Dyslexia, Dysgraphia and solutions

Dyslexia is a condition people should be aware of and in this post, I will be writing on dysgraphia and one of the approach/ solution for dyslexia.

Some people with dyslexia also have dysgraphia although, other conditions such as ADHD, Cerebral palsy, Mental retardation can also be associated with dysgraphia.

Dysgraphia as I earlier said in my previous post means difficulty writing. Medically, it’s a problem with fine motor integration.

Features seen in dysgraphia

• They find it hard to hold their pen appropriately, some would need to tighten the whole of their fist or cross their thumbs in order to write better.

• Their letters are always dancing on the line, they can’t make letters sit properly on the line.
• They space their words inappropriately, especially during their young age.
• When they write a sentence, the beginning and end points are usually odd.
• Inconsistent letter heights are present. Some letters are tall while others are short.
• The art of copying words written on a board is quite difficult for them.
• Learning cursives is a difficult task for them. The reason behind this is, before letters are written, the strokes, direction of a letter has to be memorized before it is written down and dyslexics are not good with memorizing.

Dysgraphia can be confused with normal childhood development. If this continues after 2 years of age, it’s most likely dysgraphia.

                                                      Solutions for Dyslexia

People have come up with various strategies to help these children but they cause more harm than good. Examples of such include;

• Teaching the child phonics. Children with phonemic awareness can be taught phonics not dyslexics.
• Reading recovery – This just makes dyslexics guess better.
• Trying to teach the children to read naturally.
• Accelerated reading.
• Vision therapy
• Brain Gym or exercise etc

There are various systems used to achieve this purpose but I will mention one which is the Orton-Gillingham based system.

For this system to work, some things must be considered.

• The child must be ready.
• There should be a well-trained teacher.
• The system designs should be used accordingly i.e different ages, one on one or in groups etc.

For further information visit www.BartonReading.com

Stay Blessed.

Chidinma Oluchi.