Dysorthography, what is it and how to deal with it

The emotional and psychological impact on children's writing abilities

As previously mentioned, dysorthography is a Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) that affects the writing domain. The situations that are complex for the student refer to the lack of understanding of the language modification from spoken to written. The child's intellectual aspect is not involved nor presents any deficits, and an accurate diagnosis usually occurs at the end of the second grade, around 7/8 years old.

If the intellectual aspect is not affected in any way, the emotional and psychological aspects are affected. It is not difficult to find children with depressive syndromes and high levels of stress caused precisely by this SLD. Timely diagnosed dysorthography can allow the child to live the educational path and their training serenely.

The cognitive processes and characteristics of children with writing difficulties

Just like in the case of a child with dysgraphia, a child with dysorthography has specific characteristics. Writing, in fact, involves various abilities that give rise to just as many cognitive processes. Let's see some of them:

• Eye-hand coordination;
• Ability to encode sound into writing;
• Short-term memory;
• Consciously recognizing phonemes and establishing a relationship between language and writing.

The student with dysorthography, deficient in the aforementioned processes, makes a series of errors that are conventionally distinguished as phonological and non-phonological. Below is a brief list:

• Omission of syllables and words (e.g. mountain with mounain);
• Errors in the use of complex consonants (e.g. spiders with spidres);
• Confusion when encountering similar sounds;
• Omitting words (e.g. hot with cot);
• Problems in correctly separating words (e.g. right with ri ght);

In addition to those mentioned, are there other situations that may alert family and teachers? Very often, a child with dysorthography has problems organizing their own space and moving within it, has problems with oral expression (language), is unable to visually and orally distinguish sounds, and is unable to render symbols graphically.

Identifying and supporting children's learning challenges

During the early stages of the learning process, it is normal for a child to encounter difficulties, both lexical, linguistic, and in learning. That's why we can't talk prematurely about dysorthography. The teacher carefully observes the child's school performance and if he or she makes constant and frequent mistakes in class and homework assignments.

In the presence of mnemonic difficulties, a lack of awareness in the transformation of sounds into signs and vice versa, family and teachers are alerted and various specialists are involved. These specialists, with appropriate diagnostic tools (test batteries and trials), gradually define the personalized path (or PDP, Personalized Didactic Plan) that is most suitable for the child. The group of experts is always made up of psychologists, educators, neuropsychiatrists, and pediatricians who have known the child since he or she was young. The professionalism of these figures allows the child to continue his or her learning path in a serene and balanced way.

It is important in the case of dysorthography to distinguish it from dysgraphia, which are often confused. Dysorthography is not dysgraphia and vice versa. The former, as we have analyzed, involves the entire linguistic field, short-term memory, and the processes of transformation between phonemes and graphemes, and the child makes a high and constant number of errors. The latter does not involve the verbal apparatus but only the graphic processes, motor traits, and the perception that the student has of the space around him or her.

We remind you that we are not dealing with a pathological or disease situation, as in the case of other Specific Learning Disorders (SLDs). We never talk about disabilities, but it is important to emphasize that there may be a condition of comorbidity, that is, the coexistence of several SLDs in the same student (dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia).

Personalized paths and strategies for success

Students with DSA follow personalized paths designed according to their needs, this also happens for all those who have a dysorthography problem. The teacher and the network that supports the child introduce a series of strategies:

• Use of the PC;
• Possibility to use a dictionary during tests and written tests;
• Structuring multiple choice tests or with open questions that provide a short answer;
• Having more time available during evaluation tests, verification tests;

Remember that dysorthographic students are entitled to all the interventions provided by law 170/10 such as, for example, software for video writing and creating concept maps. The goal is to quickly achieve the ability to find the correct correspondence between phonological and orthographic representation, achieving gradual improvement even in writing.

In the case of dysorthography, dispensatory measures are recommended only if compensatory measures have not achieved the objectives that the working group and the network supporting the student have set for themselves. Compensatory measures aim to gradually make the student autonomous so that he can acquire greater self-esteem and live his training path serenely. Finally, when we talk about Specific Learning Disorders, it is important to underline that the idea of "healing" and "disease" must be completely abandoned.

Students who have DSA learn to live with their condition, thanks to the synergy of the people around them. Personalized paths are created for them, calibrated for each one. Every child with a Specific Learning Disorder works very hard, is not negligent or lazy, but only needs different support in his learning path. For this reason, it is always good to rely on professional figures capable of fully following the child in the evolutionary process.

Article by Mariana Ciaglia, pedagogue