Running head: HOW DYSGRAPHIA AFFECTS LEARNING OF YOUND ADULTS

How Dysgraphia Affects the Learning of Young Adults

Gurpreet Pabla
PSYC 002 06
Amie Gheewala

Running head: HOW DYSGRAPHIA AFFECTS LEARNING OF YOUND ADULTS

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According to the National Centre for Learning Disabilities, a learning disability is

defined as neurological deficit in people of all ages, which affects the brains ability to receive
process, store, respond to and communicate information (NCLD Editorial Team, 1). Examples of
communication information would be tasks such as reading and writing. Learning disorders (LD)
are actually a group of disorders, meaning many different types of LDs fall under this group;
therefore it is not a single disorder (NCLD Editorial Team, 1). The reason I chose the topic of
learning disorders and how it interests me is because as a child starts preschool or kindergarten,
they are taught to learn and grasp the basic elements essential to language and math skills; such
as numbers, letters, and signs. These basic elements are a foundation to build upon more
complex concepts such as forming full sentences. I was curious to learn more about LDs
because I wondered if this learning process is compromised in a teenager, then how have they
been able to cope with the slow learning process and managing to keep up in school. I was also
curious to learn how a young adult would complete simple tasks such as going to a store and
purchasing an item. This paper will focus on the specific learning disorder of Dysgraphia, and
will talk about what it is, the signs and symptoms, specifically how someones learning is
affected, similarities and differences with other LDs, and lastly services that will help people
and families living with dysgraphia.
According to the National Centre for Learning Disabilities, Dysgraphia is a learning
disability that affects writing. Writing requires a complex set of motor and information
processing skills (NCLD Editorial Team, 1). The problem of dysgraphia make the act of writing
difficult by leading to problems with spelling, poor handwriting, and putting thoughts on paper
(NCLD Editorial Team, 1). Young adults with dysgraphia also have trouble organizing letters,
numbers, and words on a line or page(). The reason be may acquire such difficulties is partly

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from visual-spatial difficulties and language processing difficulties (NCLD Editorial Team, 1).
Visual-spatial problems refers to someone having problems processing what the eyes see. So for
example if the word CAT is written on a paper, a person with dysgraphia may see it as CTA,
which in fact is not even a word, and that leads to difficulty of organizing letter and words which
is one of the signs of Dysgraphia as mentioned above. Language processing problems refer to
trouble processing and making sense of what a person with dysgraphia hears. So an example of
that can be, if a teenager is given instructions to type, save, and print a document they would
have trouble processing which step is done first, to save or to type. This in another symptom
of dysgraphia which comes from difficulty organization of thoughts, as mentioned above.
As mentioned above dysgraphia affects a young adults learning by providing difficulty
with the abilities of spelling, poor handwriting, and putting thoughts on paper. Also with having
trouble organizing letters, numbers, and words on a line or page. These symptoms have a big
impact on a teenagers ability to be successful in high school and even determines the chances of
post-secondary. As written by the National Centre for Learning Disabilities, it is researched that
39 percent of students with LD drop out of high school without a general diploma (S.Horowitz,
1). This is due to the young adults ability to keep up with the work load of high school, because
they process information slower than an average high school student. A sense of lack of
accomplishment occurs in those teenagers because they cannot keep up with other classmates
and are not acquiring sufficient marks. Which leads to failing courses and dropping out of high
school. For those student and institutions which offer the correct type of learning and they right
type of accommodations to those students who have LD, such as providing a slower pace of
learning and giving extended amount of time for those students to complete test and assignments.

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In fact 13 percent of students with LD attend a 4-year post-secondary program within 2 years of
leaving high school (S.Horowitz, 1).
An learning disability which is similar to Dysgraphia and often mistaken for it also is
Dyslexia. According to the peer reviewed articale, Cerebellar Function in Developmental
Dyslexia; Dyslexia is defined as genetically based neurobiological syndrome, which is
characterized by reading difficulty despite normal or high general intelligence (C.Stoodley, F.
Stein, 267). Dyslexics also have impairments in attention, short-term memory, sequencing
(letters, word sounds, and motor acts), eye movements, poor balance, and general clumsiness
(C.Stoodley, F. Stein, 267). As compared to Dysgraphia, dyslexia is a reading disorder and
dysgraphia is more of a writing disorder, because reading and writing are essential to one
another, both disorders have similar signs and symptoms. For example both disorders require
slower processing time of information. For a person with dyslexia, they require more time to
read each word of a paragraph and analyze it because it takes longer for their brain to process.
Similarly with dysgraphia, if someone is trying to copy a sentence off the board, they need more
time to copy it down because otherwise it leads to incorrect spelling and poor handwriting.
Dysgraphia typically includes poor legibility and reduced speed of writing (H. Schwellnus,718).
Also just like all learning disorders, they stem from a neurological problem or deficit and is a life
time challenge.
Learning disorders are genetically adopted problems, most children diagnosed show genetic
links. They are complications which affect a persons everyday life because they alter such
essential skills such as reading and writing. They are problems which a person diagnosed has to
live with for the rest of their life. Dysgraphia is learning problem which affects their ability to
write. That often leads to incorrect spelling and poor handwriting. Dysgraphic young adults in

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high often find it difficult to keep up with the course load of high school and majority of them
drop out by the third year. With offered the correct accommodations in school such as extra time,
more practice, and a slower learning pace, students with dysgraphia can succeed.

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References
Horowitz, S. (EdD). (2014). Learning disabilities in adulthood. National centre for
learning disabilities. Page 1. New York. http://www.ncld.org/adults-learning-disabilities/livingdisability-tips/learning-disabilities-adulthood
NCLD Editorial Team. (2014). What is dysgraphia? National centre for learning
disabilities. Page 1. NewYork. http://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/dysgraphia/whatis-dysgraphia
Schwellnus, H. Carahan, H. (2012). Effect of Pencil Grasp on the Speed and Legibility of
Handwriting in Children. The American journal of occupational therapy. Unites states.
http://search.proquest.com.rap.ocls.ca/nursing/docview/1196954256/7912136AD81B46D7PQ/3?
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Stoodley, C. & Stein, J. (2013). Cerebellar Function in Developmental Dyslexia.
Springer Science & Business Media. New York.
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4EDEPQ/5?accountid=11530