Writing is a complex task which requires multiple cognitive processes to occur simultaneously (Berninger & Amtmann, 2003; Datchuk & Kubina, 2013). All writers, even those with high levels of proficiency, must navigate the cognitive demands of drafting, revising, and editing as they work to generate ideas, transfer those ideas onto paper, and ensure the words written communicate those ideas effectively (Flower & Hayes, 1981; Graham, 2018). Transcription skills, including handwriting and spelling, are generally considered the foundational skills needed for students to develop writing proficiency. At the transcription level of writing, students must first recall the sounds within a word and the letters connected to those sounds and then execute the physical act of forming the letter correctly on the page.
With explicit and systematic instruction, transcription skills should become increasingly automatic, allowing students to devote more working memory (i.e., the part of one’s memory that temporarily stores small amounts of information to perform tasks) to generating ideas and completing the writing task as opposed to recalling how to form a letter or spell a word (Santangelo & Graham, 2016). However, some students may continue to struggle with transcription skills even after receiving consistent, high-quality handwriting instruction. In these instances, students may need to be evaluated for dysgraphia, a learning disability related to students’ ability to produce written text. In the first of this two-part blog series, we will define what dysgraphia is and how it might present across students and grades.
What is Dysgraphia?
Unlike dyslexia, there are no formalized definitions across research or policy that clearly delineate the characteristics of this disability (Blenis, 2026; Chung et al., 2020). For example, dysgraphia is not listed as its own diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders or explicitly defined in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (American Psychological Association, 2022; Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, 2004). Rather, it is included in the category of a Specific Learning Disability in both. Generally, dysgraphia has been broadly defined as “a disorder of writing ability at any stage, including problems with letter formation/legibility, letter spacing, spelling, fine motor coordination, rate of writing, grammar, and composition” (Chung et al., 2020, p. S46). Dysgraphia can be categorized as developmental, meaning it is considered a neurological disorder that is generally identified during childhood, or acquired, meaning it is developed later in life, generally due to injury or disease (Han & Wang, 2025).
The exact causes of developmental dysgraphia are still being investigated. Researchers have proposed more than one possible mechanism, including breakdowns in orthographic coding, the ability to hold written letter patterns in memory while producing them by hand, as well as difficulties in fine motor planning and coordination. For instance, one study of students in Grades 1 through 6 found that handwriting was most closely tied to students' ability to picture how letters and words look. The ability to plan a sequence of finger movements (i.e., the kind of skill the hand relies on to form letters) mattered, too, but only through its connection to that visual memory for letters (Abbott & Berninger, 1993). A previous meta-analysis found that motor instruction alone did not improve handwriting, while broader handwriting instruction did (Santangelo & Graham, 2016). In short, current findings suggest that both orthographic coding and motor skills may interact, rather than one mechanism accounting for dysgraphia on its own, and researchers have not settled on a single explanation (McCloskey & Rapp, 2017).
Currently, there are no unified specific diagnostic criteria for dysgraphia and no universal gold-standard diagnostic test exists (Blenis, 2026). However, there are assessments for handwriting and written expression available that can help to identify problems commonly associated with dysgraphia (Berninger, 2009; Costa et al., 2016). A best practice evaluation approach combines standardized handwriting evaluation, cognitive assessment, clinical observation, and parent or teacher report rather than any single measure (Blenis, 2026).
When addressing the differences in the profiles of students with dysgraphia compared to those with dyslexia, students with or at risk for dysgraphia present with handwriting difficulties when forming letters, rather than the word-level reading difficulties of those identified with dyslexia (Berninger et al., 2015). Writing and reading difficulties may also overlap according to research conducted with students across Grades 1 through 4 by Costa and colleagues (2016).
Dysgraphia may be misinterpreted as messy handwriting, and conversely, a student’s handwriting can look neat while still reflecting real writing difficulty in more complex writing skills. That is to say, a student who adequately demonstrates the fine-motor and cognitive skills necessary to hold a pencil and produce legible text on a structured copying task may still struggle under the cognitive load of composing independently (Blenis, 2026). In addition, a student may not have dysgraphia solely because they have what may be considered messy or sloppy handwriting. Because dysgraphia, as defined above, can involve spelling, grammar, and composition as well as letter formation, ongoing difficulty in any of these areas warrants attention. A distinguishing feature is persistence, though current research does not specify how often these difficulties persist. In one study, researchers found that students in Grades 4 through 9 whose writing difficulties had continued despite considerable prior specialized instruction, showing that such difficulties can last well beyond the early grades (Berninger et al., 2015).
What Does Dysgraphia Look Like in the Classroom?
Determining if a student has dysgraphia may be difficult during the early stages of writing development (Chung et al., 2020). Specifically, students with dysgraphia may struggle with letter spacing, size, formation, spelling, and writing pressure, each of which is also common for students who are just learning to write (Baggett et al., 2024; Datchuk, 2015). However, as writing complexity increases throughout schooling, students with dysgraphia will demonstrate persistent difficulties and may fall behind their peers in writing fluency, length, and quality (Chung et al., 2020). In the elementary grades, students who have handwriting and spelling difficulties tend to write less, and to write less well, than their classmates (Graham et al., 1997).
As students move into upper elementary and beyond, the demands of writing grow. Writing standards are built to spiral, meaning each skill introduced in early elementary will reappear in later grades with greater complexity, requiring more elements of the writing process and more components of a finished piece of writing than are expected in the earlier grades (Troia et al., 2016). As the demands of writing increase, differences between a student with dysgraphia and their peers tend to become more apparent (Chung et al., 2020).
Dysgraphia looks different depending on the student and the grade level, which can make it challenging to identify and support students with dysgraphia. Early on, it may show up as slow or effortful handwriting. Later, it may show up as a student who avoids writing tasks, produces less than their peers, or has difficulty organizing their ideas on the page (Blenis, 2026). Recognizing dysgraphia is the first step in creating a supportive school experience for those with or at risk of this disability. In Part 2 of our blog series, we will cover what the research says about supporting students with dysgraphia through evidence-based instruction and accommodations, from early elementary grades through high school.
References
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