Handwriting Problems in Children

The level of learning and the speed of learning process differ from a person to person. Even some adults are able to pick up things faster as compared to other adults of the same age and understanding. A child may have a problem with his handwriting which could be due to difficulty to learn the flow or the language or spellings or language. Though with practice the child will be slowly able to learn to write and improve handwriting but it is possible that in some cases the problem could be due to other reasons which could include medical reasons which need to be understood properly by parents.

It may be the case that your child is suffering from dysgraphia, where sys means difficulty and graphia means writing. This is a problem caused due to impairment and the child may be able to read properly and clearly. This disorder in handwriting emerges the moment the child starts writing. This could happen due to the child suffering from one of the many possible disorders.

Dysgraphia in children

Children with dysgraphia need special help from parents and teachers. It is of different types and could affect the handwriting of the child. These are:

Dyslexic dysgraphia: the spontaneous writing work done by the child is illegible but when he copies something his writing is pretty good but spellings are bad.

Motor dysgraphia is due to improper motor skill or poor muscle tone. In case of kids suffering from this problem their handwriting is bad and illegible. The child has to put in extreme effort in writing letters. The child’s writing is bad as he is unable to hold a pen correctly.

Spatial dysgraphia is due to difficulty in understanding spacing. The hand writing is bad both when copying or writing on own with correct spellings. These types of kids have difficulty in keeping proper spacing between words and maintain line distance. At one time they will skip one line and at other time more lines.

Phonological dysgraphia is characterised by both spelling and writing disturbance. The spelling ability of the child is impaired. The child is unable to keep words and spellings in memory and writes wrong words.

Lexical dysgraphia is where the child has problems to spell words but can write.

The child may have problem with handwriting due to many more reasons.

• The child may be suffering from memory problem and is unable to remember words or has problem with grammar and punctuation. Even if the child has problem of pronunciation it is quite possible that he will have problem writing the same words properly and correctly.

• Problem with the vision of the child could also lead to improper formation of words and illegible handwriting. Many children have vision problem and are unable to keep proper distance between words or are unable to make proper shapes of the words they write. These types of children will have improved handwriting with corrective eye lenses.

• Another possibility is that the child is left handed or lefty naturally and he is being compelled to write with right hand. If the child starts practice writing with left hand, there are good chances of improvement in handwriting. Here are some writing advice for left handed children.

If your child is unable to properly pick up writing skill even after sufficient persuasion and practice, it will be better to consult a doctor as it could be indication of some bigger problem.