Does your child make lots of spelling mistakes, write slowly or produce very short texts, even though they understand the subject well when speaking? A written expression disorder may be behind these difficulties. Dysorthographia, dysgraphia and dyspraxia are often confused, yet they are three distinct disorders that call for different kinds of help.
Three different disorders, often confused
Writing draws on two skills at once: knowing how words are spelled, and being able to form the letters. Written expression disorders affect one or the other of these skills, sometimes both.
Dysorthographia: a spelling disorder
Dysorthographia is a lasting difficulty in learning to spell. The child struggles to link the sounds they hear to the letters that represent them, and to remember and apply spelling and grammar rules.
Their handwriting may be perfectly legible: the problem lies in the spelling. Dysorthographia very often goes hand in hand with dyslexia, the reading disorder, but it can also occur on its own.
Dysgraphia: a disorder of the writing movement
Dysgraphia affects the act of handwriting itself. The child knows what they want to write, but their handwriting is slow, irregular, hard to read and sometimes painful. They grip the pen tightly, tire quickly and cross out a lot.
Dyspraxia: a disorder of movement coordination
Dyspraxia, also called developmental coordination disorder (DCD), goes well beyond writing. The brain finds it hard to plan and automate movements: getting dressed, cutting, using a ruler or a compass, riding a bike.
Writing requires fine, quick movements, so it almost always suffers: dyspraxia therefore often comes with dysgraphia. Spelling itself, on the other hand, is affected only indirectly.
In practice: the warning signs
A single sign on its own is not enough to point to a disorder. It is their persistence, despite suitable teaching and real effort, that should put you on alert.
On the spelling side (dysorthographia):
- many persistent spelling mistakes, even in very common words;
- the same word spelled in several ways within one text;
- mixed-up sounds (b/d, f/v), letters left out, reversed or added;
- grammar rules known orally but not applied in writing (agreement, verb endings);
- a failed dictation even though the lesson had been studied.
On the movement side (dysgraphia, dyspraxia):
- slow, irregular handwriting with badly formed or poorly aligned letters;
- a tense grip on the pen, tiredness or pain in the hand;
- heavily crossed-out work and incomplete notes;
- with dyspraxia, other difficult movements too: shoelaces, cutting, geometry, laying out a page.
In both cases, written work is often short and underdeveloped. The effort spent on spelling or handwriting leaves too little energy to organise ideas.
At what age can a diagnosis be made?
A child learning to write makes mistakes: that is normal. We speak of a disorder when the difficulties remain significant and lasting despite targeted help. In practice, dysorthographia is rarely diagnosed before the end of the second or third year of primary school.
Difficulties can also appear later, in secondary school, when texts get longer and note-taking speeds up. A child who had been compensating until then may suddenly struggle.
Who to see in Belgium?
Start by talking to your child’s teacher or form teacher, and to the school’s PMS centre (the CLB in Dutch-speaking schools), which can refer you. The diagnosis itself is based on an assessment by professionals:
- for dysorthographia: an assessment by a speech and language therapist (spelling, reading, language), often supplemented by a neuropsychologist;
- for dysgraphia and dyspraxia: an assessment of handwriting and motor skills, with a paediatric neurologist, an occupational therapist or a psychomotor therapist, depending on the case.
This assessment also rules out other causes: a vision problem, an attention disorder, or gaps that simply come from a lack of practice.
What the school can put in place
In the Wallonia-Brussels Federation, a decree of 7 December 2017 allows pupils with specific needs to benefit from reasonable accommodations. The request is based on a diagnosis made by a specialist. The accommodations are then agreed jointly by the school, the PMS centre and the parents.
These may include, for example, photocopies of notes, extra time, the use of a computer, or assessments that do not penalise spelling in other subjects. The details depend on each pupil and each school.
How to support your child at home
Your main role is to protect their confidence. A child with dysorthographia or dysgraphia often puts in more effort than others for a result that seems smaller.
- Lighten the writing load: to study a lesson, favour speaking, diagrams and ready-made revision cards. They can also dictate their answers to you.
- Separate the tasks: avoid explaining while they write. First they listen, then they write.
- Get hold of the notes: if their note-taking is too slow, they can photocopy a classmate’s notes and focus on listening in class.
- Use the computer: the keyboard, spellchecker and voice dictation get around part of the difficulties, especially in secondary school.
- Correct little, but well: pick one or two rules to work on at a time, rather than underlining every mistake.
- Value the content: praise the ideas, the vocabulary and the logic of the text, regardless of spelling.
Dysorthographia often goes together with reading difficulties: strategies that help with dyslexia (well-spaced texts, reading aloud, audiobooks) help here too.
Support alongside therapy
Therapy takes place with the speech and language therapist, occupational therapist or psychomotor therapist. Alongside it, regular academic support helps your child keep up in class without wearing themselves out, organise their work and regain confidence.
At My Sherpa, an educational adviser chooses a coach for your child who takes their disorder and their therapists’ advice into account. Lessons take place at home, anywhere in Belgium, or online. Depending on their needs, they cover private French lessons, homework help in primary school or study skills.
If your child is also losing heart about school, our article “My child doesn’t like school” can help you talk about it with them.
