Spelling-based dysgraphia may be one of the most commonly missed disabilities. Students with poor spelling are written off as ignorant or slow, though they may be quite bright. Prejudice about spelling as a disability has caused some gifted students to be excluded from gifted classes, others to be held back a grades, or worse, denied opportunities to graduate. Standardized tests rarely specifically accommodate for spelling and the additional writing components to state required tests or college entrance exams will only make matters worse.
Because the situation regarding spelling disabilities is the way it is, occasional reports like the one below are valuable. It's reports the case of a woman who developed spelling problems after a heart attack. The importance for us is that is shows that focal brain injury can result in a focal spelling disability. This former secretary had excellent sentence copy, comprehension, working memory, spontaneous speech, and reading, but she couldn't write well to dictation. She probably would have problems with spontaneous writing as well.
Surprisingly, even school professionals have been confused about whether dysgraphia exists if a student can copies sentences well. For some reason, dysgraphia hasn't gotten as much attention as other learning disabilities.
Spelling difficulties may be due to problems with phonology (the sounds that make up words), weakness of visual word form (visual memory for words), or general weaknesses in working memory. Most often spelling disabilities are seen in association with dyslexia, but they can also be seen in the setting of focal brain injury, premature birth, or head trauma.
Isolated Spelling Disability from Brain Injury
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7 comments:
i cannot find any information that would support the fact that my profoundly dyslexic son can now read at grade level but his extremely bad dysgraphia and horrible spelling have not improved at all. is is possible that his spelling might never improve?
i cannot find any information that would support the fact that my profoundly dyslexic son can now read at grade level but his extremely bad dysgraphia and horrible spelling have not improved at all. is is possible that his spelling might never improve?
Look at our chapter on Dyslexia in our book The Mislabeled Child. Look at the table in that chapter as well as the sections on Spelling.
Spelling can be helped tremendously, but first it's best if you, a teacher, or other professional can help identify the specific issues that are contributing to the spelling difficulties. For instance, is he not hearing all the sounds within words? Or does he have trouble seeing or remembering all the letters that make up the words?
Pinpointing the exact problem will avoid much wasted time and labor.
Spelling improvement often requires a significant amount of work on the part of the student, but adopting a specific strategy results in much quicker improvement.
I am a teacher who needs to help a student who has been diagnosed with "focal dysgraphia." I am having a difficult time finding what kinds of interventions I should use for this student as well as exactly what this is. Can you lead me to some resources that can help me to effectively work with this 15 year old student?
The Writing chapter in our book The Mislabeled Child might point you in the right direction. The first step is figuring out why he / she is dysgraphic.
By the time a student is 16, usually accommodations and keyboarding / software programs are needed.
For dyslexic students, word prediction software like WriteOutloud (from donjohnston.com) can be essential.
i am 40 can have a very hard time reading writing and spelling not sure why i am also very accomplished and have a way above average IQ.
i can read complex material but have a hard time reading out loud.
i use to study and study and could memorize how to spell words for a very short period of time but would forget them very quickly.
You might want to look into the possibility of "stealth dyslexia" - among high IQ people, dyslexia often presents with slow read aloud and spelling problems.
You may find the community at Dyslexic Advantage interesting and helpful. It is free, but you need to sign in (takes seconds).
Best wishes.
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