How to Help a Child With Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is a disability that affects a child's writing ability. If your child has dysgraphia, you might find yourself desperate for techniques you can use to help her. Using these exercises at home or suggesting them to your child's teacher can help your child overcome and work with her disability.

Things You'll Need

• Lined paper
• Graph paper

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Instructions

• 1

  Encourage early writers to use various multisensory techniques to learn how to write letters. For example, you might help them practice writing a difficult letter by drawing it in the air with wide, sweeping arm movements. Alternatively, you might help them remember the shape of a letter by using a mnemonic or other memory aid, such as "First the bat, then the ball - That's how you write a 'b.'"

• 2

  Try using different materials to make writing more comfortable for your child. For example, you might try providing some special paper with raised lines to help her stay within the lines. You might provide her with different types of writing implements and allow her to choose the one that feels most natural to her.

• 3

  Consider introducing her to a computer early in her writing education, but make sure that you still provide her with opportunities to use her handwriting as well.

• 4

  Keep writing to a minimum without avoiding it entirely. Consider alternatives to writing assessments, such as oral presentations or visual representations. Try to minimize having your child copy material; instead, have him focus on writing his own original ideas.

• 5

  Keep a positive attitude throughout the process, and try to remain patient. Your child may take additional time to complete writing assignments, and this is normal for children with dysgraphia.