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Some people who have difficulty writing and spelling actually have a specific learning disability called dysgraphia. Learn, Dream, Achieve (LDA) of Minnestoa says this is a language processing problem where a person lacks the correct motor skills for writing letters.

If you write slowly and with poor handwriting, grip a pencil improperly, misspell words frequently, and generally write poorly, you may suffer from dysgraphia.

The good news is that there are ways to manage this disability. You can improve your handwriting and related motor skills through practice. You can make use of phonetic spell checkers and dictionaries.

There is also software available to help people with dysgraphia with writing and spelling. This is a very difficult skill, but spelling for dysgraphia software can help a lot.

Barnard-Brak et al (2010) reminds us that people with disabilities still must function in the modern world. Although you may want to hide your disability, you cannot avoid writing completely.

In order to fill out forms, take notes, and write emails, you need to have some level of functional writing ability. LDA of Minnesota has assessment tests available to help you figure out where to begin and what you will need to accommodate your disability. You may want to keep a journal with dated entries to help you and others track your progress.

If you are capable of spelling phonetically, there are a variety of tools to help you write, spell, and generally put your ideas into words.

Franklin Electronic Publishers has a variety of devices to help those with dysgraphia, including an electronic dictionary. This device is small and portable and allows you to find the spelling of a word by speaking. Franklin Electronic Publishers also has audio eBook readers that allow you to listen to text as you read it.

Inspiration software helps people with dysgraphia map their ideas and create writing outlines. This is especially useful for students who must write assignments. Idea maps and outlines allow you to organize your thoughts and improve the quality of your writing.

The software available from Dragon Naturally Speaking can solve the problem of spelling for dysgraphia. The software allows you to speak what you would like written. You can dictate emails, term papers, spreadsheets, and anything else where you would normally type. This program is extremely useful for correcting spelling and adapts to the user. This company is the industry leader in voice recognition software.

REFERENCES

Barnard-Brak, L, Lechtenberger, D, Lan WY, 2010, Accommodation Strategies of College Students with Disabilities, Qualitative Report, vol 15, num 2, pp 411-429.

Learn, Dream, Achieve of Minnesota, 2005, Dysgraphia Defined, NetNews, vol 5, num 3.