Fact · Accessibility and health
In a 2020 review, dysgraphia and specific learning disorder in written expression are terms for people whose writing ability does not match their cognitive level and age, even after adequate instruction.
Checked against its source on October 16, 2026
In the source's own words
“are terms used to describe those individuals who, despite exposure to adequate instruction, demonstrate writing ability discordant with their cognitive level and age.”
Disorder of written expression and dysgraphia: definition, diagnosis, and management, Peter J Chung and Dilip R Patel, Translational Pediatrics, 2020, Abstract.
Open the original (DOI 10.21037/tp.2019.11.01)- What it measures
- The abstract of the review also says that dysgraphia can present with different symptoms at different ages, that its mechanisms are not well understood, and that it has a high rate of co-morbidity with other learning and psychiatric disorders.
- What it does not show
- This is a clinical definition from one review. Other sources describe dysgraphia more narrowly, as a problem with letter formation and handwriting motor control, so the scope of the term varies by source.