Learning Differences Part 3: Dyscalculia and Dysgraphia

Dyscalculia is similar to dyslexia in that the symbol of a written number represents an amount (or magnitude) as opposed to a sound. Kids with dyscalculia may have trouble understanding that “3” and “three” are the same thing, and that both represent 3 items.

Young kids may have a hard time picking the larger pile of candy when encouraged to choose the biggest. They may struggle with time, speed, distance, and memorizing math facts.

Montessori math often works well for these thinkers because it’s based in hands-on materials and meaning-based learning. Kids with dyscalculia will often have a much harder time with math that uses rote memorization learning.

Dyscalculia is under studied, less well known, and often missed by teachers and family alike. You will probably need a good assessment by an educational psychologist to spot this in a child struggling with math.

ModMath is a free Apple app that helps kids with dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and dyslexia learn math. It’s works for K-12th grades.

Dysgraphia is a group of learning differences that can involve several different areas of written language processing.

Like dyslexia it is a language processing challenge not a purely motor issue. We know this because we can now do functional MRI’s on neuro-typical and non-neurotypical people as they write. When we do these tests, it is the language processing centers of the brain, not the motor areas, that light up when we write.

Unfortunately, dysgraphia is much less studied and understood as compared to dyslexia. Because of this there is a great deal of misunderstanding of dysgraphia within the educational system and even in many learning disability advocacy groups. As of this writing, a simple Internet search will lead you to many articles using older terminology and criteria.

The truth is this is an area that needs further study. Some people will tell you that you can’t have dysgraphia with neat hand writing. Others will tell you that dysgraphia only comes as a paired condition with dyslexia. Both of these statements are incorrect. Here is a quick review of what I feel reflects the current state of our understanding of dysgraphia.

There are three major categories of dysgraphia.

1. Graphomotor dysgraphia — In these children the integration of language skills and motor skills is impaired resulting in extremely messy and disorganized penmanship. Often there is also difficulty with organizing written material on the page. These kids may read well, but be unable to write. This is one of the most recognized forms of dysgraphia. You can see it on the page, and very young kids may struggle to hold a crayon or pencil correctly.

2. Dyslexic dysgraphia — These kids have extreme spelling challenges due to an inability to recognize and process the sounds of words while writing. It is more easily recognizable and has several subtypes. It can often be found in conjunction with dyslexias.

3. Executive dysgraphia — Kids with this learning difference can be the hardest to recognize. They may read and comprehend well. When copying or writing short sentences their handwriting may be completely age appropriate.

However, as writing becomes more involved they run into other roadblocks. They may have trouble with verbal retrieval of the needed words or with the rules of grammar and syntax. They may struggle with poor working memory that limits their ability to hold all the components necessary for writing in the front of their thoughts.

Or they may struggle with executive function skills that allow one to organize thoughts for longer writing. In practice, these kids will try to write, then may freeze up. Their mind is struggling to hold onto all the elements necessary to write, but they keep slipping away.

Often these children are smart, may love to read, and are motivated to express their ideas. Thus, their frustration level can be quite high when they can’t write as other kids are doing. Since they may be doing well otherwise, they can easily be dismissed as lazy or not trying.

Next week in Learning Differences: Slow Processing

Kathleen Cawley is a physician assistant and author. She is a regular guest columnist for the Auburn Journal and Folsom Telegraph where she writes on parenting and childhood. Her book, Navigating the Shock of Parenthood: Warty Truths and Modern Practicalities — from a mom with twins, is available where books are sold.

Check out her new children’s picture book! Grandma Becky’s Blue Tongue!