What is Dysgraphia?

Children with dysgraphia struggle with most aspects of writing. Writing develops along a similar trajectory to reading, where a child moves from basic skills, like recognizing letters, to sophisticated skills, like comprehending. At an early age, a child begins to understand how to form individual letters, spell simple words, and string together words to express thoughts. A breakdown in any of these areas can translate into a writing disability, or dysgraphia.

Additionally, skilled writing requires well-developed executive functioning skills, which is why children with ADHD and executive functioning deficits often struggle to write well. Writing tasks require so many discrete skills that a child who struggles in any area of learning or emotional well- being can easily be challenged when attempting to write.