Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder[2] and learning disability that concerns impairments in written expression, which affects the ability to write, primarily handwriting, but also coherence.

[8] The condition can cause individuals to struggle with feedback and anticipating and exercising control over rhythm and timing throughout the writing process.

[9] People with dysgraphia often write on some level and may experience difficulty with other activities requiring reciprocal movement of their fingers[9] and other fine motor skills, such as; tying shoes, fastening buttons or playing certain musical instruments.

[4] Unlike people without transcription disabilities, they tend to fail to preserve the size and shape of the letters they produce if they cannot look at what they are writing.

They may lack basic grammar and spelling skills (for example, having difficulties with the letters p, q, b, and d), and often will write the wrong word when trying to formulate their thoughts on paper.

[11] Studies have shown that higher education students with developmental dysgraphia still experience significant difficulty with hand writing, fine motor skills and motor-related daily functions when compared to their peers without neurodevelopmental disorders.

Dysgraphia was not studied as a separate entity until mid-20th century when researchers discovered there were different types that occur without dyslexia.

Their finger tapping speed (a method for identifying fine motor problems) is normal, indicating that the deficit does not likely stem from cerebellar damage.

[16] One study found that boys with ADHD and dysgraphia struggle primarily with motor planning rather than have a linguistic impairment but the prevalence of linguistic/dyslexic-dysgraphia compared to other subtypes is uncertain.

[19] Motor-dysgraphics struggle with proper finger grip and writing is often slanted due to holding a pen or pencil incorrectly.

Dysgraphia may cause students distress often due to the fact that no one can read their writing, and they are aware that they are not performing to the same level as their peers.

Emotional problems that may occur alongside dysgraphia include impaired self-esteem, lowered self-efficacy, reduced motivation, poorer social functioning, heightened anxiety, and depression.

[13] The main concern in trying to detect dysgraphia is that people hide their disability behind their verbal fluency/comprehension and strong syntax coding as a meas to mask the handwriting impairments caused by the disorder.

[13] People with dysgraphia have difficulty in automatically remembering and mastering the sequence of motor movements required to write letters or numbers.

[16] Unlike specific learning disabilities and neurodevelopmental disorders that have been more extensively studied, there is no gold standard for diagnosing dysgraphia.

This is likely due to writing systems often differing substantially between countries and languages and there being considerable heterogeneity among medical professionals who are charged with diagnosing dysgraphia.

[26] In addition, gifted children with transcription disabilities seldom receive programming for their intellectual talents due to their difficulties in completing written assignments.

[19][27] There is no special education category for students with dysgraphia;[3] in the United States, The National Center for Learning Disabilities suggests that children with dysgraphia be handled in a case-by-case manner with an Individualized Education Program, or provided individual accommodation to provide alternative ways of submitting work and modify tasks to avoid the area of weakness.

In considering adoption of any of the technology recommended")[United States-centric][11] Students with dysgraphia often cannot complete written assignments that are legible, appropriate in length and content, or within given time.

Children will mostly benefit from explicit and comprehensive instructions, help translating across multiple levels of language, and review and revision of assignments or writing methods.

There are slight gender differences in association with written disabilities; overall it is found that males are more likely to be impaired with handwriting, composing, spelling, and orthographic abilities than females.

[13][16] The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5) does not use the term dysgraphia but uses the phrase "an impairment in written expression" under the category of "specific learning disorder".

[United States-centric] While IDEA does not use the term "dysgraphia", it describes it under the category of "specific learning disability".

[United States-centric] This includes issues with understanding or using language (spoken or written) that make it difficult to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell or to do mathematical calculations.