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What It Takes to Write
Dysgraphia Examples
Helping Students with
Dysgraphia
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Boys and
Dysgraphia
Some researchers have
estimated that dysgraphia, a neurologic impairment in
writing, is up to four-times more common in boys
compared to girls. In our clinic, dysgraphia is a
leading cause of school underachievement, and a common
ADD misdiagnosis. Because writing is such a public
activity, dysgraphia is often associated with mood
problems, including anxiety and tantrums, and
misbehavior.
Dysgraphia at Different
Ages
Boys may present with different dysgraphia-related
challenges at different ages. In early elementary
school, first and second grade are the make-it or
break-it times for young boys. It may the first time
they've experienced underachievement because in
kindergarten, they could demonstrate their knowledge by
talking. Some boys respond to their poor written output
by having tantrums, meltdowns, or emotional withdrawal.
Others may try passive neglect, refusing to complete
work or agreeing to write only very little, so that it
may be difficult to figure out whether a problem exists,
or they aren't putting in a good effort.
In the upper elementary school-middle school years,
dysgraphia may rear its ugly head when students find
they aren't able to finish written tests on time, or
they find themselves unable to take notes in classes or
subjects that are lecture-heavy. Suddenly, parents may
discover sharp drops in subjects that were never too
much trouble before - but the problems are due to a
combination of inadequate note-taking and homework
that's incomplete.
At the high school level, students may also encounter
problems because the writing demands may exponentially
increase. Writing is necessary for mathematics (show
your work), and the length and organization of writing
on tests may increase dramatically.
Schools Unfair for Boys?
In fact, there is good evidence that conventional K-12
education is suited better to girls than boys. Boys'
achievement tends to fall the farther they progress
through their education. In fact, although boys perform
better on both the Math and Verbal sections of the SAT,
they have lower GPA averages than the girls - and are
more likely to had their grades reduced because of
problems getting written work turned in. For more, look
at our blog post
here.
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