Does your child dread handwriting assignments or complain that writing “makes their hand tired”? Do they grip their pencil so tightly their knuckles turn white, or seem to need extra time and effort to get words on the page?
It’s perfectly normal for your child to develop writing skills at their own pace. But if they start avoiding writing altogether, or their progress stalls despite practice, it can be a sign of dysgraphia, a learning difference that affects a child’s ability to write clearly and organize their thoughts on paper. Even if your child is still young and just learning to write, early intervention can make all the difference in treating dysgraphia, and can help them begin building the skills and confidence they need to succeed in school.
What is Dysgraphia?
Dysgraphia is a learning difference that interferes with the brain’s ability to coordinate memory, language, and the fine-motor skills needed for writing. Children with dysgraphia often understand what they want to say but struggle with the physical act of writing letters, keeping words spaced evenly, spelling or putting thoughts onto the page in an organized way.
Dysgraphia can show up in several forms. Some children have handwriting difficulties, while others find it hard to translate spoken ideas into written words. In every case, the challenge lies in how the brain and hands work together to produce written language.
Common Signs of Dysgraphia in Young Children
Dysgraphia often becomes noticeable in the early school years when handwriting demands increase. While dysgraphia has nothing to do with intelligence, it can make classroom writing tasks stressful and exhausting, negatively impacting your child’s self-confidence.
Parents and teachers may see patterns such as:
- Handwriting with poor legibility, including poor letter formation, difficulties with letter sizing, inconsistent spacing between letters, or poor letter adherence to baseline
- An awkward or painful pencil grip
- Unusual wrist or arm position while writing
- Mixing upper- and lower-case letters in the same word or reversing letters
- Slow writing or avoiding writing tasks altogether
- Frequent spelling errors, incorrect grammar and punctuation
- The ability to explain ideas clearly verbally but difficulty putting ideas on paper
If your child experiences some of these challenges, it doesn’t always mean they have dysgraphia. But if these difficulties persist or follow a clear pattern, it’s worth seeking a professional evaluation from a pediatric occupational therapist.
How to Help a Child With Dysgraphia at Home
If your child finds handwriting challenging or has been diagnosed with dysgraphia, these fun, hands-on activities for home can help them build the strength and coordination they need to feel more at ease with writing.
- Roll clay into long ropes and bend them into letter shapes, or spread a layer of clay on a cookie sheet and have your child etch letters into it with a pencil or craft stick.
- Work on your child’s finger and hand muscles by letting them use child-safe tweezers, small tongs, or chopsticks to pick up small objects such as cereal or paper balls.
- Improve your child’s writing posture with activities that strengthen their shoulders, arms and core muscles, such as wheelbarrow or crab walks, laying on their belly propped on their elbows during board games, tossing balls into a basket, or climbing on playground equipment.
- Help your child practice organizing their thoughts by talking about what happened during their day in sequence, then wrapping up with a final summary sentence.
- Let your child record their thoughts or stories aloud on a phone or tablet so they can refer back to the recording when they’re ready to write.
How Occupational Therapy Helps Young Children With Dysgraphia
While home routines build general coordination, a pediatric occupational therapist (OT) takes a structured, evidence-based approach to dysgraphia that targets the exact motor, cognitive, and sensory skills that make writing challenging for your child. In therapy sessions, an OT may:
- Assess your child’s pencil grasp, finger strength, wrist and shoulder stability, posture, eye-hand coordination, and writing endurance.
- Build hand strength and coordination with playful activities like squeezing therapy putty, clothespin games, finger-isolation activities, and playful whole body exercises to steady the shoulders and arms for smoother writing.
- Teach your child how to hold a pencil comfortably and guide them to position their wrist, arm, and body so writing feels easier and less tiring.
- Offer adaptive tools to make writing more comfortable, such as soft or weighted pencil grips, shorter training pencils for better finger placement, raised-line or graph paper for spacing, or a slant board for better grasp and posture.
- Teach and reinforce correct letter formation with multisensory practice such as tracing letters in sand, shaping them with clay, or “air-writing” large letters to strengthen memory for each stroke.
- Teach your child how to pace themselves when they write, when to take breaks, and warm-up stretches to prevent cramping and fatigue.
- Collaborate with your child’s teachers to discuss strategies for carryover in the classroom, upon signed consent from a caregiver.
- Monitor progress regularly and adjust the plan as your child’s skills improve so therapy stays focused on their changing needs.
With consistent therapy and coordinated support at home and school, children often experience less discomfort and greater ease in getting their ideas onto paper.
Reach Out to More to Say Pediatric Development & Therapy For Help
If you’re concerned that your child may be showing signs of dysgraphia or is struggling with handwriting in school, contact More to Say Pediatric Development & Therapy at (203) 828-6790 to schedule an evaluation at our Branford or Oxford, CT, clinic or via telehealth if you are located in Connecticut! Early intervention can help improve your child’s ability to put thoughts to paper, build confidence, and set your child on a path to succeed in the classroom and life.
