Dyslexia and dysgraphia
- teacherdarcis
- Jun 19
- 6 min read
Dyslexia is trouble with reading. Dysgraphia is trouble with handwriting. Many times these two things come together. A student who is struggling with learning to become a good reader also has difficulty writing neatly.
Some children have reasons for this trouble with their handwriting and may need help from an occupational therapist. If your child struggles with handwriting you can have them evaluated to see if they need to work with an occupational therapist.
A great book to read with your child about handwriting is Writing Right By: Cassandra Baker. This book includes tips and helpful information for parent in the back.
Is it really dysgraphia?
I am convinced that many times the reason for the sloppy handwriting is just a combination of not being taught to form letters correctly and lack of practice.
In recent years handwriting has not been emphasized in most schools.
It has often been assumed that because of the new technologies in our world that children needed to learn to type more than they needed to learn handwriting.
And if student struggle with forming letters correctly or neatly we often think that typing will make everything easier for them.
I believe all schools teach the letters and even do an initial lesson on how to form each letter but after this teachers do not follow through in making sure that students form these letters correctly in practice. There are 20 kids in the class so I am not sure if the can make sure everyone is forming the letters properly even if they tried.
Some people have the philosophy that you don’t want to correct children because that is like telling them they are doing something wrong and that may discourage them.
But when learning a new skill, you much teach it explicitly.
You must teach the right way to do it, and you must correct if they are not doing it right. Don’t think of it as discouraging by saying you are wrong - instead think of it as encouraging by showing the optimal way to do something so that they will become masters of that thing.
Everyone who wants to master a skill needs to be shown the right way and they must be corrected as they learn if they want to become good at it.
So, show them the correct way to hold the pencil and to form the letters.
Also everyone that wants to master a skill must practice and get feed back on how they can improve.
All children should practice handwriting until it is automatic and easy for them.
In this blog I am going to explain how good handwriting:
· Reduces cognitive load for students.
· helps letter recognition and memory
· can alleviate b/d confusion in dyslexic children.
· Handwriting as opposed to typing helps comprehension/thinking skills
· Announce a new tool that Defeating Dyslexia with Darci is using to help with handwriting and spelling.
Good Handwriting reduces cognitive load for students
Cognitive load refers to all the stuff you have to think about and remember as you try to complete a task.
It has a lot to do with new things that are just being learned and have to be processed.
If you are overwhelmed with too many things to keep in mind at once a task becomes way too hard.
Writing is a very difficult task.
If your teacher asks you to write a story whether non-fiction or narrative you have to think of the story...think of words that will covey what you want people to learn...
remember how to form the letters... remember how to spell...
remember where to put capital letters and periods….
and not be distracted by other things happening in the room (or in your head)…. So many things!
If you have learned handwriting so well that it is automatic it reduces the number of things that you need to keep in mind. When something is learned so well that it is automatic you do not need to try to remember it. You can just do it. It doesn’t make more of a “load” in your brain – instead you can automatically do the thing.
We should make sure children learn handwriting so well that it is automatic.
Good Handwriting Helps Recognition and Memory
When handwriting is taught and learned correctly letters are always formed the same way every time.
The circle of your o does not go clockwise or start on the bottom. In fact, all the round letters go counterclockwise and start on the top right.
When you have practiced this many times, your brain will just automatically do it that way and not have to think about it.
One study showed that older preschool age children who learned to form the letters as opposed to typing were able to recognize the letters better.
Letter recognition is one of the biggest predictors of reading success.
Good Handwriting can help alleviate b/d confusion
It is easy to understand why b and d are often confused.
They are mirror images. Dyslexic people do not see things backwards they just can’t remember which one is which.
If you begin your b and d at the top and then curve around to make the letter you have to decide at the bottom which direction to curve, and it just seems like a toss-up which way it should be.
But if you have been taught and have practiced making them correctly then you have been forming them totally different from each other.
The b begins by forming a tall loop.
On the other hand, the d starts with the circle part. Just like all letters that start with circles it starts as a counterclockwise circle starting at the top right.
Practicing these movements helps your brain get these letters into long term memory and not just the way they look but how they are formed and therefore helps your brain distinguish between them.
Because they are formed differently from each other it helps your brain remember they are different letters.
Handwriting promotes comprehension/thinking skills more than typing
In college age students one study showed that if connected to EEG machine the brain shows activity in more locations when handwriting than when typing. (This study was criticized because they did not have the students type normally – instead they were typing with one finger.)
Another study shows that students who took notes by hand they were able to answer more conceptual questions.
Typing can be quick and automatic for students, and they can type almost all of the lecture. Handwriting is slower and you cannot write everything down.
This forces note takers to summarize and write down the concepts in their own words. Evidently automatic typers can be in autopilot and type down word for word what is said. When handwriting notes your brain has to be busy thinking about the concepts in order to summarize what is said and only write down main ideas.
Announcing a new tool that Defeating Dyslexia with Darci will be using to help with handwriting and spelling.
Here at Defeating Dyslexia with Darci I have always taught handwriting – especially cursive and sometimes print also.
Last year at the local convention of International Dyslexia Association I learned about a computer program called My Path To Learning.
With this program I can assign spelling words that my students have been learning with me during their lesson and they can practice these words on days that they do not meet with me. They will answer the spelling words using their best handwriting with either finger or stylus on a touch screen.
When I am looking at the answers I can see how the student formed each letter.
I can see how long it took them and how many tries they made.
In other words I can see if they are automatic or if they need more help on forming the letters.
Not only will I know if they know how to spell the words but also if they know how to correctly form letters.
This is a handwriting/ spelling tool.
It makes it possible for students to have more spaced practice in what we work on together. Instead of meeting with me another time during the week students can review and practice the things we have been going over in their lesson for a fraction of the cost.
If you are interested in using My Path To Learning in conjunction with online tutoring contact me for a free 20 minute consultation to learn more.
References:
Longcamp M, Zerbato-Poudou MT, Velay JL. The influence of writing practice on letter recognition in preschool children: a comparison between handwriting and typing. Acta Psychol (Amst). 2005 May;119(1):67-79. doi: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2004.10.019. Epub 2005 Jan 4. PMID: 15823243.
Mueller PA, Oppenheimer DM. The pen is mightier than the keyboard: advantages of longhand over laptop note taking. Psychol Sci. 2014 Jun;25(6):1159-68. doi: 10.1177/0956797614524581. Epub 2014 Apr 23. Erratum in: Psychol Sci. 2018 Sep;29(9):1565-1568. doi: 10.1177/0956797618781773. PMID: 24760141.
Ose Askvik E, van der Weel FRR and van der Meer ALH (2020) The Importance of Cursive Handwriting Over Typewriting for Learning in the Classroom: A High-Density EEG Study of 12-Year-Old Children and Young Adults. Front. Psychol. 11:1810. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01810
Pinet S and Longcamp M (2025) Commentary: Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity: a high-density EEG study with implications for the classroom. Front. Psychol. 15:1517235. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1517235Handwriting but not typewriting leads to widespread brain connectivity: a high-density EEG study with implications for the classroom.
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