Does anyone know what age dysgraphia can be diagnosed? DS just turned 6 and he struggles with handwriting.
Qualifier here - I'm not a professional, just a parent, so everything I'm about to say is just my impression based on our ds' experience
There are several different things that you look at when diagnosing dysgraphia. It can be tough to make a call "is it or isn't it" dysgraphia when a child is just learning how to write and through those early ages of 4-7 years old, because, just like with reading, children's fine motor skills, writing skills etc, develop at different times. OTOH, if you're careful and you're looking and you really think things through, I think that you can get a good idea re whether or not your child might be dysgraphic when they are in that age range - the key is looking at more than just reversed letters, sloppy handwriting because that is all developmentally possible at that stage.
These are the things that we saw in our ds at 6 that would have been considered signs of dysgraphia if he'd been evaluated at that age:
Crumply messy paper - uneven pencil pressure
Held his wrist and elbow when writing
Odd pencil grip
Total refusal to do homework that we knew he knew how to do (in his head)
Dip in processing speed relative to other subtests on his first IQ test (test was for
entry into a school district gifted program)
Letter reversals didn't lessen or stop as he progressed in school
Once a student reaches third grade or gaps in handwriting appearance etc are a lot more obvious when compared to peers - but there's no way you want to wait until 3rd grade if you suspect dysgraphia because of the double-whammy of having a child miss out on opportunities to learn how to work around dysgrpahia as well as the years of frustration prior to diagnosis that can really lead to blows to a child's self-esteem.
At 6, if you had a professional administer an ability/achievement test combo that included timed tasks such as processing speed on WISC and fluency tests on the achievement battery, and had them review handwriting samples as well as observe him while writing, you'd probably be able to rule dysgraphia either in or out. To get the actual diagnosis you'd want just a bit more testing to determine if it's fine-motor related or visual in origin.
If you're waiting for testing, I'd recommend gathering examples of his writing, and observing how he sits/holds himself when writing. Try to teach him a proper pencil grip and see if it sticks or makes a difference. Have him write the alphabet out (upper and lower case) and time him to see how long it takes - then calculate letters per minute, and compare it to typical letters per minute measures for 6 year olds (you can find ranges by googling). Also look to see how many letters he's reversed, skipped, not written in caps, formed incorrectly etc.
Hope that makes sense!
polarbear
