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Math and Dysgraphia
Dysgraphia is a common
source of math underachievement in the middle to high
school years. The most common problem is that student's
have mild sensory confusion in the fingers so that they
can't write without consciously thinking of how to form
each number or letter.
When most of us sign our names, it's done in an instant.
We don't think about each individual letter and signing
is more like a single doodle of loops than a sequence of
individual letters.
Older dysgraphic students may have been able to keep up
with the writing demands by the end of elementary
school, only to be buried by the writing in middle
school.
When writing is not automatic, it acts like an energy
drain on working memory. If You're trying to solve an
algebraic equation, you'll need working memory to recall
math facts, math axioms, and the correct sequence of
procedural steps. Sometimes there's just not enough
working memory left over after this to be able to write
numbers and carry out computations correctly.
If a student's performance suddenly plummets without
warning, look at the nature of the work required, see
whether the sheer quantity of written work has gone up.
With our student, look for recurring patterns of errors
occurring in math problem solving.
In some cases, math software may be the best way to
allow a dysgraphic student to progress through a math
sequence. Offering to scribe math steps for a problem
set may allow you and your student to see how much the
memory demands of writing are contributing to the
problem.
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