How Dyslexia Impacts Writing Skills

Some Ways Dyslexia Affects Writing Skills:

1. Essays are written as one paragraph with several long, run on sentences
2. Using little punctuation, including not capitalizing the first word in a sentence or using end punctuation
3. Odd or no spacing between words
4. Cramming information on the page rather than spreading out the information

Students with Dyslexia may also jump around when writing, with events occurring out of sequence. 

Because not all children with dyslexia have the same level of symptoms, writing problems can be hard to spot. While some may only have minor problems, others may hand in assignments that are impossible to read and understand.

Tips

Grammar and Convention:

Choosing one or two grammar rules at a time helps students not to be so overwhelmed when writing.  In addition, give students time to practice and master these skills before moving on to additional skills.

Also, grading students on content rather than grammar also helps. Many teachers will make allowances for students with dyslexia as long as they understand what the student is saying.   Using computer programs with spelling and grammar checkers can also help.

Sequencing:

Young students with dyslexia show signs of sequencing problems when learning to read. They place letters of a word in the wrong place, such as writing /letf/ instead of /left/. When recalling a story, they may state events that happened in an incorrect order. To write effectively, the student must be able to organize the information into a logical sequence in order for it to make sense to other people. Imagine a student writing a short story. If you ask the student to verbally tell you the story, he probably can explain what he wants to say, but when trying to put the words on paper, the sequence becomes jumbled and the story no longer makes sense.
Allowing a child to record his story or writing assignments on a tape recorder rather than on paper helps. If possible, another student can transcribe the story on paper. There is also a number of speech to text software programs that allow a student to say the story out loud and the software will convert it to text.

Dysgraphia:

Dysgraphia, also known as written expression disorder, is a neurological learning disability that sometimes accompanies dyslexia. Students with dysgraphia have poor or illegible handwriting. Many students with Dysgraphia also have sequencing difficulties. Besides poor handwriting and sequencing skills, symptoms include:

1. Grammar and spelling errors
2. Inconsistencies in written assignments, such as different size letters, mix of cursive and print writing and letters with different slants
3. Omitting letters and words, nonexistent spacing between words and sentences and cramming the words on the paper
4. Unusual grip of pencil or pen

Students with dysgraphia can often write neatly, but this takes an enormous amount of time and effort. The student take the time to correctly form each letter and will often miss the meaning of what they are writing because their focus is on forming each individual letter.

Teachers can help children with dyslexia improve writing skills by working together to edit and make corrections in a written assignment. Have the student read a paragraph or two and then go over incorrect grammar, fixing spelling errors and correcting any sequencing errors. 

Because the student will read what he meant to write, not what is written, having him orally read the written assignment back can help you better understand the student's meaning.