Learning Disorder, Written Expression: eMedicine Pediatrics: Developmental and Behavioral.
For some children, the acquisition of written expression skills is a difficult and enduring problem.
Disorders of written expression often accompany reading or other learning difficulties; less research has been performed in isolated written expression problems than in other learning areas. In fact, whether written expression exists is an isolated disorder is uncertain. Not infrequently, writing is the most significant stumbling block for a child. The diagnosis of written language disorder can help point the way toward necessary treatment and support.
Writing is a complex task requiring the mastery and integration of a number of subskills. The process of writing connects cognition, language, and motor skills. Some children have difficulties in one aspect of the process, such as producing legible handwriting or spelling, whereas other children have difficulty organizing and sequencing their ideas. Difficulties in one area can delay skill development in the other areas, as practice of all writing skills may be impeded. Children often experience this disorder as thoughts that move faster than their hand can translate them into written ideas on the page.
Children with written expression difficulties can find essential activities at school, such as note taking, to be insurmountable tasks. Note taking requires listening, comprehending, retaining information while continuing to process new information, and summarizing the important points into a useful format. The physical acts involved in writing notes must occur simultaneously with these cognitive processes. All of this must be accomplished with sufficient speed, automaticity, and with a quality of production leading to writing legibly enough for the notes to be useful later.
