Difficulties associated with writing are predominant among children. This can be attributed a number of factors such as attention and learning aspects. By being aware of the signs and things to look out for, a parent may be practical in helping his/her child. Dysgraphia has no known cure and neither is it easy to manage it (Bhattacharyya, Cai & Klein, 2014). Nevertheless, there exists therapies and strategies that may be helpful in improving the writing of a child. In the long run, a child would be able to express him/herself through writing and will thrive in the society like the rest.
Dysgraphia is a disorder that describes handwriting deficiencies. The term “Dysgraphia” was adopted from the two Greek words graphi a and dys ( Zhuravlova, 2018). Where dys means to impair and graphia , on the other hand, implies to write. In other perspectives, dysgraphia is associated with the impairment of orthographic coding which is the process of storing and processing written words. Inability to write is majorly caused by the impairment of finger sequencing. In line with this assertion, muscle movements are responsible for this particular failure (Borghese et. al, 2017). However, it is worth noting that dysgraphia is often associated with other learning disabilities such as attention disability, speech impairment, and development coordination disability. Therefore, this research paper will seek to explore the disorder by analyzing both etiological and neurological perspectives in regard to the illness.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Based on the DSM-V postulations, dysgraphia has been categorized under learning disabilities. This is because it describes an individual whose handwriting is below the stipulated level. Also, it is important to consider the fact that the term Dysgraphia is not recognized under the DSM-V classifications. The “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Illness” (DSM-V) only describes this disability as a specific learning disorder (Borghese et. al, 2017). Based on the DSM-V guidelines, one is regarded as a victim of dysgraphia when he or she meets the DSM-V grouping. The basic criteria of classifying this illness include; harboring of symptoms for at least six months, symptoms appearing in the early school days and a decline in academic performance. However, DSM does not clearly define whether handwriting is contributed by both motor and orthographic skills.
Also, it is important to appreciate the fact that a writing activity is contributed by two major processes. The linguistic stage is the first step in a writing process. In this stage, an individual is immersed in the process of encoding both visual and auditory information into letter symbols. This process is achieved with the help of angular gyrus which provides an effective guide for writing (Borghese et. al, 2017). Secondly, the motor expressive praxic stage is the final process that initiates a writing expression of encoded letter symbols. With this knowledge, it is very clear that any individual who experiences handwriting deficiencies does not necessarily have dysgraphia. The sloppiness in handwriting can also be attributed to other disabilities that harbor similarities with dysgraphia. For instance, dyspraxia can also initiate motor deficiencies (Zhuravlova, 2018). Therefore, in assessing the symptoms of dysgraphia, one should consider the victim’s ability to gather and organize thoughts in a clear manner. To ascertain this claim, a writing process involves both orthographic encoding and motor movements. Even though dyspraxia victims can exhibit problems with their handwriting, they may be able to organize their thoughts and encode letter symbols effectively. However, dysgraphia has been thought to harbor similarities with agraphia which is an acquired loss of writing resulting from stroke or brain injury.
In most cases, the symptoms associated with dysgraphia are normally overlooked since an individual is labeled lazy and unmotivated. However, for an individual to be diagnosed with dysgraphia disability, he or she must exhibit a cluster of coherent symptoms (Borghese et. al, 2017). Inability to organize thoughts properly in a piece of paper is the most common symptom in this condition. In most cases, dysgraphia patients will remain aloof staring at something else while wondering on what to write. Inconsistent use of alphabetical letters, excessive erasure and inefficient speed of writing are some of the symptoms tied to this disorder. Also, dysgraphia patients may feel some pain or cramps in their fingers while writing. This symptom is normally experienced at an advanced stage of the illness where muscle failure is prominent.
Furthermore, patients may experience difficulties in understanding the type of homophones to use in a piece of writing. The list of symptoms on dysgraphia disability is endless but can be confused with the normal behavior of humans. Individuals diagnosed with this illness are normally traumatized since they fear that no one can understand their poor handwriting. With this assertions, low self-esteem, depression, low efficacy, and heightened anxiety are some of the emotional problems that such victims suffer. These emotional problems are normally instigated by the disappointments that comes with the application of effort to remedy the situation.
Based on the enumerated symptoms, it is worth noting that dysgraphia is a difficult disability to diagnose. Dysgraphia disability is not associated with a specific gender, level of intelligence or age (Borghese et. al, 2017). More so, victims always strive to conceal their deficiencies by having proper verbal fluency. Dysgraphia disorder is not uncommon for some of the individuals considered intellectually gifted. With such individuals, their intellectual supremacy is overshadowed by their writing deficiencies. Even though the disorder is considered universal, it is more common among children. However, its revelation in children varies with age. The cognitive development rather than the effects of the disorder dictates its manifestation. Children in preschool may develop a bad attitude towards coloring. On the other hand, teenage children may exhibit some inferiority in the understanding of letters and expressing ideas in an organized manner. However, its revelation in people across different age groups is majorly attributed to personal development and not the disability. For instance, stress is a common problem that can be associated with dysgraphia disability (Zhuravlova, 2018). Individuals diagnosed with dysgraphia will exhibit stress and may even develop stress-related health problems. For young children, excessive crying can be an adopted behavior since they will be frustrated with their inability to express their written language effectively. Therefore, the use of stress as a symptom to diagnose an individual with dysgraphia may have varied response across different age groups since stress is a common problem for all humans.
Etiology of Dysgraphia Disorder
In a neurological perspective, dysgraphia is caused by the impairment of posterior tempo-parietal regions of the brain. Posterior tempo-parietal is the region that is responsible for orthographic encoding of information into homophonic letter symbols ( Bhattacharyya, Cai & Klein, 2014) . Therefore, the existence of lesions in these areas affects the individual’s capability of reading visual and audio information. Based on these assertions, it is very clear that dysgraphia disorder is mainly a biological problem founded on both genetic and brain attributes. In a neurological perspective, dysgraphia is instigated by an individual’s failure to develop proper brain connections that guarantee effective writing ability. Therefore, this poorly connected brain connections enhances the failure of remembering and mastering the motor movements required to come up with a given letter. Also, an individual’s failure to develop proper brain connection impairs his or her orthographic abilities. Traditionally, a writing exercise is contributed by both orthographic and motor skills. Therefore, failure in motor and orthographic loop renders an individual unable to scribble letters automatically. In analyzing this concept, it is worth revisiting the writing process. Primarily a writing process begins with information being stored in mind before being connected to the sequential motor movements which then expresses the stored information on a piece of paper.
The history of dysgraphia dates back to 1940s when Joseph Gerstmann who was an Australian doctor to name it using the Greek words ( Bhattacharyya, Cai & Klein, 2014) . Current studies postulate that this illness was mostly confused with dyslexia. Even though research shows that it is difficult to trace the exact origin of the illness, Gerstmann was able to identify two major types of dysgraphia, and these include; nonspecific and specific. The specific form of this illness is associated with the impairment of the neurological motor capabilities of writing. While the nonspecific form points out to the external factors that can influence poor coordinated writing skills (Borghese et. al, 2017). Since then, several studies have developed on the Gerstmann contributions by classifying dysgraphia disorder into three distinct types. In the modern era, dyslexic, motor and spatial are the three major classifications of dysgraphia disorder. It is important to note that this classification was based on the mechanism developed by victims when writing. For instance, spatial dysgraphia is associated with an individual’s ability to exhibit omissions and repetitions in writing. However, this kind of dysgraphia is majorly caused by a non-dominant lesion in the right parietal region of the brain responsible for integrating kinesthetic and visual sensory feedback.
Furthermore, research has also shown that impairment of cerebellar lesions contribute to this type of dysgraphia ( Zhuravlova, 2018). In this perspective, the brain is not in an appropriate position to initiate proprioceptive feedback responsible for updating and coordinating motor movements. Therefore, failure in this coordination is the main reason behind disrupted handwriting. It is also worth contextualizing the fact that the major strives in the development of language models is attributed to the irregularity of English language. In comparison to Italian or Spanish, the alphabetic scripts in English are irregular ( Zhuravlova, 2018). With this assertions, it is clear that both Spanish and Italian languages require shallow orthography which makes it easy to read and write. Therefore, with the advent of more developed linguistic models, the treatment of dysgraphia disorder will be an easy task.
Treatment of Dysgraphia Disorder
The treatment of dysgraphia is varied and is based on the kind of symptoms experienced by the patient. For instance, therapists can focus on either treating the motor or memory related problems. However, more than one therapy can be used at a time to have effective mitigation of the problem. Occupational therapy is an example of a treatment that can be used for patients exhibiting difficulties in the physical part of writing. This could be caused by the motor failure. Therefore, occupational therapy is anchored on the need to help dysgraphia victims to develop proper muscle coordination through physical exercises. However, some of these exercises are basic and exciting thus making the treatment effective for children. Occupational therapy entails carrying out activities such as grasping and controlling a pencil using scissor. With this activity, the motor coordination skills are reinforced.
Also, educational therapies can be used in mitigating the effects associated with this illness. The main motive behind this treatment strategy is to improve victims on aspects of writing. Generally, educational therapy implies to an excecise where an educator can have a personal learning session with the patient. Even though it harbors similarities to tutoring, education therapy is focused on using different approaches to improve on a learner’s writing ability. In line with this treatment technique, the International Dyslexia Association postulates that the use of kinesthetic memory training can treat this disability ( Poobrasert & Gestubtim, 2015). With this strategy, an ADHD patient is subjected in an intense memorization and writing exercise. This may involve teaching the candidate the cursive writing technique. Cursive writing can help learners to lessen their inabilities associated with utilizing letters spacing. This is because cursive letters are confined within a word. However, this treatment approach cannot guarantee full mitigation of the problem but will at least partially reduce the effects associated with the disorder.
In some cases, physicians advise that individuals use computers since it will provide them with enough motor improvements. Because the computer keyboard is static, ADHD cannot experience the problems associated with letter spacing, identification of letters and the automatic motor sequencing of letters. However, the major problem towards the treatment of dysgraphia disorder lies with its diagnosis ( Zhuravlova, 2018). This is because the symptoms associated with this illness are similar to the ones experienced by other individuals. Also, the fact that dysgraphia shares similarities with other illnesses render its diagnosis difficult.
In conclusion, the study corroborated that the inability to write is associated with the impairment of orthographic and motor skills of a human. Furthermore, the future research should seek to identify the detailed brain mechanism that is instrumental in impairing writing skill. In line with this concept, the future research should focus on determining the relevance of the frontal lobes of the brain in the executive writing control. This research recommends that educational therapies should be used to treat dysgraphia disability. The research also postulates that immersing an individual in a repetitive process of reading and mastering syllables promote his or her ability to write. However, this process takes self-initiative and commitment since an educator must have interpersonal sessions with the learner for the process to be successful. Also, the integration of this process with occupational therapy can be effective since the patient can be able to improve on his or her motor skills.
Based on this research, it is proper that dysgraphia victims use some of the accommodation techniques such as electronic keyboarding. The use of computers can help such patients to improve on grammar, spelling, and speed of writing. With this approach, learners can be in a position to shut down the stress associated with handwriting deficiencies. With technological advancement, writing via computers could prove appropriate for those struggling to have good handwriting skills. Another aspect that needs to be considered is that the concerned authorities should seek to establish a special education category where students diagnosed with dysgraphia are not associated with others. For instance, the US does not have policy provisions that categorized dysgraphia students from others. This move will prove fruitful since the work submitted by dysgraphia students will have its grading criteria. Also, with this kind of classification, it will be able to provide better treatments that can help to alleviate the disability. It will also help to reduce the cases of traumatization since students with similar health problems will be grouped together. Parents ought also to be keen and understand their children. Regular checkups are vital in order to identify whether a child has dysphagia or not. In case a child has dysphagia, it is vital to be in touch with other parents who are experiencing the same. This will help in sharing of ideas on how best to manage and handle the situation.
References
Borghese, N. A., Palmiotto, C., Essenziale, J., Mainetti, R., Granocchio, E., Molteni, B., ... & Ferrante, S. (2017). Assessment of Exergames as Treatment and Prevention of Dysgraphia. In Converging Clinical and Engineering Research on Neurorehabilitation II (pp. 431-436). Springer, Cham.
Bhattacharyya, S., Cai, X., & Klein, J. P. (2014). Dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and left-right confusion from a left posterior peri-insular infarct. Behavioural Neurology , 2014 .
Poobrasert, O., & Gestubtim, W. (2015). When write is (not) wrong: assistive technology tools for dysgraphia.
Zhuravlova, L. (2018). Analysis of modern views on the etiology of dysgraphia. Eureka: Social and Humanities , (1), 64-70.
