1. Dysgraphia?? What’s That About?? An Overview

2. What it is NOT Not defined in the Dyslexia Handbook

3. SO?????? Each District Must Develop Its Own Guidelines Must Follow State and Federal Guidelines:

4. Teague ISD Dysgraphia is a related disorder to dyslexia (504) Or A writing disability requiring specially designed instruction (IEP) 504 IEP

5. Texas Law and Dysgraphia Texas Education Code 38.003 a)Screening and Treatment for Dyslexia and Related Disorders…. b)….shall provide treatment to any student determined to have dyslexia or related disorders. c)“related disorders” include disorders similar to or related to dyslexia such as …developmental dysgraphia…

6. What is Dysgraphia Primarily a processing problem that is an impairment in the process of writing rather than merely a poor product or end result.

7. International Dyslexia Association Dysgraphia Fact Sheet “Dysgraphia is the condition of impaired letter writing by hand, that is, disabled handwriting. Impaired writing can interfere with learning to spell words in writing and speed of writing text. Children with dysgraphia may have only impaired handwriting, only impaired spelling (without reading problems), or both impaired handwriting and impaired reading. “

8. National Center for Learning Disabilities “Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder that involves writing. It can involve difficulties with the physical aspects of writing (e.g. awkward pencil grip or band handwriting, spelling, or putting thoughts on paper.

9. Characteristics of Dysgraphia Physical Awkwardness – Cramped fingers on writing tools – Odd wrist, body and paper positions Letter formation – Excessive erasures – Mixture of upper and lowercase letters – Irregular letter sizes and shapes – Unfinished cursive letters

10. Characteristics and Cognitive Processes Some handwriting problems involve legibility. Some handwriting problems involve automaticity (ability to produce letters rapidly and effortlessly). Some handwriting problems involve orthographic coding or graphomotor planning problems.

11. Continued Graphomotor or fine motor processes (planning and control during execution) affect the quality of the letter production or legibility. Orthographic coding and memory retrieval processes affect the automaticity of letter production. Note: Brain and muscles don’t work together. Note: This student has a higher tendency to reverse letters than does a “pure dyslexic” student.

12. More Information Common Graphomotor Difficulties: Motor Memory Challenges Motor Implementation Difficulties Localization or feedback needs high (may have face very close to hand or paper when working.) Rapid and accurate recall of letter shapes and the muscle movements needed to execute them Weak connections between memory and fingers Writing is often slow, hesitant, and labored.

13. Orthographic Coding and Memory Processes Effects the ability to copy Students with this difficulty: – Have difficulty picturing a letter before creating it – Cross out letters and words – Make letters different ways – Make frequent letter reversals – Leave as much space between letters as between words – Have difficulty picturing whole words, which can lead to spelling delays – Experience difficulty coping from the board

14. Routes to Identification DYSGRAPHIA ASSESSMENT General Education-Section 504 Special Education

15. Assessment Process Data Gathering Individual Assessment Questions to Consider when Making a Determination

16. Data Gathering School Records – Is there a history of difficulty with writing? – Is there information about the student’s medical history? – Are there any assessments that have been completed by the school or an outside of the school agency? – Has the student’s vision been checked by the nurse? – Are there any other difficulties noted in the student’s records besides difficulties in the area of handwriting?

17. Data Gathering Continued.. Collect samples of the student’s written work: – Worksheets or answers to questions in the textbook – Spelling tests – Journal writing – Short classroom assignments (three to four paragraphs) – Reports or essays (more than one page) – Examples of note taking – Homework assignments – Unedited samples – Brainstorming – Quick writes – Math samples

18. Individual Assessment Assessment of the student’s handwriting and related processes: – Areas to assess: Legibility Automaticity (rate) Orthographic processing Spelling Keyboarding (optional)

19. Individual Assessments Cont. Legible handwriting includes six interrelated characteristics: – Letter formation – Size and proportion – Spacing – Slant – Alignment – Line quality

20. Orthographic Processing Skills – Forgets how letters look – Confuses letters with similar appearances (such an n for h) – Misreads little words in text (such as were for where) – Reverses letters when spelling (such as b for d) – Transposes letters when reading or writing (such as on for no)

21. Orthographic Processing Continued – Has trouble remembering basic sight words – Has difficulty copying from a book or board to paper – Spells the same word in different ways – Spells words the way they sound rather than the way they look – Reads at a slow rate.

22. Spelling Assessment Can use a norm-referenced measure or an informal developmental measure of spelling. Compare the student’s ability to orally spell words to the student’s written spelling. Why would it be important to look at spontaneous spelling instead of classroom spelling tests?

23. UNEXPECTEDNESS Dysgraphia is not due to damage to motor systems of the brain. Dysgraphia is not due to other developmental difficulties that may incorporate difficulties with fine motor such as mental retardation, autism, etc. Dysgraphia is not due to other conditions such as fetal alcohol syndrome, cerebral palsy, significant prematurity, meningitis, etc. Dysgraphia is not due to generalized fine-motor deficit or coordination difficulties.

24. So… WHAT DO TEACHERS DO TO HELP?

25. Effective Handwriting Instruction Short sessions of 50-100 minutes a week Teach letter identification (Name each letter as it is practiced) Provide a model of the letter marked with numbered arrows. Students practice writing letters from memory. Practice all learned letters instead of practicing one letter over and over and over. Teach pencil grip and paper position. Develop fluency.

26. Effective Spelling Instruction Include these guiding principles in instruction: We spell by – Phoneme-grapheme correspondence. – Letter order and sequence patterns, or orthographic conventions. – The position of a phoneme or a grapheme in a word. – Meaning (morphology) and part of speech. – Language of origin.

27. How to Accommodate: Reduce the impact writing has on learning or expressing knowledge without substantially changing the product by changing the following: 1.The rate of producing written work: – Allow more time for written tasks including note taking, copying and tests – Allow students to begin projects or assignments early – Build time in the student’s schedule for catching up or getting ahead on written work, or doing alternative activities related to the material being learned – Encourage keyboarding to increase the speed and legibility of written work – Have the student prepare assignment papers in advance with required headings using a prepared template

28. Continued 2. The volume of work to be produced Instead of having the student write a complete set of notes, provide a partial outline to fill in. Allow the student to dictate some assignments or tests to a scribe. Train the scribe to write the student’s words verbatim; them have the student make changes without any assistance. Remove neatness and spelling as grading criteria for some assignments, or design assignments to be evaluated on specific parts of the writing process. Allow abbreviations in some writing (such as b/c for because). Have the student develop a repertoire of abbreviations to use in note taking. Reduce copying. For example, instead of having the student copy math problems, provide a worksheet with the problems already on it.

29. Continue 3. The complexity of the writing task. Provide a model of written work. Break writing into stages (brainstorming, drafting, editing, proofreading, etc.) Considering grading each stage separately. Do not count spelling on rough drafts. Encourage student to use spell check and to have someone else proof read his/her work.

30. Continued 4. Tools used to produce the written product. Use cursive or manuscript, whichever is most legible, and consider teaching cursive early. Use paper or writing instruments of different colors. Find a favorite pen or pencil and then get more like that. Many students have difficulty writing with ballpoint pens and prefer pencils or pens with more friction in contact with paper such as mechanical pencils. Use graph paper for math or turn lined paper sideways to help with lining up columns of numbers.

31. Continued Encourage primary students to use paper with raised lines Allow older students to use the line with of their choice BUT remember that some students write small to disguise messiness or poor spelling. Have some pencil grips available for everyone, regardless of age. Older students enjoy and benefit from them as well. Make a work processing software available to the student but be aware that learning to use it will be difficult for all the same reasons that handwriting is difficult. Look for keyboarding programs that address the needs of learning disabled students.

32. Modification Changing the assignments or expectations to meet a student’s individual learning needs might be necessary if accommodations are not adequate. How might this be done?

33. Modification 1.The volume of the work to be produced:  Reduce copying in assignments and tests. For example, instead of asking students to answer in complete sentences that reflect the question, have them do it for three questions you select, then answer the rest in phrases, words or drawings.  Reduce length requirements on written assignments, stressing quality over quantity.

34. Modification Continued 2. The complexity of the writing task.  Grade individual parts of the writing process so that four some assignments spelling doesn’t count, and for others grammar doesn’t count.  Develop cooperative writing projects where students play different roles such as the brainstormer, organizer of information, writer, proofreader, and illustrator.  Provide extra structure and intermittent deadlines for long- term assignments. Help the student arrange for someone to serve as “coach” ensuring the student doesn't get behind. Discuss with the student and parent the possibility of working after school with the teacher if the student seems unable to meet an approaching deadline.

35. Modification Continued 3. The format  Offer alternatives to written assignments.  Evaluate how well the student presented the required information in the alternative format.

36. Remediate OPTIONS FOR HELPING STUDENTS WITH DYSGRAPHIA 1.Build handwriting instruction into the student’s daily schedule. The details will depend on the student’s individual needs, age and attitude. It is important to note; however, that many students really wish they had better handwriting. Don’t assume students with bad handwriting just do not care.

37. Remediate 2. Consider occupational therapy or other special education services if the writing problem is severe and the student meets eligibility services for special education.

38. Remediate 3. Because handwriting habits become entrenched early, consider whether enforcing a change in habits will eventually make the writing task a lot easier for the student or whether this is a chance for the student to make his or her own choices.

39. Remediate 4. Each alternative handwriting methods such as Handwriting Without Tears or keyboarding.

40. Remediate 5.Consider balancing accommodations and modifications in content area work with continued work on handwriting or other written language skills. For example, a student for whom you are not going to grade spelling or neatness on certain assignments may be required to add a page of spelling or handwriting practice to his or her portfolio.