One of my students was a little different than the others, they never colored or picked up a pencil to draw as a preschooler. When it was time to start learning handwriting, there were lots of tears. Turns out they had a learning disability called Dysgraphia. They struggled to hold the pencil properly and form the letters to write. While most people have heard of Dyslexia, a learning disability around reading, Dysgraphia is lesser known.
Even in this technology age, writing is still important and vital for students to learn, but how do we help them and not overwhelm them? How do we prepare our kids who struggle to write when everywhere they go, they are expected to write!?
Pencils and Paper to Support Dysgraphia
When we first began discovering dysgraphia, we were told our child had a fine motor delay. We worked with an occupational therapist and found practical tools we could use to help our child. We explored a variety of writing instruments and pencil grips. Initially, the only pencil they would use was a chubby 3-sided mechanical pencil that was a sample product we had been given. Later, we moved to the “My First“ Ticonderoga pencils and finally, they settled on traditional wooden pencils but refused to use a mechanical pencil.
Besides experimenting with writing utensils, we also offer a variety of lined paper. Even though they are well past the traditional age for primary ruled paper, we keep a stash of loose-leaf primary ruled paper on the shelf for them to use. For us, making their letters smaller is a big challenge, so keeping paper with larger lines on hand is helpful. It helps the frustration level when they do need to take notes or write by hand for various assignments.
Separate Skills and Content Learning
I never thought about how much writing students do each day until it was a challenge for my kid. In our homeschool, I want my child to feel successful and curious. I don’t want them to feel burdened by what they can’t do.
By taking the writing requirements out of the other subjects we are learning, they can still feel smart and successful as a student. We practice handwriting as part of our daily routine but when we are doing other activities where the goal is showing what is learned or documenting our thoughts we find other ways to do it. Sometimes, I will scribe for them, writing down the thoughts they dictate to me. Other times we answer the questions verbally out loud instead of writing them down and when it works for the activity at hand I will let them type their work instead of writing it with a pencil.
When it comes to choosing an English curriculum or language arts program, we have found it easiest to choose something that covers each strand that is included instead of an all-in-one program. I choose a reading/literature, handwriting, spelling/grammar, and writing composition program for each student. This way I can tailor each skill being learned to my students’ variety of abilities. In our case my advanced reader has dysgraphia, so choosing an all-in-one program that met either skill would be a poor fit for the other skill set.
Accessing to Technology for Typing Thoughts and Stories
We live in a digital world and while handwriting is a skill that will likely never be replaced with technology completely it is one where technology can help a lot. Knowing the digital life skills my kids will need as adults, I didn’t think twice about encouraging my struggling writers to move to typing sooner.
For writing composition assignments, it makes sense to let kids type their rough draft instead of writing it out by hand only to have to type it into the computer later in the editing process. My kids learned where the letters were located on the keyboard by typing commands and using the in-game chat in Minecraft. Their gaming interest motivated them to type the commands and messages needed to play while also learning where the keys were to type out their papers later.
While we restrict our kids’ gaming time with daily limits, we have never restricted their ability to access and use the computer to type out their creative thoughts. As budding writers who have a lot to say but struggle to form the letters on paper necessary, having unrestricted access to type their stories lets them be creative and feel like their thoughts are valued instead of held back by their writing ability.
Oral Narration and Discussions Instead of Worksheets and Journals
Our homeschool philosophy has always been influenced by Charlotte Mason and Classical methods. We spend a lot of time reading together and discussing what we read. I don’t worry about assigning book reports because I can tell from our discussion what they understand about the story we read. We do narration orally instead of in journals because the goal is to share their thoughts and check their understanding of the content as a teacher, not to test their writing ability.
As they grow their writing ability improves but they still struggle to make it readable for others and to write at a speed that matches their peers. We can continue to experiment with new technology to see what works for them and find ways to accommodate their struggles without holding them back from learning and growing as a student.
Dysgraphia Resources for Parents
As a parent, I keep learning about dysgraphia so I can continue to support them in their changing educational needs. Two resources that recently helped me learn more about it were the Handwriting Focus Group from Homeschool OT and Handwriting Brain-Body DisConnect from Cherie Dotterer. These two resources helped me learn about the different types of dysgraphia, how to see which one my student has, and how to provide more targeted support to them.
As my student quickly approaches high school, they now write the notes they need to and we have found SnapType that turn their worksheets into digital files so they can fill them out by typing. They prefer a math workbook to have lots of white space to show their work, and they even doodle on their worksheets!
I can look back and see that while they have had extra challenges in their learning, homeschooling allowed them to not be held back by their struggles, and they have learned how to advocate for the tools they need to be successful and have remained curious and enjoy learning.
