Dysgraphia Guidance Document

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Dysgraphia Guidance Document The purpose of this document is to increase the knowledge and understanding of teachers and teaching assistants when working with pupils with Dysgraphia. What is Dysgraphia? Definitions - ‘Dysgraphia’ comes from two Greek words meaning ‘poor’ and ‘writing’. It is the term applied to those whose difficulties are confined to the fine motor skills required for handwriting and it leads to problems with the expression of thoughts in writing. It is a specific learning difficulty as defined by the Disability Discrimination Act. It has been described as ‘writing skills (that….) are substantially below those expected given the persons…..age, measured intelligence and age appropriate education’ (DSMIV, American Psychiatric Association 1994) Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects writing abilities. It can manifest itself as difficulties with spelling, poor hand writing and trouble putting thoughts on paper. Because writing requires a complex set of motor and information processing skills, saying a student has dysgraphia is not sufficient. A student with disorders in written expression will benefit from specific adjustments in the learning environment as well as additional practice learning the skills required to be an accomplished writer. Dysgraphia or Agraphia, as it is sometimes referred to, is a specific deficiency in the ability to write - not associated with the ability to read or due to intellectual impairment. Dysgraphia is the delayed development in, or acquired loss of the skill of writing which may affect one child in twenty. Dysgraphia has links with DCD/Dyspraxia but has different roots. DCD/Dyspraxia is a disorder of motor planning where the individual knows what he wants to write, has the imagination to formulate the semantics, can cope orally with the spelling and syntax but is totally unable to
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