues to not be followed....

DESCRIPTION OF DYSGRAPHIA

‘Dysgraphia ( agraphia) is a deficiency in the ability to write, regardless of the ability to read, not due to intellectual impairment.

People with dysgraphia usually have problems writing on some level, and often lack other fine motor skills, finding tasks such as tying shoes difficult. It often does not affect all fine motor skills.

They can also lack basic spelling skills (for example, having difficulties with the letters p, q, b, and d), and often will write the wrong word when trying to formulate thoughts (on paper).

In childhood, the disorder generally emerges when the child is first introduced to writing. The child may make inappropriately sized and spaced letters, or write wrong or misspelled words despite thorough instruction.

Children with the disorder may have other learning disabilities, but they usually have no social or other academic problems.’

Quoted from Wikepedia

SYMPTOMS OF DYSGRAPHIA

1. Students may exhibit strong verbal but particularly poor writing skills.

2. Random (or non-existent) punctuation. Spelling errors (sometimes same word spelled differently); reversals; phonic approximations; syllable omissions; errors in common suffixes. Clumsiness and disordering of syntax; an impression of illiteracy. Misinterpretation of questions and questionnaire items. Disordered numbering and written number reversals.

3. Generally illegible writing (despite appropriate time and attention given the task).

4. Inconsistencies : mixtures of print and cursive, upper and lower case, or irregular sizes, shapes, or slant of letters.

5. Unfinished words or letters, omitted words.

6. Inconsistent position on page with respect to lines and margins and inconsistent spaces between words and letters.

7. Cramped or unusual grip, especially holding the writing instrument very close to the paper, or holding thumb over two fingers and writing from the wrist.

8. Talking to self while writing, or carefully watching the hand that is writing.

9. Slow or labored copying or writing - even if it is neat and legible.

Quoted from: www.as.wvu.edu

Suggested Modifications for the Dysgraphic Student

1. Allow reduced standards for acceptable writing.
2. When possible reduce amount of written work.
3. Allow student to type or tape assignments.
4. Do not have student recopy illegible material. It will only get worse.
5. If unable to read student's answers ask them to give it orally and give partial or full credit if they are correct.
6. Do not take off points for letter and number reversals but point them out and have student correct if appropriate.
7. When student has, multiple homework assignments allow them to do what they can on their own and dictate the rest to an older sibling or parent.
8. Have the student use graph paper for written work.
9. Do not have another student check the dysgraphic student's paper.

I got those from HERE.... 

If I wasn't already concerned (which I was) ....  even more so now.   This is an example of Calahan's handwriting (at age 16) ....  from today .... the green is Calahan and the blue is Noah (who's dyslexic and 10, he was just diagnosed last year)

UPDATES *Calahan*

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I haven't updated in awhile, we've had a lot going on with my husband losing the ability to walk (unassisted short distances, not at all long distances)  ...  so I thought I better start updating :)   We'll start with  the oldest first :)

Calahan has been going through a lot this year.  He has been in and out of urgent care, physical therapy and what not because of muscle/joint issues and pain.  As if the kid doesn't have enough to worry about with teenage angst ...

Anyway ....

We thought it was his joints - growing pains and all - and his muscles.....  and he does get growing pains!  Anyway - then we thought it was arthritis due to his broken shoulder (from birth) ... maybe effects of his scoliosis ....   in other words ... we just don't know.


These pictures were taken one night in January in Urgent Care ....

texting his girlfriend.....

 Ooooooooooooh the pain!!!

 Ugh it hurts here too......

 Back to texting the girlfriend...

In February it got so bad that he couldn't move his head - period -exclamation mark - at all.  Over the last couple months it's gotten better ...  he's gotten some physical therapy and been doing some exercises.  The PT thinks his muscles are too tight in his back, especially the ones that runs along his spine, and he's got to get them stretched out.  Doesn't help he sits hunched over and all that....  so now it's constant "Calahan, sit up straight!" on my end.  No fun at all...

He's not doing so well in school - and Doc thinks it might be because his ADHD meds aren't 100% right.  He's on a high dose right now and he is still struggling pretty bad.  So she wanted him to go see some behavior health people.  This happened the other day.  Cal was super nervous no matter how much we tried to put him at ease.   Went through an intake and they determined that Cal has some major anxiety, and a little depression ...so they want him to go to a different place that has a lot more services.  We'll have to go through intake with them again - and do all that all over ...  but at least we're on a path ....

Dentist:  2 cavities and a root canal :/  poor kid - he refuses ...  and he's bigger than me...

Back in Fall 2010 - he went through some testing in school - learning disabilities ..... it was determined he has DYSGRAPHIA ...  it's a disability where he can't get the words from his head out through his hand.  He has to - usually - verbalize it ...   the school is dropping the ball here.  

That's pretty much it with Calahan :)