Handwriting and spelling: dyslexic children's abilities compared with children of the same chronological age and younger children of the same spelling level

Motor skills and capacities in developmental dyslexia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

In recent decades, the connections between academic skills, such as reading, writing, and calculation, and motor skills/capacities have received increasing attention. Many studies provided evidence for motor difficulties in children and adolescents with dyslexia, prompting the need for a meta-analysis to combine these multiple findings. Therefore, we conducted a meta-analysis using PsycINFO, Pubmed, and SportDiscus as scientific databases. A total of 572 studies were analyzed following several stringent inclusion criteria, resulting in the inclusion of 23 peer-reviewed studies in the final analysis. Our results showed that children and adolescents with dyslexia displayed significant different performances in multiple motor tasks and these differences persisted also when the type of motor task was considered as moderator in the analysis. The present findings are in accordance with the literature that supports a close connection between reading disabilities and difficulties in motor skills/capacities.

Handwriting difficulties in children with dyslexia: Poorer legibility in dictation and alphabet tasks, slowness in the alphabet task

Several studies have shown that children with dyslexia (DYS), in addition to their reading and spelling deficits, encounter handwriting difficulties that are still poorly understood in terms of their nature and origin. The present study aimed to better understand the handwriting difficulties of children with DYS by comparing their handwriting quality and speed in two tasks, a dictation task and an alphabet task, which required fewer spelling skills than the dictation task. Twenty-nine French-speaking children (Mage = 9.5 years) participated in the study, including 18 children with DYS and nine typically developing (TD) children matched on chronological age. The children performed control tasks, a dictation task with words varying in graphic and orthographic complexity and an alphabet writing task. Accuracy, handwriting quality (legibility), and fluency (speed, writing and pause time) were carefully measured using a digital tablet. GLMM analysis and t tests showed that children with DYS made more aesthetic errors (handwriting quality) in both the dictation and alphabet task than TD children. They also wrote more slowly than TD children in the alphabet task (speed, pause time). These findings suggest that children with DYS present handwriting difficulties, even in a simple alphabet task. In dictation, they seem to favour speed at the expense of handwriting quality.

Disruption of Functional Brain Networks Underlies the Handwriting Deficit in Children With Developmental Dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia (DD) is a neurological-based learning disorder that affects 5-17.5% of children. Handwriting difficulty is a prevailing symptom of dyslexia, but its neural mechanisms remain elusive. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study examined functional brain networks associated with handwriting in a copying task in Chinese children with DD (n = 17) and age-matched children (n = 36). We found that dyslexics showed reduced network connectivity between the sensory-motor network (SMN) and the visual network (VN), and between the default mode network (DMN) and the ventral attention network (VAN) during handwriting, but not during drawing geometric figures. Moreover, the connectivity strength of the networks showing group differences was correlated with handwriting speed, reading and working memory, suggesting that the handwriting deficit in DD is linked with disruption of a large-scale brain network supporting motoric, linguistic and executive control processes. Taken together, this study demonstrates the alternations of functional brain networks that underly the handwriting deficit in Chinese dyslexia, providing a new clue for the neural basis of DD.

Evidence of Altered Functional Connectivity at Rest in the Writing Network of Children with Dyslexia

Aim. Handwriting abilities in children with dyslexia (DYS) are not well documented in the current literature, and the presence of graphomotor impairment in addition to spelling impairment in dyslexia is controversial. Using resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC), the present study aims to answer the following question: are there markers of graphomotor impairment at rest in DYS children? Method. The participants were children with DYS and typically developing (TD) children (n = 32) from French-speaking primary schools (M_age = 9.3 years). The behavioural evaluation consisted of spelling and handwriting measures. Participants underwent a resting-state fMRI scan. Results. Analyses of RSFC focused on a brain region responsible for graphomotor processes—the graphemic/motor frontal area (GMFA). The RSFC between the GMFA and all other voxels of the brain was measured. Whole-brain ANOVAs were run to compare RSFC in DYS and TD children. The results demonstrated reduced RSFC in DYS compared to TD between the GMFA and brain areas involved in both spelling processes and motor-related processes. Conclusions. For the first time, this study highlighted a disruption of the writing network in DYS. By identifying functional markers of both spelling and handwriting deficits at rest in young DYS participants, this study supports the presence of graphomotor impairment in dyslexia.

Mode effect: An issue of perspective? Writing mode differences in a spelling assessment in German children with and without developmental dyslexia

Digital technology has an increasing influence on writing processes. In this context, the question arises whether changes in writing mode (i.e., handwriting vs. computer-keyboard typing) also require changes in writing assessments. However, data directly comparing writing mode influences in children with and without developmental writing deficits are scarce. This study investigated the influence of writing mode in German-speaking, typically developing children and children with developmental dyslexia (DD) from two different levels. Results showed on a general level that writing mode influenced overall spelling accuracy, writing time, and self-corrections comparably in children with and without DD. On a rule-specific level, outcomes for writing time and self-corrections substantiated these findings. However, as regards spelling accuracy, a mode effect was only apparent for capitalization, whereas other spelling rules were resistant to writing mode influences. Present findings suggest that a mode effect is present only for typing specific aspects (e.g., capitalization) rather than reflecting a general influence on orthographic principles (e.g., grapheme-phoneme assignment, morphologic principles). These mode-specific aspects seem to comparably affect the writing performance of typically developing children and children with DD. We recommend writing assessments to consider that different writing modes may influence individual spelling rules differently.

The brain basis of handwriting deficits in Chinese children with developmental dyslexia

Abundant behavioral studies have demonstrated high comorbidity of reading and handwriting difficulties in developmental dyslexia (DD), a neurological condition characterized by unexpectedly low reading ability despite adequate nonverbal intelligence and typical schooling. The neural correlates of handwriting deficits remain largely unknown; however, as well as the extent that handwriting deficits share common neural bases with reading deficits in DD. The present work used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine brain activity during handwriting and reading tasks in Chinese dyslexic children (n = 18) and age-matched controls (n = 23). Compared to controls, dyslexic children exhibited reduced activation during handwriting tasks in brain regions supporting sensory-motor processing (including supplementary motor area and postcentral gyrus) and visual-orthography processing (including bilateral precuneus and right cuneus). Among these regions, the left supplementary motor area and the right precuneus also showed a trend of reduced activation during reading tasks in dyslexics. Moreover, increased activation was found in the left inferior frontal gyrus and anterior cingulate cortex in dyslexics, which may reflect more efforts of executive control to compensate for the impairments of motor and visual-orthographic processing. Finally, dyslexic children exhibited aberrant functional connectivity among brain areas for cognitive control and sensory-motor processes during handwriting tasks. Together, these findings suggest that handwriting deficits in DD are associated with functional abnormalities of multiple brain regions implicated in motor execution, visual-orthographic processing, and cognitive control, providing important implications for the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia.

Handwriting Legibility and Its Relationship to Spelling Ability and Age: Evidence From Monolingual and Bilingual Children

Studies of the relationship between spelling and handwriting concur that spelling skills influence the dynamic processes of handwriting. However, it remains unclear whether variations in spelling ability are related to variations in the legibility of handwriting, how important spelling skills are relative to the amount of handwriting experience afforded by an individual's age and number of years of schooling, or to what extent this relationship may be task- and orthography-specific. We investigated these questions in a study comparing spelling and handwriting legibility in a group of N = 127 Welsh-English bilingual children matched in age and number of years of schooling to a group of N = 127 English-monolingual children, as well as to a group of N = 127 younger, English monolingual children matched to the bilingual group in spelling ability. All groups completed the Spelling and Handwriting Legibility Test (SaHLT) and a broader battery of literacy measures. The bilingual children were found to have poorer handwriting legibility than same age peers, and in some cases, than their younger, spelling-ability peers, suggesting that spelling ability, more so than amount of handwriting experience and years of schooling impacts handwriting legibility. This was corroborated in a series of multi-group path models, where all children's handwriting was predicted by spelling ability more strongly than by age, and, the effect of spelling generalized across two different spelling tasks in all groups. Finally, bilingual children seemed to draw on general (Welsh) as well as on orthography-specific (English) knowledge when handwriting in English.

The Reciprocal Relationship Between Handwriting Fluency and Spelling Accuracy in Chinese: A Longitudinal Study

Mastering transcription skills is an important goal in the development of children's written language abilities, and handwriting fluency and spelling accuracy are crucial indicators of transcription ability. The current study was a two-year longitudinal study to investigate the reciprocal relationship of handwriting fluency and spelling accuracy. Participants included 123 students living in mainland China, who were tracked from third to fifth grade, and were administered a comprehensive battery of tests including assessments for non-verbal intelligence, phonological awareness, rapid automatized naming, and copying and dictation of Chinese characters. The results showed that: (1) previous handwriting fluency predicted subsequent spelling accuracy; and (2) previous spelling accuracy predicted subsequent handwriting fluency. These findings indicated there is a bidirectional relationship between handwriting fluency and spelling accuracy in Chinese. This implies spelling accuracy should not be unilaterally emphasized when teaching children new vocabulary, but attention should also be given to the cultivation of handwriting fluency in daily pedagogical practice.

Do children with dyslexia present a handwriting deficit? Impact of word orthographic and graphic complexity on handwriting and spelling performance

Several studies have demonstrated that children with dyslexia frequently show poor and slow handwriting skills. It is not clear whether these difficulties are a consequence of their spelling deficit or if they arise from graphomotor difficulties. The present study aims to test the hypothesis of the presence of handwriting difficulties in dyslexia, through the investigation of the impact of graphic and orthographic complexity of words on writing. Participants were all monolingual French-speaking children. Twenty-three children with dyslexia (DYS) were compared to two groups of typically developing children: 23 chronological-age (CA) matched children and 23 spelling-age (SA) matched children. They were assessed on a single-word dictation task of 40 words on a digital tablet. The target words varied in orthographic complexity and in graphic complexity (simple vs. difficult). This task was scored on spelling accuracy, handwriting quality and handwriting speed. General Linear Mixed Model analyses revealed no global differences between the three groups for handwriting quality. However, the DYS children were more impacted by the graphic complexity of words than both the CA and SA children. These findings support the idea that children with dyslexia struggle with the graphomotor aspects of writing and have potential implications for educational and clinical supports.

DOES DYSLEXIA DEVELOP FROM LEFT-EYE DOMINANCE?

The purpose of this theoretical analysis and synthesis is to indicate how left-eye sighting dominance may lead to reading failure through dysfunctional right hemisphere letter encoding. Differing compensatory strategies are postulated to lead to outcomes that include the development of the phonologically impaired and phonologically proficient subtypes of dyslexia as well as specific spelling disability. Evidence is presented indicating that these disorders might be prevented by delaying the introduction of letter writing until the age of 8 years. Early childhood speech categorization in children genetically at-risk of developing dyslexia is also considered from this perspective. Convergent support for this premature writing hypothesis is provided by a comparison with the development of the left-hand inverted writing posture.

Developmental dyslexia, learning and the cerebellum

Theoretical frameworks for dyslexia must explain how the well-established phonological deficits and the literacy deficits arise. Our longstanding research programme has led to a distinctive 'twin level' framework that proposes, first, that the core deficits are well described in terms of poor skill automaticity. Second, these 'cognitive level' symptoms are attributed to abnormal cerebellar function--a 'brain-level' analysis. The evidence includes data from behavioural, imaging, neuroanatomical and learning studies. The frame-work leads to an 'ontogenetic' analysis that links cerebellar deficit at birth, via problems in articulation and working memory, to the known phonological, speed and literacy difficulties. Differences in locus of cerebellar impairment, experience and/or links to other brain regions may account for subtypes of dyslexia and possibly other developmental disorders. The automaticity/ cerebellar deficit framework provides an explicit demonstration that it is possible to explain motor, speed and phonological deficits within a unified account, integrating previously opposed approaches.

Contribution of Lower Order Skills to the Written Composition of College Students With and Without Dyslexia

There has been a growth in students with dyslexia attending university. These students commonly rate writing as one of their greatest problem areas. Our research set out to describe the effects of dyslexia on the writing skills of students compared to age-matched peers and a spelling-skill-matched group. Generally, the texts of the students with dyslexia were poorer than age controls but not poorer than the spelling-skill controls. However, there were no major differences in "higher order" skills such as ideas and organization with the chronological age controls, only in "lower order" transcription skills such as spelling and handwriting fluency. The students with dyslexia made more spelling errors in their essays than one would predict given their dictated spelling skills.

Individual and sex differences in speed of handwriting among high school students

A group of 153 high school students participated in a cursive handwriting task which required them to copy sentences as quickly as possible. The 78 girls performed significantly better than the 75 boys and a substantial range of speed for each sex was found. The results have implications for more demanding writing and composition processes. Handwriting speed has the potential to act as a limiting factor under some circumstances.

Handwriting: A neglected cornerstone of literacy

This paper discusses the necessity for teaching children to have readable automatic handwriting. As demonstrated by a search of the literature, educational institutions in both the United States and Great Britain display a lack of concern about the importance of handwriting in school curricula. Researchers display a similar lack of concern as evidenced by the scarcity of major research studies on handwriting. They appear to be unaware of the benefits of effective early teaching. Often the choice of what to teach, how to teach, and when to teach is left up to the discretion of individual teachers, who typically have been given inadequate preparation for teaching handwriting. The decision of whether to begin with manuscript or cursive seems based on custom and opinion instead of any solid empirical evidence. The special needs of left-handed children and dyslexic children are seldom addressed. Yet, these children need to be taught handwriting meticulously. More attention needs to be focused on how all children can acquire the essential skill of legible serviceable handwriting.