What Does dysgraphia Mean
The dysgraphia is a difficulty coordinating muscles of the hand and arm in children who are normal from the intellectual point of view and not suffering deficiencies severe neurological. This difficulty prevents mastering and directing the pencil to write legibly and neatly .
Dysgraphic writing is usually partially legible , as the student's handwriting can be very small or very large, with poorly formed strokes. The dysgraph cannot respect the line of the line or the relative sizes of the letters, since it presents rigidity in the hand and in its posture . There are even times when he writes in reverse, from right to left.
On the other hand, dysgraphs cannot type at normal speed . Therefore, specialists recommend not pressuring affected children by demanding greater haste.
The concept of dysgraphia can be analyzed from two contexts: neurological (when the disorder is due to a deficit of this type) and functional (the disorder does not respond to brain injuries or sensory problems).
The detection, diagnosis and treatment of dysgraphia requires specialized intervention , with evaluation instruments that allow a clear and precise clinical picture to be established. When parents or the teacher notice that the learning process of writing presents alterations, they should go to a specialist to establish the proper diagnosis.
It is recommended that corrective therapy begins as soon as possible , since children with dysgraphia suffer in class from not being able to present their work correctly and neatly. To be prepared for a case of dysgraphia that has not yet been detected, we must bear in mind the different signs that may appear, some of which are listed below:
* Writing takes much longer than the rest of the students, in addition to being considerably more work. Part of the extra effort is due to great difficulty controlling the pressure of the writing instrument;
* there is an excess of rigidity or laxity in the movements during the use of the pencil;
* Total absence of uniformity in the lines, with a constant variation. Although the result is generally legible, there are cases of excessive elaboration in the letters to the point that it is very difficult to understand them;
* The same letter or the same word can have different sizes even within a sentence or paragraph;
* Difficulty organizing letters when writing a word or phrase;
* the posture during the writing process is incorrect, with the trunk too close to the table or an abnormal forward lean.
We must not underestimate the magnitude of the impact that these difficulties can have on a child's passage through school. We are facing an obstacle that prevents the normal development of writing, one of the most valuable tools that they provide us to communicate with other people, to study, work and even to consume products from the field of entertainment.
If it is not treated in time, both intellectual and emotional development are at risk , with self-esteem being one of the easy targets. Unfortunately, children can be very cruel in situations like this, which is why a patient with dysgraphia often isolates himself from his peers to avoid being hurt.
The concept of dyslexia is often confused with that of dysgraphia, since both represent a difficulty in learning. However, there are clear differences, especially if we highlight that dysgraphia mainly affects writing while dyslexia affects reading. Other problems caused by the latter are difficulties in speaking, in spelling, in distinguishing certain sounds and associating them with letters or in combining them to make words.