If your child is 16 or under, I can carry out an in-depth handwriting assessment which covers fine motor skills, handwriting speed and physicality, perceptual skills, and the trialling of equipment. My findings can indicate whether Dysgraphia is present or not but please note this isn't a diagnostic assessment.

If you are over 16, I would recommend that you seek a specific Dysgraphia assessment with an Educational Psychologist or Specialist SpLD teacher, as the current criteria for DSA and some exam boards states the need for a diagnosis assessment from either of these two professions.

About Dysgraphia

Dysgraphia is a specific learning disability that affects how easily children acquire written language and how well they use written language to express their thoughts. It can present itself as difficulties with spelling, poor handwriting and trouble putting thoughts on paper. Although it can occur alone, it can also be found alongside Dyslexia, Dypraxia or ADHD.

Writing consists of a mixture of motor skills and information processing, requiring both the ability to form ideas in the mind and the ability to get the muscles in the hand to put those ideas onto paper. Generally people with Dygraphia struggle to write quickly and legibly, and place greater demands on their working memory whilst trying to write.

Messy handwriting alone is not necessarily a sign of Dysgraphia, symptoms will also include inconsistences in writing e.g. mixtures of printing and cursive writing, upper and lower case, or irregular sizes, shapes, or slant of letters; tight, awkward pencil grip and body position; unfinished words/letters or missing words; avoiding writing or drawing tasks; tiring quickly while writing; saying words out loud whilst writing; having their face close to the page; irregular spacing between words and letters or irregular positioning of words between the lines or margins.