It is crucial to understand the difference between dysgraphia and dyslexia if your child has one or both of these disorders. Determining which learning disorder they may be dealing with will help you find the right tutor for your child. In this blog, we’ll explore the differences between dyslexia and dysgraphia.
What is dyslexia?
Dyslexia is not a disease, it is a learning disability that makes it hard for a child to read properly and fluently. Children with dyslexia read more slowly than expected for their age range despite having average or high intelligence. Although the disorder varies from one child to another, common issues faced by dyslexic children include trouble with phonological processing and spelling mistakes.
Signs of dyslexia
- Difficulty reading fluently
- Trouble with reading comprehension
- Difficulty sounding out words
- Poor grammar and spelling
- Difficulty reading out loud
- Short attention span
What is Orton Gillingham tutoring in Toronto for children with dyslexia?
The Orton-Gillingham approach allows a Toronto tutor to create a personalized, structured, and multisensory plan for teaching reading and vocabulary skills. It is a step-by-step learning process that focuses on letters and sounds, allowing students to build on each skill learned. This approach was the first to use explicit, direct, sequential, and systematic multi-sensory instruction to teach reading, making it effective for all students and particularly crucial for teaching students with dyslexia.
The Orton-Gillingham approach comprises components that ensure students not only learn strategies but also understand how and why these phonological strategies work. This instructional approach encourages students to see, say, sound out, and write letters to master the decoding and encoding of words. Emphasizing multisensory learning, it combines sight, hearing, touch, and movement. The approach is especially effective for students with dyslexia who have difficulties with phonemic awareness.
What is dysgraphia?
Dysgraphia is a learning disorder that impacts a child’s ability to write by affecting their fine motor skills and various aspects of the writing process, such as spelling, legibility, word spacing, sizing, and expression. While dyslexia and dysgraphia are both learning disorders, they differ in how they manifest and their specific effects on a child’s abilities.
Signs of dysgraphia
- Takes a long time to write words or sentences
- Difficult to read handwriting
- Poor grammar and spelling
- Incorrect punctuation
- Spaces letters and words oddly
- Inappropriate breaks in writing
- Inaccurate grip on pencils and scissors
How to treat symptoms of dysgraphia?
Occupational therapy is often used to treat symptoms of dysgraphia. Therapists support the child to improve hand strength and fine motor coordination required to write by hand. They might also support kids with dysgraphia learn the correct arm position and body posture for writing.
Similarities between dyslexia and dysgraphia
Students with dyslexia and those with dysgraphia often produce written work that falls short of their actual capabilities, resulting in output that can be disorganized and difficult to read. Their vocabulary usage and spelling skills may lag behind their peers. These students might also shy away from reading and writing activities, leading to reduced confidence and self-esteem.
When spelling shows significant challenges, dyslexia can stop a child’s fluency in written expression similarly to how dysgraphia does. It may also impact the organization of information within paragraphs and throughout their writing. Additionally, some students may find that their dyslexia interferes with letter formation, resembling the symptoms of dysgraphia.
If your child has dyslexia, you can reach out to tutors at Class in Session. We have experienced tutors who support dyslexic students to enhance their reading fluency, writing and spelling skills.