Living With Dysgraphia Disability

Several kinds of disabilities canassail a human being. One such disability is Dysgraphia, which is aproblem connected with an individuals writing ability. A personaffected with Dysgraphia possesses incorrect or distorted writing. Badhandwriting, wrong spellings and the difficulties they exhibit whiletrying to put their ideas on paper are some indications of thisdisability. Such individuals, in general, possess an above average IQ. Dysgraphiais caused by a sort of dysfunction of the nervous system, in otherwords, brain disorder. Dysgraphia may exist in two forms- specific andnon-specific. A person might be mentally retarded, having lessattendance in the school or be psycho-socially deprived. These may addup to non-specific Dysgraphia, whereas specific Dysgraphia results fromcoordination problems and lack of spelling and language skills. Dysgraphia consists of three categories: MotorDysgraphia: An individual with this disability, has weak muscle tone,lacks sharp motor skills and dexterity and shows motor clumsiness. Thespellings may not be accurate, but they are able to write a smallparagraph and their letter formation is satisfactory. Besides, theyneed a lot of effort and a long time to complete this work and feeluncomfortable doing it continuously. The handwriting is of low quality.The speed of their finger tapping is not normal as well. DyslexicDysgraphia: An individual suffering from Dyslexic Dysgraphia hasabnormal spelling skills and illegible writing, but the copied work isfairly acceptable and the finger tapping speed is passable. Thesymptoms of Dyslexic Dysgraphia differ considerably from those ofDyslexia. Spatial Dysgraphia: This kind ofDysgraphia arises from the failure to understand the space properly.There might be difficulty in making out their written and copied workswhilst they enjoy normal spelling skills and finger tapping speed. Some Common Signs and Symptoms to identify Dysgraphia are: Thepersons affected with Dysgraphia have illegible hand writing, but theirverbal skill is strong. Inconsistency is visible everywhere in theirwork, in mixing lower and upper case, letters with irregular shape,size and slant, mixing of cursive and print, the space between wordsand letters and also in the positioning of margins and lines on thepage. Punctuations and syllables are missing; wrong spellings andsuffixes with disorders in numbers and syntax also cannot be ruled out. Suchpersons show a tendency to hold the pen very close to the paper or usethe wrist to write by placing the thumb over two fingers. They possessthe habit of looking at writing hands or utter something to themselves.The paper, wrist and body positions never match with a normal writingposition. Even if they produce fairly neat work, it is done with lowspeed and with great effort. Diagnosis: Merehandwriting problem is not sufficient to confirm Dysgraphia. Severaltests have to be conducted to ascertain Dysgraphia, like making theperson write self-made paragraphs, giving a particular portion to becopied. A detailed assessment of the position and posture of theindividual is made, like how the pencil is held, whether any cramps,shivers are found in the writing hand and many more including fingertapping speed. Treatments: Varioustreatments are available for Dysgraphia. Treating motor disorders mightimprove writing movements. A neurosurgeon can cure neurologicalproblems and elevate memory power. Occupational therapy helps instrengthening the muscle tone bringing coordination between eye andhand, improving dexterity and holding the pen in the proper way. Indeed,it is a disorder but a lot can be done to overcome it. A personsuffering from Dysgraphia is definitely not a hopeless case.