Dysgraphia affects a person’s ability to express his or her thoughts in writing.  A person with dysgraphia will often be well-spoken, creative and intelligent but will not be able to put any of that down on paper.  Dysgraphia doesn’t just cause problems with spelling, but also will cause a person to skip words, mix up the order of words, make it hard to use punctuation, and write so messily that it may be unreadable. 

Writing is such a big part of most classes.  Whether you are writing essays or just copying down notes off a board, you need to be able to get the thoughts down and have them clear enough that you will understand them later.  Dysgraphia can cause real problems for a student by slowing down and hindering their ability in more than one subject area.
 
Many learning disabilities go unnoticed for a long time because they are seen signs of other problems- a lack of motivation perhaps, or simply a lazy student who doesn’t take pride in his/her work.  Dysgraphia is one of those learning disabilities that people might not recognize and about which little is known.  Unfortunately, too many kids are being left to struggle when really all they need is a little extra help and support to overcome it. 

There are no set guidelines for diagnosing dysgraphia and it can come in all levels.  The most severe cases may require some special education classes while others will only require some extra attention during writing intensive assignments. 

If you think that there is more wrong with your writing than just bad penmanship- you need to talk to someone about it.  School is hard enough without it having the extra challenge of watching your friends and peers breeze through assignments while you have to struggle with each and every word.  You really don’t have to- there are lots of techniques and strategies out there for someone who has dysgraphia that can help you overcome the difficulties that you have.  Talk to your parents or to a teacher you trust right away.