EDUCATION
REPORT - Learning Disabilities, Part 3: Dysgraphia
By Nancy Steinbach
This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Education Report.
People who have unusual difficulty with skills like
reading, writing, listening or working with numbers may have a learning
disability. We talked last week about dyslexia, a reading disorder.
Today we discuss a condition with writing, called dysgraphia.
Writing is not an easy skill. It is both mental and
physical. A person must be able to move the muscles in the hands and
fingers to form letters and numbers. Some people are not able to move
these muscles easily.
Experts say teachers and parents should suspect dysgraphia
if they see handwriting that is unusually difficult to understand. Letters
may be formed or spaced incorrectly. Capital letters may be in the wrong
places.
Children with dysgraphia often hold their writing
tools in an unusual position. They may also place the paper in an odd
position for writing. The disorder generally appears when they first
learn to write. Children continue to write wrong or misspelled words
even after their teacher tries to show them the correct way.
Experts at the National Institutes of Health say the
cause of the disorder is not known. Some people with dysgraphia are
able to improve their writing ability. But others are not. As with other
disorders, the most important part of treatment is for someone to first
identify the problem.
There are some simple interventions that can help
students with dysgraphia. For example, schools can give them more time
to complete writing activities and provide help taking notes. Students
might be permitted to type their work instead of having to write by
hand. Teachers can also permit students to take examinations by speaking
the answers instead of writing them.
Dysgraphia often appears with other learning disabilities.
Some students may not be able to organize their thoughts and think about
how to write at the same time. So a teacher might advise them to type
their ideas first, without thinking about writing skills.
Experts say people with dysgraphia may be able to
write well if they work slowly and develop their skills. Technology
can help. One way to avoid the problems of handwriting is to use a computer.
Students can use the computer spell checker to help make sure every
word is correct.
We continue our series about learning disabilities
next week. Our programs are on the Internet at voaspecialenglish.com.
This VOA Special English Education Report was
written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Steve Ember.
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