So What, Exactly, is Dysgraphia

   As a wielder of words, I recognize that they hold a great deal of power. Words can buoy a person up or, conversely, tear them down. Words have the potential to paint vibrant pictures in our minds and convey poignant meaning and substantive facts. It is a beautiful thing to be able to capture a thought, a question, or an image with precise words and share it with another. But sometimes a breakdown in communication occurs. This happens for a variety of reasons. Occasionally it’s caused simply by our method of transmission. Written words can’t convey tone as well as words delivered in person, and even when we do speak aloud, our tone can be misinterpreted. Another way miscommunication happens is when people use the same word but mean something entirely different when they do. This hiccough in understanding causes mild amusement or slight confusion at its most benign. For instance, where I grew up in Kansas, a fizzy drink that tasted sweet was ubiquitously called a â€Å"pop.† My cousins in Missouri, though, were confused the first time they heard my sister and I use the word. For them, that same fizzy drink was called a â€Å"soda.† The only thing that happened as a result of our miscommunication was a giggle or two, and then we promptly returned to our play. But sometimes the miscommunication creates much larger problems. This is true for the field of education. For instance, one of the words that I hear frequently discussed in my special education circles is the term â€Å"dysgraphia.† Regularly I encounter discussions between people who use this word, only to eventually discover that each party meant something different by the term. In this case, though, the stakes are much higher than a soft drink. So what, exactly, is dysgraphia? Let’s take a look at the various parts of the word for a hint at its meaning. Originating from the Greek language, dys means difficulty, and graph means to draw or write by hand. The ending, ia, means â€Å"condition of.† Taken together, then, dysgraphia means the condition of having physical difficulty with writing. Using this definition, students who have dysgraphia will exhibit their symptoms with uncomfortable, illegible, and/or cramped handwriting. Spelling challenges may also exist, in part because students are not writing comfortably or legibly. Of late, some people have come to use the term to mean something slightly different—difficulty with transferring ideas from the brain onto paper through writing in a logical manner. The reason for the variant uses of the term may simply be that the word’s meaning is evolving in our culture. After all, difficulties with written expression often accompany dysgraphia. The result, however, is the same. It doesn’t take much guessing to recognize that two people using the same term but each one meaning something different will suffer a breakdown in understanding along with a potentially long and expensive delay in appropriate intervention. What is the key takeaway from all this? Define your terms. Rather than relying on a single word to convey your meaning, instead describe exactly what you are seeing that concerns you about your student. In lieu of saying, â€Å"My child has dysgraphia,† when you are seeking guidance, say â€Å"When my son tries to write, he complains that his hand is aching, and I can barely make out his handwriting.† Or, â€Å"My student can’t seem to write a paragraph that makes sense. She struggles so much with getting her thoughts out of her head and onto her paper.† Expressing your concerns to your student’s teacher, tutor, or to a fellow educator using descriptive words and sentences will open up a clearer path to communication and the potential solution. It has the added benefits of potentially saving you hundreds if not thousands of dollars on the wrong treatment, getting the student on a quicker path to success, and saving the student’s self-esteem a s well. And that is something worth celebrating. The International Dyslexia Association is an excellent source for information related to dyslexia, dysgraphia, and written expression. To learn even more about dysgraphia, consult this link.    Jennifer Mauser  has always loved reading and writing and received a B.A. in English from the University of Kansas in 1991. Once she and her husband had children, they decided to homeschool, and she put all her training to use in the home. In addition to homeschooling her children, Jennifer teaches IEW classes out of her home, coaches budding writers via  email,  and tutors students who struggle with dyslexia. Log in or register to post commentsJennifer Mausers blog Log in or register to post comments Dysgraphia Permalink By Jen in IDFeb02 Heresmy scenario: My children go to a Co-op weekly. My 11 year olds nature teacher has them write a in-class report on an animal and its habitat. 200 words. This was Monday. Later that week (Friday) at home, we were working on our most recent IEW paper and he had a meltdown because he had already written too much on Monday at Co-op. Would this be considered a description of Dysgraphia? He does write, but the formation is younger than his years- penmanship appears to be of a younger child, but I have experienced having him wirk on bith Content writing (IEW) AND penmanship would send him over the edge. Log in or register to post comments It might be dysgraphia. Permalink By Jennifer MauserFeb02 But without getting a larger picture of what is actually going on with your son, it is difficult to say for sure. If you find that he has trouble only with the physical act of writing/spelling, it could be dysgraphia. You might consider speaking with your child's physician and obtaining a referral to an occupational therapist who may be able to help him establish more strength in his writing hand along with a better pen/pencil grip. In your own home, I recommend you switch your son to using pens if he is currently using  a pencil. Rollerball pens tend to be more comfortable for writing. And help him by taking over some of the scribing responsibilities by having him dictate to you. If you find that he does struggle with dysgraphia, you may find that technology will be helpful for those longer writing assignments. Teach him keyboarding or voice typing to release him from the writing barrier to his creativity. But keep up some copywork. Check out a recent podcast on Contrived Relevancy to gain ideas about how to help your son with his motivation. Log in or register to post comments

King Charles IIi By Mark Bartlett - 1460 Words

I tremendously enjoyed the play King Charles III by Mark Bartlett. It dealt with the very modern issues of privacy and the press through the medium of blank verse and the modern-day monarchs with some Shakespearean precursors lurking in the background. Charles III opens just after the death of Elizabeth II, and traces the remaining royals’ actions and reactions through the next coronation. We see Charles, attempting to follow his own moral compass, becoming embroiled in politics He nearly destroys the monarchy by refusing to pass a bill that would censor certain types of scandals out of the press, despite the bill having strong support in the House of Commons. Will and Kate, the publicly popular and more politically savvy pair, pull strings (with questionable morality) to keep the palace together, both for themselves and posterity. 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Donald trump free essay sample

Effective leaders are not substantially born but sculptured through various situations and person they may have worked with. They were chiseled out through trial and tribulations over a period. Such a leader we came across is Donald Trump, one of the American business magnate, active investor, hardcore television personality and author. He is the renowned chairman and president of The Trump Organization considered as the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. His amazing lifestyle, outspoken manner, and active part in the NBC reality show The Apprentice have made him has always made him standing in different way . Donald Trump portrays a new approach in the field of real estate and entertainment industry. Trump was born in June 1946 in Queen, New York son of Fred Trump a wealthy New York City real-estate developer. As German immigrants, his family immigrated to United States where he completed his schooling in New York Military Academy and emerged as all-rounder. One night, he showed up to puffs birthday bash to mingle with hip hop superstars Jay Z, Missy Elliot, Busts Rhymes and even boxer Muhammad All. L think these hip hop guys are smart, and theyre fun, he says. Trumps daughter mentions how shocked she was, when, as they were getting ready for the Grammas, the phone rings, and her dad answered with, You, Puff, whats up? She also remarks on how weird it was to walk into her dads booth at the U. S. Open to see Puff Daddy sitting there with her father. What she didnt realize was that, her father wasnt concerned with Puff being a hip hop artist, but that he liked Puff for being at the top of his game. Hip hop artists?big and small?felt some connection to Trump.They liked is Im the sit, buck you attitude. They could also relate to the ways in which they are all self-promoters. When talk about Mambo arises, a popular NYC restaurant, Trump remarks, You know own that, right? He finishes by saying, l own the Empire State Building too, did you know that? During his rise in the Us, after excessive celebrating, he was stuck with $900 million in debt, which he soon paid off, and jumped right back. Bandmaster Flex states that, a lot of people in the music business could relate to that?hitting a low and bouncing back.You could say thats true for artists like, Mass and Mine. Trump chooses to involve himself with the big time entrepreneurs of hip hop, not because of the music, but because they are, as he says great businessmen. He goes on to say, They have a real sense of where the markets going, they have a sense of the future?and thats the ultimate businessperson. Trump enjoys the presence of these hip hop entrepreneurs, just as much as they do. What brings them all together is certainly that fundamental businessman mentality they all share.

The Silk Roads free essay sample

The Silk Road was an important trade network that established cross-cultural trade; people from Han China all the way to the Roman Empire were involved. The Roads came around at about 200 B. C. E, and persisted for another 1,700 years. Luxury goods, religions, diseases, food, and ideas have emerged within that time. The Silk Road and its trade remain constant even though its patterns of interaction have been altered through the plague and Islam, Christianity, and Buddhism. Over time, the Silk Roads’ routes spread all throughout Eurasia. Empires that were large and wealthy often traded goods, for this was very good for their economy. Unmistakably, trade comes with the dispersion of disease. Rats that lived on boats started the Bubonic Plague; ships carrying the disease would spread it at various stops, infecting more people. The Mongols contributed to the spread of the Black Death. Changes occurred when millions of people were killed during the Middle Ages. We will write a custom essay sample on The Silk Roads or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Furthermore, when the Roman Empire fell in the mid-5th century, trade was reduced along the Silk Roads. The plague was one of many factors that changed over interaction along the Silk Roads. Religion was a monumental change that resulted through communication of merchants and travelers. Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity arose and made its way across the Roads. After time, these religions became the most prominent in Eurasia. Among many changes lie a few continuities. The purpose of the Silk Road itself along with the goods traded remained the same for 1,650 years. Goods such as silk, spices, and currency were exchanged and developed. Ideas, technology, and innovation were also shared in the process. The purpose of the Roads was to make trade easier while satisfying the economy. Overall, change ended up being a positive result for nations that traded along the Silk Roads. From 200 B. C. E to 1450 C. E, people throughout Eurasia were providing and obtaining materials that sped up the development of human interaction. Despite changes in infections and religion, the original function and products of the Roads endured.

American Shaolin essays

American Shaolin essays This is the story of Matthew Pollys journey to the Shaolin Temple in China, that began by listening to his inner voice about things that where bad with himself. On the first place, when he was fifteen years old he noticed that he was ignorant and discovered the way to solve this issue by reading, by writing, and by noticing he was very good at college. On second place in his issue list he wrote Cowardly. He concentrated very much in this weakness and while working on that, he was getting through each one of the other items of his list and he got to erase all of them. He was obsessed with the art of Kung Fu, and also he seemed to be very interested in the Chinese culture, influenced by the series of Kung Fu (of the year 1970s) and also about all the Chinese American character Caine, interpreted by David Caradine. He hoped to eliminate cowardly practicing this discipline, he was obsessed. Still he was looking after to the achievement of his dream. He dropped out of the Princeton College earlier than he was supposed to, and flew from Kansas to Beijing, China and began his journey looking for the Shaolin Temple in search of spiritual enlightens and kicking powers.After he had traveled some streets and places, he arrived to the Tianan men square and so in different places he was asking about where is the Shaolin Temple, in this search he got to know about the way of life of the Chinese people. Finally he arrived at the Zheng Zhou and Deug Feng, the temple is thirty minutes far away. This book is divided into not chapters but books. Chapter one or Book 1 takes place in Topeka, Kansas and in the Princeton College. In this book there are not much of main characters, just the main character Matthew Polly. This book talks about how everything started, his goals, his desires, and the why he decided to start his journey. It introduces us about the list that he has created in his head that talks ...

Storytelling Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Storytelling Reflection - Essay Example He used a hurriedly set up apparatus to experiment ether on a patient. Subsequently, the novel technique was used to revolutionize the practices of surgeons (Relief of Pain and Suffering, 2). I think it is intriguing to find out the true stories behind medicine and how they came about, leave alone the discovery itself, but also the experimental results of such discoveries. Most of the conclusions of medical researchers are highly exaggerated and misleading. This makes it imperative to do an in-depth research into the real discoveries and experiments that led to the commercialization of a given medicine, for this instance, anesthesia. Personal judgment is more reliable that a misleading medical researchers conclusion (The Atlantic, 2). My initial process of preparing involved research on the intended topic. Background research involved Horace Wells and William Morton, who co-discovered anesthesia. The core research on the topic was on the Anesthesia experiments performed by the two ancient dentists. Listeners responded to my story with other stories, on the tacit part they knew, which led to a better understanding (Sharing Knowledge, 3). Story telling played a key role in sharing knowledge and boosted the learning and hearing likelihoods. Through the use of questions that are provocative, listeners got to give their honest experiences with the Anesthesia. Participants from diverse backgrounds teamed up to create an interesting dynamics (Sharing Knowledge,

Feminist political thought Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Feminist political thought - Essay Example Her removal of the women’s suffrage campaign, and her acrimonious opposition to the social transparency dogmas that influenced many feminist reformers, inspired many feminists to reject her as an enemy of women’s liberty and a man’s woman. This paper will focus on the Emma Goldman, and that in her own unique way, she was not only a radical feminist but one of the most deep-seated of her time. In all, this paper also focuses on Bell Hooks’ concept of transcendence and immanence from the Second Sex. The fact that Goldman was an avant-garde rather than a systematic theorist presents a problem for any discourse of her beliefs. Of course, she had specific ideas that were always evolving. It will also be imperative to depict the context in which her ideas were modeled, as unlike other feminist radicals, Goldman’s struggle for women was second to her struggle for equality for all. Further, this paper will also discourse Goldman’s early influences th at worked upon her consciousness and made her a dissident. Emma Goldman was born and raised in a Russian province of Kovno on 29th June 1869. In her memoirs entitled Living my Life she explains how she gleaned in the community around her demoralizing repercussions of erratic system where wives and children are beaten, Jews ostracized and peasant beaten, guidelines made and broken at the whim of those in power. There was no place for her where she could resort for refuge in her family. Her dictatorial father whom she refers to as the nightmare of my childhood picked her out as the object of his often rages, consequently making sure that from the starting point her advancement was largely in upheaval. In 1882 the family relocated to St. Petersburg, and after a year, the experienced changed everything in her whole life. The same year saw the bloody assassination of Tsar Alexander 11, which was the culmination of numerous decades of increasing radical activity focused towards the Tsaris t despotism. Further, Populism had originally arisen as response to the explosive European revolutions of 1848. For this case, nearly all the Russian affluence and authority were focused in the hands of tiny wealthy aristocracy, which clearly live off a wide-ranging subjugated populace of uneducated and underprivileged peasants. In repulsion against the mounting poverty and injustice around them, scholars such like Nikolai Chernyshevski and Alexander Herzen, somehow nurtured by far-reaching thought from Western Europe, started to evolve a particularly Russian prototype of socialism. They held that Russia could bypass capitalism in the walk toward socialism. At this rate, Emma Goldman started to read the outlawed tracts and censored novels that disseminated amid her sister’s students friends and mourn the insurgents, many of whom had been incinerated, exiled to Siberia or executed by the despotic government. With the books and tracts influencing her, she began questioning more and more the community in which she lived. The notions of the Populist openly inspiring her, she started falling prey later to anarchist notions. She chronicles this in her memoirs when she asserts â€Å"they had been my inspiration ever since I had first read of their lives.†(21) Further, the eminence of women in the Russian revolutionary crusade was an unusual phenomenon within the framework of the 19th century European left. The crusade was maybe the only environment in which women were treated as equals. The