Identifying Dysgraphia Subtypes—and Why Identifying Them Helps Outcomes

Dysgraphia means a disorder of written expression, but those concerns can range from a child who has a motor-skills disability, an individual facing cognitive–linguistic issues, or some combination of both (Feifer, 2020). Because of this range of written expression disorders, it is important to understand the various subtypes of written language disabilities.

Why dysgraphia subtypes are important

There are three reasons why it is critical to understand which subtype of dysgraphia a person is facing. First, when an evaluation can specify the diagnostic concern, then interventions can be implemented that are specific and targeted to better meet that individual’s precise needs. Specificity of assessment leads to specificity of intervention, which is essential when creating an individualized education plan (IEP).

Second, there are many neurodevelopmental pathways involved in the cognitive, linguistic, and motor demands needed for the writing process. When educators and interventionists have a thorough understanding of the specific psychological constructs that contribute to writing, they are better equipped to enhance written language development for all children at all developmental stages.

Finally, creating an organizational structure and classification scheme for written language based on neurodevelopmental models can help assist our understanding of the process through greater research insight.

What are the subtypes of dysgraphia?

According to Steven G. Feifer, DEd, ABSNP, the author of the Feifer Assessment of Writing, there are three subtypes of dysgraphia.

Graphomotor dysgraphia

Graphomotor dysgraphia refers to a wide variety of skill deficits involved in the planning, organization, guidance, and automaticity needed to put thoughts and ideas on paper. There are many variations of fine motor skills and deficits that can hinder writing in multiple ways. There are a wide range of disorders that can impact an individual’s motor planning and execution of letter formation skills, depending on which neural pathways are compromised. The distinguishing characteristic of graphomotor dysgraphia lies in the physical act or output of writing.

Dyslexic dysgraphia

Individuals with dyslexic dysgraphia show deficits mastering the spelling patterns of words. This may involve sound substitutions, sound deletions, misspelling of phonologically irregular words, or issues with basic vowel patterns. There are three fundamental subtypes of spelling disorders in children.

• Dysphonetic dysgraphia. The first spelling disorder subtype is dysphonetic dysgraphia, and stems from poor phonological processing, which hinders the ability to differentiate, manipulate, and combine sounds in words. Miscues associated with dysphonetic dysgraphia are often characterized by sound omissions, deletions, or additions.
• Surface dysgraphia. The second subtype stems from deficits with the orthographic representations of words. There are more than 1,100 ways to represent the 44 sounds (phonemes) in the English language using a series of different letter combinations (Uhry & Clark, 2005). Due to the relative complexity and inconsistencies in the English language, there is a heavy premium on understanding orthographic spelling patterns because so many words deviate from traditional phonological mapping of sounds. Surface dysgraphia involves spelling impairments of phonologically irregular or unfamiliar words, though the spelling errors tend to be phonologically consistent in that every sound is represented by a symbol (Sakurai, Asami, & Mannen, 2010).
• Mixed dysgraphia. The final spelling disorder subtype is termed mixed dysgraphia. Mixed dysgraphia represents the most severe type of spelling disability for students. These students generally have difficulty across the entire language spectrum and display a combination of poor phonological processing skills, poor orthographic skills, limited working memory, and error patterns in their spelling. There show multiple perceptual and lexical difficulties. Typical misspellings can involve vowel omission and deletions, orthographic errors, letter order errors, or even syllable omissions.

Executive dysgraphia

The third subtype of written language disorder involves the actual production or output of text on paper. Executive dysgraphia is characterized by a wide range of written language deficits including difficulty planning and organizing one’s thoughts and ideas, an inability to master the implicit rules for grammar and syntax, poor use of a topic sentence, little elaboration of detail, inability to use paragraph breaks appropriately, and poor understanding of how words and phrases can be combined. One of the main concerns with individuals with executive dysgraphia are deficits with executive functioning (McCloskey, Perkins, & Van Divner, 2008).

Individuals with executive dysgraphia may have deficits with organization, planning, task efficiency, metacognition, or the ability to use effective cues for word retrieval. Many students with ADHD may also have deficits with certain aspects of executive functioning, particularly poor planning and organizational skills.

References

Feifer, S. G. (2020). Feifer Assessment of Writing Professional Manual. Lutz, FL: PAR.

McCloskey, G., Perkins, L. A., & Van Divner, B. R. (2008). Assessment and intervention for executive function difficulties. New York, NY: Routledge.

Sakurai, Y., Asami, M., & Mannen, T. (2010). Alexia and agraphia with lesions of the angular and supramarginal gyri: Evidence for the disruption of sequential processing. Journal of the Neurological Sciences, 288, 25–33. http://doi.org/dhx79z

Uhry, J. K., & Clark, D. B. (2005). Dyslexia: Theory and practice of instruction. Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.