Dysgraphia is a learning difference in the area of writing with measurable differences in several of the following aspects of writing: spelling, mechanics of writing (punctuation, capitalization, letter/word spacing, letter/number reversals), and composition. Of note, fine motor dexterity outside of the formation of letters and numbers should be ruled out as a primary motor etiology. These findings often reflect the same underlying anomalous neurodevelopment as dyslexia, in areas facilitating grapheme recognition, grapheme-phoneme translation, and orthographic recognition and reproduction.
These are 3 of the most common reasons for dysgraphia.
- Spelling/orthography/phonological processing
- Potential underlying phonological processing deficit
- Often associated with reading concerns/possible dyslexia
- Composition/organization
- Executive functioning
- Putting thoughts together
- Attention/ADHD
- Spatial/visuomotor
- When this is the primary factor, sometimes there are co-occurring math concerns
- Executive functioning deficits
- Sometimes a combination consistent with the syndrome of nonverbal learning disability (NVLD)