What is graphomotor dysfunction?

Graphmotor dysfunction, also called writing or handwriting dysfunction can be defined as, "a disconnect between a child's thoughts and his or her ability to write them down," (Footnote 8).

Betsy Bates further states that graphomotor dysfunction is different from fine motor function. Graphomotor skils include: previsualization, memory, production, and feedback (Footnote 8). When looking to see if a child has graphomotor dysfunction you should be aware of all of these components.

Why is this important? You can have an incredibly bright child, but if the thoughts in their head are not making contact with the paper, then their academic future is at risk. Feder and Majnemer state that, "handwriting dysfunction in children range from 10 to 30% and the consequences for academic performance have been well documented" (Footnote 9).

What should you look for when trying to identify graphomotor dysfunction? You have to look at two different components: legibility and speed. In this you have to look at letter formation, spacing, size, slant, and alignment. The most important parts being letter formation and size. While as educators of young children we do not want to compare children it is important to compare writing speeds. An incredibly slowed down speed of writing is a sign of graphomotor dysfunction (Footnote 9).

There are variety of characteristics and causes common to graphomotor dysfunction. Each child with graphomotor dysfucntion may exhibit one or more of the following characteristics.

1. orthographic motor integration: "the process of retrieving letter forms from memory and then producing them in written form," (Footnote 10).
2. orthographic coding: "how students store and later retrieve letter forms from memory," (Footnote 10).
3. fine motor control: those small movements in the fingers which often interferes with pencil grasp (Footnote 9).
4. bilateral integration: "the ability to perform symmetrical and asymmetrical movements of the body during an activity" (Footnote 9). Think about holding the paper with one hand and writing with the other, not so easy for some students.
5. visual-motor integration: how the eyes connection to the hand movements (Footnote 9).
6. sensory awareness of fingers: a low awareness of feeling in the fingers can lead to a poor pencil grip (Footnote 9).
7. ADHD: a lowered attention span can hurt graphomotor processing (Footnote 9).
8. hand strength
9. motor planning: the lack of coordination can hurt handwriting and directionality (Footnote 11).

Okay, try not to be overwhelmed, but try to think of it as taking the first step towards truly understanding why students struggle with writing, and why telling them to write more and hold their pencil correctly is not an effective strategy. For students with graphomotor or handwriting dysfunction you need a wide variety of strategies. You will get students who need help, so let's start acquiring some strategies now.