Understanding and Supporting Dysgraphia

[@sukamii]

Phenomenal video. having to make a one pager for my grad class about this condition, and this video was not only a phenomenal resource for my research but also just great as a tool to have if I ever need in the future!

[@cathyrobinson6146]

As a retired teacher I wish I had heard this years ago. My granddaughter has dysgraphia, diagnosed recently, and this video has certainly helped me understand her difficulties with pencil and paper.

[@haven_from_me]

This was gold. Thank you both for this discussion. My son was newly diagnosed with Dysgraphia and some dyslexia (minor compared to his dysgraphia). We have started the IEP process, and I've been spending so much time researching into this,trying to figure out the best accommodations for him. I am incredibly thankful to have watched this video.

[@braintrust8396]

I am so glad it was helpful!

[@chancebush9139]

My 9 year old son was just diagnosed with dyslexia & dysgraphia. I knew I thought he was dyslexic, his 17 year old sister is too. I’m new to the dysgraphia & I’m trying to not freak out.

[@braintrust8396]

@@chancebush9139 There's no need to freak out. With the right interventions and accommodations, he is sure to make progress!

[@FilmedbyLalaB]

Love this!!! It is super helpful. Thank you!!

[@lottshall4814]

This is the best video I've seen on Dysgraphia. A great deal rang true. I would be interested to hear Dr King's views on whether there may be different causes resulting in different types of dysgraphia and whether SpLD and other LDs needs a rethink in terms of categorisation.

[@eleanorbarsic8065]

This is so similar to my experience. I did not hear about dysgraphia until a year ago and then heard a KZbinr explain his dysgraphia and I thought my son resembled that. I have not been able to get my child tested, but i have asked the school since kindergarten to test for dyslexia because so many markers were present to me as a parent. Luckily in third grade we had a teacher who allowed me to take dictation or video tape oral answers to questions (in which there were an abundance of knowledge, whereas if he had to write it would be "the Eiffel Tower is tall" one hour to write that. An hour! No sir we are not doing that. If school is about learning, he can demonstrate that in other ways than writing. We are in sixth grade now and our school has even refused to do school psych educational testing. every. year.

[@louiskatzclay]

Thanks for posting this!

[@keithroux653]

Great video. A few things here peaked my interest. Dr King mentioned two forms of dysgraphia. As an adult with dysgraphia, I would like to know which one I have. I have never looked into my diagnosis. Since high school, It hasn’t been to much of an issue. Historically for me it always felt like what we know about dysgraphia is a so little compared to what could be known. Like with most things, once I get an answer to a question. The result is always more questions. One thing that I wish I had a better understanding of as a child was how dysgraphia effected me outside of writing. Dr kings explanation of automation really felt like putting other issues I have had into language. I had the misfortune of being given piano lessons. I also had the misfortune of being put in a “typing” class in high school long after my diagnosis. I would describe the class as “unhelpful” if I were trying to minimize the frustration I experienced with that. Lacking the ability to create “automation” or as I described it to people as “fine motor skill muscle memory”, feels like it impacted me in far more outlets than just writing. It almost feels like the name dysgraphia itself minimized the grandeur of the learning difference.

[@BunstanMcFunkstan]

Thank you so much Mara and Beth for making this video, this was so reassuring, informative and helpful to me as a Dad trying to help support my son. PS Have joined thriving with DG on facebook and look forward to helping/sharing resources with Beth and with other parents. Thank you again have a great week everybody.

[@MrLlama999]

Great video. The months order is very relatable.

[@eleanorbarsic8065]

Math... -dyscalculia is good to look into if the concepts of numbers are not being percieved unless concrete. Examples are provided. Like 8x3 equalling 8 groups of 3 beans. If your kid is counting on their fingers past when they learned their times tables.

[@eleanorbarsic8065]

The hand hurting with writing is something i experienced in school and still today . And i dont remember other issues. But my youngest son has beautiful handwriting but also complains of hurting.

[@emmabell2436]

brilliant. Thank you!

[@dinkster1729]

I'd disagree with a couple of points Dr King makes. 1) she claims that kids with dysgraphia throw in random capital letters. That was no true for my daughter. Maybe, it was not true for her daughter either. I've studied various languages and read a few books on linguistics and have a couple of courses under my belt about human communication. So, maybe, that's why my observation is different from Dr King's. My daughter would write a capital H and not a small h because she couldn't distinguish in her handwriting between an "h" and an "n". They both looked the same on her page. She also wrote a capital "D" not a small "d" because she didn't want to remember how to make a "d" and a "b" each time she wrote the letter. If Dr King looks more closely at these supposedly randomly thrown in capital letters she may see what the dysgraphic child is doing. 2) Speech to text! I do wonder how that would work with pupils who are in French immersion as my kids were. Would speech to text capture their words spoken with an English-Canadian accent and not a French-Canadian or European French accent? I think it should be possible for kids to be in pretty sound proof cabinets doing their speech to text assignments. Not everyone loves the classroom. For my son, who could make the letters and type, it was still torture for him to write an original assignment on a keyboard. It was never something he enjoyed doing. He could type dictated sentences easily, but ask him to write an original story and he usually got very angry and couldn't do it. Maybe, speech to text would have been the solution for him. Maybe, then, he could create original compositions. I guess Dr King loved the classroom. A lot of kids don't. Surely we can accommodate their wishes. I knew 1 student at library school who hated working n a library. Crazy to be in library school, I think. Anyway, she xeroxed every article we had to read and she went home and read them and wrote her reports. She finished as the Fine Art Librarian at the University of Guelph. I guess she finally learned to love to work in a library. I agree with Dr King that some kids once they learn to type or use speech to text don't have any more issues with writing and taking notes and so forth. They excel in the classroom. However other kids less able to read. Less interested in information that they have read or heard may have a lot of trouble in the classroom and if taking the notes for them is an option, it should be promoted. Maybe, a student like my daughter who takes detailed notes should be used to provide the notes for these less gifted students, right? To sum up, I agree for a student who is gifted, dysgraphia won't pose much of a issue, but, if the student has other issues or comorbidities, then, other solutions must be tried. We have to think outside the box.

[@ardoporkkropodra2474]

we throw in random capital letter because the capita is more easy to write if that makes any sense

[@jmannii]

​@@ardoporkkropodra2474I think her point is that the letters are not really random. I have students who write uppercase B's and D's because they confuse the lowercase ones. And if you're writing uppercase letters because the curvy lowercase ones are harder, that's really not random. You're specifically writing uppercase letters for a reason.

[@nusash]

The best vedio thank you

[@kateeuinton7955]

Thank you so much for this. Really great practical accommodation guidance. It’s so hard to know how & when to add technology at the fear of removing the opportunity to learn to write.

[@braintrust8396]

Glad it was helpful! Differentiation can be a challenge to implement, but I think it is really essential for learning.

[@SerenaPease-l4d]

My son has dysgraphia. He definitely does not have dyslexia. He scores at the 99% for reading. He is in 7th grade and can read and comprehend just about anything you put in front of him.

[@mjimenez9939]

Thank!!

[@crystalking6867]

Would you happen to have information for adults?

[@marakoffmann8705]

Hi Crystal, we don't have anything specifically for adults, but the signs and symptoms are consistent to matter the age of the individual. In terms of tools to support adults with dysgraphia, any device with a keyboard and/or dictation tools is a win!

[@dinkster1729]

Have you learned to type and to use speech to text? I sent my son information on speech to text a while ago. He's thousands of miles away from us so that was the best I could do for him. If he's still as stubborn as when he lived here--he wouldn't admit he had a problem for love nor money. If he's still like that, then, there's no hope for him! If he ever wants to mature and ask for accommodations, he might surprise us yet.

[@brigittescott2438]

I saw my 6 year old having my trouble with writing. So I’m trying to get the school to help as they are moaning about her writing & speed. I see her making my mistakes her reading out loud is far better than mine although I see she misses out words too. We have tried handwriting but it upsets her as she’ll write a t in place of a p. She battles with speech and expressing herself. I taught her how to talk by singing the words to her. Now with harder words if I can pronounce it I’ll sing it which helps her pronounce it. Homework spelling has been a nightmare as she’s in year 1 but they are giving her year 2 spellings because she is above her class in reading. For me I learnt to spell by writing them over and over again and it was painful for me. It’s been painful for her too. After watching a clip on dyslexia I saw dysgraphia and they are both us I see it. School says she isn’t dyslexic because she is good at reading I swear she could read before she could speak Mommy came at 25 months. Our handwriting is bad but our typings fine. I started her typing her homework 3 days ago she is doing her homework in a 5th of the time it used to take. How do I get the school to help her.

[@marakoffmann8705]

Hi Brigitte, I think the best first step in understanding any sort of academic/learning challenges for students is completing a neuropsychological evaluation. This way, a neuropsychologist can help you understanding your daughters intellectual (and emotional) strengths and challenges. This document would also help you to petition the school for valuable accommodations such as access to a keyboard if it is helpful for writing due to dysgraphia or general spelling challenges. Learning and the brain are both COMPLEX, and the better you understand your child, the better you'll be able to advocate on her behalf!

[@brigittescott2438]

@@marakoffmann8705 thank you. Is there something like this on the NHS? Or do I need to ask her GP?

[@marakoffmann8705]

@@brigittescott2438 I'm sorry, I only really know about the US system!

[@brigittescott2438]

@@marakoffmann8705 thank you.

[@dinkster1729]

@@brigittescott2438 The U.S. is far more advanced than Ontario is. It has specific requirements written into its disability laws that schools must follow. We don't have that. I have no idea whether you have that or not. You could ask to talk to the special education teacher or resource teacher and see what testing is available in the U.K. either through the NHS or through your school system. There must be a Learning Disabilities Association in the U.K. Contact it and find out what your child's rights are and what is available. My daughter before she learned to type had a lot of bizarre spellings. She became proficient at typing her work and BINGO! all her errors in spelling and punctuation completely disappeared.

[@brigittescott2438]

Because our fingers still make mistakes

[@dinkster1729]

I don't type as fast as a great typist, but I type better than do cursive or print. Besides, with a computer keyboard, it's really easy for me to correct what I have written.