Poor Reading: A Deep Dive
The link between poor reading and dysgraphia symptoms
What is dysgraphia?
Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects writing (particularly handwriting and spelling), and it frequently overlaps with reading difficulties.
How writing challenges can disrupt reading progress
The underlying causes we described can manifest in both reading (dyslexia) and writing (dysgraphia) in related ways. For instance, both rely on the brain’s ability to remember and automatically recognize letter patterns (orthographic coding). If a child has trouble storing and recalling written words or letter sequences, they will struggle to read and to spell. In fact, research finds that dyslexia and dysgraphia share a common weakness in orthographic coding; it’s one reason they often co-occur.
When visualizing words is hard: the reading-writing connection
A child with dysgraphia may have illegible handwriting and poor spelling because they cannot accurately visualize letter order – the same deficit makes it hard to recognize words quickly when reading.
Neurological evidence
Neurological evidence supports this connection. Dysgraphia is associated with impaired graphomotor skills built on orthographic coding, motor planning, and visual-motor integration. In practice, that means the child struggles to form letters from memory and coordinate the hand movements. If orthographic memory is weak, the child cannot internalize how words are spelled or recognize them on sight, impacting spelling and reading alike. Likewise, the phonological processing problems that cause slow decoding will also cause difficulty in spelling (since spelling requires breaking a word into sounds and knowing the letters). Studies confirm that a weak phonological working memory can impair both word reading and word spelling – the child cannot hold the sounds in mind long enough to map them to letters in writing or blend them in reading.
Visual processing and motor integration
Another link is through visual processing and motor integration. Many children with dyslexia show visual-attention deficits, and children with dysgraphia often have poor visual-motor integration (eye–hand coordination). For example, a cause like a visual attention span deficit (only processing a few letters at once) will hinder reading fluency and also make it hard to remember letter sequences for writing. In summary, the root causes – whether phonological, memory-related, or visual – have cascading effects on both the ability to read words and to reproduce them in writing. This is why it’s common to see a child with reading difficulties also exhibit dysgraphia symptoms such as slow, laborious handwriting or disorganized writing. Both issues should be assessed and addressed together, given their interconnected nature.
The overlap between writing and reading challenges
Dysgraphia is often thought of as a writing issue, but it can have a serious impact on how a child reads. When it’s hard to visualize letters or form them accurately, recognizing words on a page becomes slower and more frustrating. Understanding this connection is key to helping children strengthen both reading and writing skills together.
Next up: Visual processing and handwriting
The role of visual processing in handwriting and expression
Reading and writing aren’t just about language—they’re deeply connected to how the brain processes visual information. Children with visual processing difficulties may struggle with letter recognition, spacing, and handwriting legibility, making both reading and writing more challenging. From letter reversals to poor visual tracking, these issues can impact everything from copying text to organizing written work. How does visual perception shape literacy skills, and what can be done to strengthen it? Read on to explore the critical link between visual processing and written expression.