How Handwriting Can Indicate a Learning Disability

All children struggle to a certain extent with handwriting when they first begin. At some point, however, they should have grasped the basic skills and have much less difficulty. Children who still have trouble with writing beyond that typical age may have a learning disability, and that can often manifest itself in the handwriting.

Some are concepts that most of us have heard of. For instance, letters that are printed very similarly except for direction can be a problem: b confused with d, q confused with p. Similarly, switching letters around within words can indicate learning disability. Children may not see the difference between form and from, for example.

But other handwriting indicators are not as well known. The way the letters are formed may also indicate a learning disability. Letters may float above the lines, and the middle line seems to have no purpose for these children; the hump on an h, for example, may be above or below that middle line, and its placement may be inconsistent.

Children with a learning disability may also have difficulties with spacing both between and within words. Often, the space between words is no larger than that within words. If there is a larger space, again, it is typically inconsistent. It may be very large in one instance and barely discernable in another, and the space may appear here and there rather than between all the words in the handwriting sample.

Obviously, the handwriting of such children is pretty atrocious and very difficult to read. The letters themselves may be difficult to read. In conjunction with the spacing and other placement issues, the paper may look like it is written in a foreign language. Spelling often adds to this effect. The spelling may seem quite bizarre. For example, often might be spelled ofetn. To many readers, this kind of error certainly doesn't seem to be the switched or confused letters that are commonly considered signs of a learning disability, and yet it is often an indicator.

Understanding the reasoning behind these handwriting issues can help parents and teachers learn how to cope with the problem. The primary issues, those of switched letters and to some extent the spelling problems, for instance, are largely due to sequencing problems. Children with learning disabilities don't understand that the letters are in the wrong order because the order doesn't make any sense to them. They have trouble remembering the very simple sequences that many of us take for granted. For instance, they may have great difficulty remembering the order of the months in the year, the days of the week, the order of the seasons, and so on.

Learning disabilities can also make it difficult to see the big picture. The spacing between letters, for example, may be either non-existent or arbitrary to the writer because it is arbitrary in his experience. He may not actually see the extra spaces until it is pointed out to him. Many such students have a space in their writing after a period because they have been specifically taught to do so.

The spelling is a significant indicator. A child who writes offen will probably have much less trouble with spelling and writing than the child who writes ofetn. Offen is phonetic; the child is writing the word how it sounds, which is sometimes a problem with English but can be overcome with memorization of those words. Ofetn is written by a child who doesn't understand phonetics. This child knows that there is a t in there somewhere, but where it is just doesn't make sense.

A final reason all these issues may manifest is the brain-hand connection. For most of us, when we are supposed to copy a word, we read it and then write it and then move on. A child with a learning disability may have a much more complicated process to go through. He can't just think about the word as a whole and write it; he has to think about the formation of each letter that is part of the word. These students typically don't like to write. Is it any wonder? Think about the amount of effort that would go into such a project. It would be like most modern English speakers copying a text written in Chinese.

Students who still make flipping or reversing letter errors at the age of 7 should be closely monitored for other signs of a learning disability. Luckily, these signs can manifest themselves in handwriting, as well, hopefully leading to testing to confirm a learning disability and allow for accommodations. Be able to type or give oral reports and exams can be a lifesaver for such students. Caught early, learning disabilities don't have to be such a burden for children.