DYSGRAPHIA - Usman Rasheed's MA ELT Thesis

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IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEMS FACED BY DYSLEXIC STUDENTS IN ORTHOGRAPHICAL EXPRESSION (DYSGRAPHIA) AT PRIMARY LEVEL
By
USMAN RASHEED (12133)
FACULTY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGES, LITERATURE & APPLIED LINGUISTICS NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES, LAHORE CAMPUS
2011-2013
IDENTIFICATION OF THE PROBLEMS FACED BY DYSLEXIC STUDENTS IN ORTHOGRAPHICAL EXPRESSION (DYSGRAPHIA) AT PRIMARY LEVEL
INTERNAL SUPERVISOR:
ZAHEER HUSSAIN
BY:
USMAN RASHEED
A Thesis presented to the
Faculty of English Language, Literature & Applied Linguistics NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF MODERN LANGUAGES
ISLAMBAD, PAKIATAN In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE JANUARY, 2013
CANDIDATE DECLARATION FORM

I, USMAN RASHEED Son of ABDUL RASHEED Candidate of Mater in English Language Teaching at the National University of Modern Languages do hereby declare that the dissertation identification of the problems faced by dyslexic students in orthographical expression (dysgraphia) at primary levels. Submitted by me in partial fulfillment of Master Degree, is my original work, and has not been submitted or published earlier. I also solemnly declare that it shall not, in future, be submitted by me for obtaining any other degree from this or any other university or institution. /... /2013
Signature of Candidate
Usman Rasheed
Name of Candidate
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am very much thankful to almighty Allah, without whose help this task would never have been completed. This research is an original effort of mine, but at the same time, it would not have been possible without the expert supervision and guidance of Sir Zaheer Hussain, my supervisor.
I would also like to pay my respects to all of my teachers for their valuable guidance; and special thanks to my all classmates for their warm friendship and assistance during my years of study at NUML Lahore.
Abstract
The purpose of this investigation was to find out the problems that are being faced dyslexic students in writing, called dysgraphia. And researcher has achieved this goal by involving parents of such students and also their instructors. The judgments of field experts have also been taken. With regards to methodology and approach, the researcher considered it best to collect data from parents and instructors with a close ended questionnaire and this approach remained successful. Data was collected from two special education institutions based in Lahore, namely, Amin Maktab, Gulberg and Rising sun, Defense, Lahore. The researcher has added up semi-structure interviews of field experts, for better understanding within the Pakistani context. During the course of investigation, the researcher found that experts mostly confirmed agreed with the highlighted issues. All the collected data was analyzed and presented in description and statistically analyzed and presented using charts. The findings are clearly mentioned using percentages. Some recommendations were also given by researcher and conclusion is given below. The core part of thesis is based on literature review and all data is rephrased in the own words of the researcher.
It is strongly felt that this research is helpful for spreading awareness in community with regards of dyslexia and dysgraphia; both of which are curable and these students can also lead healthy, happy and normal lives. Last but not least I would like to say that different institutes and schools are well equipped to help children who are either dysgraphic or dyslexic. It is hoped that this study will further facilitate and help them in better understanding and handling of such issues.
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ............................................................. 1-3 Background in Pakistan ....................................................... 4-5 Statement of Problem .............................................................. 6 Research Questions ................................................................. 6 Hypothesis ................................................................................. 7 Delimitation of Study ................................................................ 7 Research Methodology .............................................................. 8 Objectives of Present Study ....................................................... 9 Significance of the study.................................................................10
LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................. 11 Introduction ..................................................................................11 Literature Review.........................................................................12 Developmental Dyslexia ..............................................................13 Brief History ................................................................................13 Dyslexia: A Disability or Difficulty? ...........................................14 Diverse Theories ..........................................................................15-16 The Phonological Shortfall Theory..............................................16-17 Temporal Processing Theory .......................................................17 The Magnocellular Theory ..........................................................18 The Double Shortfall Hypothesis.................................................19 Dysgraphia ...................................................................................20 Experts Opinions ........................................................................21-23 Dysgraphia vs. Dyslexia ........................................................... 23-26 What Causes Dysgraphia? ...........................................................27-28 Types of Dysgraphia ..................................................................... 29 Dyslexic Dysgraphia ....................................................................29 Motor Dysgraphia ........................................................................30 Spatial Dysgraphia .......................................................................30 Phonological Dysgraphia .............................................................. 31 Lexical Dysgraphia ......................................................................31
Stress and Dysgraphia ..................................................................31 Characteristics & Indications of Dyslexia ......................................32 Deep Dyslexia ..............................................................................33 Pre-school ..................................................................................... 33 Kindergarten through Third Grade .................................................34 Fourth Grade through High School..............................................34 Dyslexia and Related Disorders ...................................................35 Characteristics & Indications of Dysgraphia 36-37
Third Methodology .............................................................. 38

Introduction ................................................................................... 38 Brief overview of research objectives 39-40
Research design ..............................................................................41 Population .......................................................................................42 Instruments ......................................................................................42 Unit of data analysis........................................................................43
Four Data Analysis ............................................ 44

Research Tools ................................................................................44 Questionnaire ................................................................................ 45 Interview ....................................................................................... 45 Questionnaire for parents ......................................................... 46-52 Parents responses ...................................................................... 53
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Data Interpretation .......................................................................53-56 Questionnaire for instructors........................................................57-67 Instructors responses.................................................................... 67 Instructors Data Interpretation .................................................. 68-71 First interview ..................................................................72-74 Second interview ..........................................................................75-77 Third interview.............................................................................79-80 Fourth interview ......................................................................... 81-83 Interpretations of interviews ........................................................84-86
Five Findings and Recommendations.......................87-88

Findings of the study...................................................................89-90 Conclusion ......................................................................................91 Recommendations .................................................................... 92-96 Work cited ............................................................................. 97-104 APPENDIX A (Questionnaire for Parents) ..................... 105-107 APPENDIX B (Questionnaire for Instructors) ................. 108-111 APPENDIX C (Semi-Structured Interviews) .................... 112-114
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CHAPTER NO: 1 INTRODUCTION

Language is a unique human tool and problems regarding language skills are also unique. Language learning is consists of four basic-skills and they are all equally important for grasping the language to its culmination point. During teaching we encounter different situations which are sometimes quite remote from our own experiences. Language learners are always important for us and if we understand them, we can teach them in a better way. Its obvious that all the language-learners differ from one another regarding capabilities but sometimes we come across exceptions in our learners that may be in different language areas. Therefore researcher conducted survey, interviews and collected data to identify the nature of problems faced by dyslexic students in written (Dysgraphia) in Pakistan.
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In the beginning dyslexia was a general term that was used for disabilities but later on it was divided into many entities. Now every dimension that is related with dyslexia has its own identification and many researchers have conducted their researches on these dimensions .More or less there are thirteen terms that are derived from dyslexia. Commonly found Dysgraphia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysphasia, aphasia etc. Dyslexia has been found quite a broad term which defines a learning disability that affects peoples fluency and understanding with accuracy in being able to read and which can manifest itself as a difficulty with phonological awareness, phonological decoding, processing speed, orthographic coding, auditory short-term memory, language skills/verbal comprehension, and or rapid naming. A dyslexic child finds it complicated to obtain the normal literacy skills and therefore can have a traumatic experience within the educational environment. What can further make the experience more traumatic, if the peers in the immediate environment abuse him or make fun of him. Therefore it is vital that appropriate steps should take to ensure comfort for such children.
The main purpose of this research is to explore the disabilities regarding orthographical expressions. Its a comprehensive subject and made own
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place and identification among other language disabilities. Dysgraphic students are unable to organize the structures of long pieces of texts. They face problems regarding expression, grammar, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and sequence. In addition, their short-term working memory shortfalls and makes slow information processing speeds and it increases the complexity of dealing with words. Their verbal abilities do not match with their writing abilities in class work. When tackling with written assignments, one of the most difficult things for a dysgraphic student is to get his initial thoughts down on paper. While he has all the ideas in his mind and knows exactly what he wants to say, the struggles he has with expressing his ideas can be seen in assignments.
Background of dyslexia problem in Pakistan

Along with the rest of the world, Pakistan also faces the problem of learning disability in children. Generally due to insufficient awareness of the issue, people do not pay much attention to this problem. Recently, however, there have been efforts made both publicly and privately to
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create awareness amongst people. Governments help, although not sufficient to combat this on a country wide scale, however plays a vital role. Zar Nageen reported on 6 July 2007 at Karachi that the number of dyslexic children in the city has increased by 25% over the past decade. It should be kept in mind that Dysgraphia may be by birth disorder, which can be due to abnormal pattern of brain tissues. It is required that children with this disorder should be enrolled in special schools. In different areas of world, dyslexic children are sent to normal schools after attending special schools for specific time. Such institutions are few in number in Pakistan, dyslexic children are being ignored on large scale. Several competent dyslexic children are, as a result overlooked, and do not get any attention for their talent.
It was reported By Asad farooq on Sunday, February 19, 2012 at Karachi that REA Dyslexics is an institute that deals with dyslexia affected students. The institute is a first one of its kind in Pakistan that helps children to cope up with learning and comprehension difficulty known as dyslexia. REA Dyslexics not only facilitates dyslexia students but also organizes workshops and seminars to spread awareness about dyslexia and education related issues. On the occasion, four success stories of Zoya Kareem,
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Naseeruddin, Turab and Shuja were presented. All four persons have been enrolled in Dyslexic Remedial Program of the institute and were enjoying a satisfied life. They shared their experiences and shed light on the difficulties faced by dyslexic students speaking at the session. Karachi has two private educational consultancies one of them is R.E.A and CARE - which are struggling to attend to children with learning disabilities, turn out enough teachers to support the learning system and generate enough funds to expand it further. There is one institution in Lahore that is Lahore Centre for Children that again does not have enough resources to train staff and manage the influx of struggling children.
Dyslexia Awareness Week 6th November 2011 onwards it was again organized by REA. Dyslexics organization in Pakistan, Overcoming the problem in Pakistan and agenda of the seminar. Parental initiative is critical in bringing dyslexia in the lime light of learning difficulties arena. The role of positive parenting is essential and the process of teaching children the tactics of overcoming the difficulties linked with dyslexia can make a massive difference to a dyslexic children or adult.
Statement of Problem
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The research is being conducted for the identification of the problems faced by dyslexic students in orthographical expression (Dysgraphia) at primary levels.
Research Questions
What are the problems faced by dyslexic students in orthographical
expression (Dysgraphia) at primary levels?
Hypothesis
Dyslexic Students are unable to read and write with fluency. After doing a lot of struggle their reading and writing skills never match with spoken abilities.
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Dyslexic
Students
get
confused
with
reverse
alphabets
( b,d w,m n,u,p,q ).That slow down their reading and writing process and take extra time in the recognition of the words Students are Poor in grammar, sentence structure and in sequencing of ideas. Students commit erratic and irregular spelling errors frequently, Omit or add the consonants and vowels to words. Sometimes spell out entire word in reverse order. Students face problem in discrimination of upper case and lower case alphabets. While writing a word they mix up upper and lower case letters in a word. Mostly students show failure in the use of capitalization.
Delimitation in present study

The researcher has focused on dyslexia and Dysgraphia, other areas like dyspraxia; dyscalculia and aphasia are not part of this research.
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Objectives of Present Study

To identify the nature of problems faced by dysgraphic students. To highlight the language affected areas due to Dysgraphia. To explain how and to what extent Dysgraphia hinders in reading and writing. To give opportunity to understand this problem and its remedies through activities. To find out role of dyslexia in dysgraphic disability.
Significance of the study

We can have complete understanding after reading background of dyslexia and Dysgraphia in Pakistan. This domain remain neglected from the very first day or little attention has been paid .In these circumstances, this effort is an extension of study in this field that will be very beneficial in
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Pakistani context for increasing awareness with regard to this disability. We all agree with these facts that dyslexia is a condition that affects people throughout their lives and stays with them till their old age. However, it must be kept in mind that with proper training the condition can be improved upon greatly. There are several evidences which show what types of instruction, struggling readers need in order to be successful (e.g., National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2000; Snow et al., 1998; Torgesen, 2000). It is obvious that both dyslexic and dysgraphic children have to encounter far more issues than normal pupils. Research tells us that positive and encouraging behavior of parents as well as teachers plays a significant role in solving such childrens problems and helps both dyslexic and dysgraphic patients to cope with their troubles. Since such children use more time and effort to fulfill a task as compared to non-dyslexic children, it has been observed that in fact Dyslexic individuals require five times more effort as compared to a normal, healthy individual. Teachers point out that a dyslexic child is troubled by his writing, solving mathematical problems, has issues like letter reversal, forgets spellings learnt recently and has difficulty in copying material from the teachers board.
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This study investigates the problems associated with a dysgraphic child of primary education level. Effort has been made to spread awareness about the problems of dyslexic and dysgraphic children.
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CHAPTER NO: 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter aims to provide a synopsis of the existing research related to Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. As compared to Dyslexia, not a great amount of research has been conducted on the topic of Dysgraphia, yet the subject touches upon many different areas of language, psychology and neurobiology, and hence is important. The intention of the researcher is to consolidate and represent research on the topic. In order to do so, the researcher provides contemporary study and data by other (contemporary and old) researchers; provided basic (yet
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=902necessary) definitions and then move on towards progressive and other theories related to Dyslexia and Dysgraphia. The first half of the Literature review (below) discusses Dyslexia, whereas the second half discussed Dysgraphia, separately. The researcher also quote indications of Dyslexia and Dysgraphia from number of different resources and provide references.
Developmental Dyslexia:
Developmental Dyslexia which is generally, known as Dyslexia is a term that has been used primarily for reading disability. It leads to difficulties in the attainment of reading and spelling Skills. The researcher has found that the first detailed definition on Dyslexia was drafted by the World Federation of Neurology in 1968: Dyslexia is a disorder manifested by a problem in learning to read in spite of conventional teaching, adequate intellect and socio-cultural opportunity. With the passage of time, a number of organizations have come up with different definitions of Dyslexia. For instance, The Dutch Dyslexia association Stitching Dyslexia Nederland came up with the subsequent normally accepted and used definition: Dyslexia is an impairment characterized by a steady problem in the acquisition and the accurate and/or fluent application of reading and/or spelling skills at word level. The reading level is noticeably below the expectations on the base of age
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and situation. The difficulties are didactically resistant (Stitching Dyslexia Nederland, 2003). The above work on Dyslexia began in 1968 and developed in several ways till 2003. Two medical categorization systems were used as an initial point in defining Dyslexia: the International Classification of Impairments, Disabilities and Handicaps (ICIDH) of the World Health Organization (WHO, 1980) and the DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for reading disorder (APA, 1994).
Brief History
Vellutino (1979) was the first person who recognized Dyslexia as a language disorder. He also highlighted that the previous consequences seen as evidence for a perceptual shortfall in Dyslexia were completely dependable with the view that dyslexic readers have verbal decoding disability. This hypothesis was supported by pointing to studies that show delays in speech and language progress. But, later on this argument was considered to be very general (Snowling, 2000). There are more probabilities that children with at least one dyslexic parent have a significantly higher possibility; they have between 32 and 68% probability of developing Dyslexia (Elbro et al., 1998; Pennington & Lefly, 2001; Scarborough, 1990).
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Most studies have been found unfair towards males; as per (Miles et al., 1998; Rutter & Yule, 1975; Sauver et al., 2001; Flannery et al., 2000; Shaywitz et al., 1990). Females are affected two times more as compared to males. Nonetheless, it is still not established whether male children are biologically responsible for developing Dyslexia (Flannery et al., 2000). Debates have led to diverse new definitions and theories concerning the underlying root of Dyslexia. All of these controversies exist because of heterogeneity in the behavioral outline of Dyslexia: It is also true that indications of Dyslexia differ with the age (Snowling, 2000), occurrence of disabilities take to a change and it can be seen in the manifestations (Snowling, 2000), and the behavioral representations of Dyslexia varies from situation to situation (Snowling, 2000; Vellutino, 2004).
Dyslexia: A Disability or Difficulty?

The researcher believes that Dyslexia is a lasting disability and the [IDEA] Persons with Disabilities Education Act in the US, supports this opinion. The debate on Dyslexia is on global level and a disagreement on what constitutes Dyslexia, whether it is defined as a learning problem or learning disability. According to Westwood, the stance about disability and problem is quite indistinct. This definitional argument falls within a political field and is influenced by government-based, policy of, infrastructure that links educational support.
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In the USA Dyslexia comes underneath the area of a particular learning disability and is publicly defined within the Persons with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA] 1990-1997. In 2004 this act was altered into the Persons with Disabilities Education Improvement [IDEI]. It recognized Dyslexia as a specific learning disability. In the UK, the term Dyslexia is used as a key term and is identified as a learning disability (Cunningham and Firth, 2005). Nonetheless, Westwood (2008) claims that in the UK they have clouded the issue of definition even more by adopting the terms learning problem and learning disability to refer to those children who have intellectual disability. The dispute on Dyslexia as a problem or disability is still not concluded in the Australia. Confirmation of Dyslexia as a separate learning disability or learning style, vary according to the different researchers opinion, although it is not clearly established or identified in educational rule. According to Australian Commonwealth Disability Discrimination Act, ACDA 1992 categorize disability as a disorder or failure that consequences in the person learning differently from a person without the disorder or malfunction, can be problem of community education state or territory based (Elkins 2000) and Dyslexia as a particular learning disability is not clearly defined.
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Diverse Theories:
It has been agreed by most that Dyslexia is the main problem in the verbal sphere (Lyytinen et al., 2004). However, this opinion does not apply to all dyslexics. There are several different theories on the subject, some of which are discussed below:
The Phonological Shortfall Theory:

According to researchers and scholars like Gallagher and Velluntino, in addition to reading and writing, another common difficulty faced by dyslexics is related to phonological shortfall i.e. dyslexics do not have normal capacity to display and produce words sounds. They attribute this incapacity to a shortage associated with the brain to codify the phonological properties appropriately which results in the unclear sound production. This has been researched and verified by professional anatomical and functional brain imaging studies; in fact one of the leading proponents, Ramus (2003) has researched and is of the opinion that the left perisylvian dysfunction of the brain and associated nerves is the basis for phonological shortfall. However, this theory is not without its fair share of shortcomings; one of which is that it does not clarify that what is meant by unclear or vague sound production. Another criticism is that it is commonly observed that several dyslexic children do not exhibit speech impairment issues of any
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kind at all. It can be safely concluded that Dyslexia cant be explained by phonological processing deficit alone since then we would unable to understand why sensory and motor disorders take place in a prominent number of dyslexic patients.
Temporal Processing Theory:

Tallaal suggests that phonological deficit is the result of a low-level auditory perception loss in the processing of concise or rapid sounds. Different experiments related to the performance of dyslexically impaired children are what led to this. It was observed in these experiments that children demonstrated problems in processing concise sounds at a rapid pace. It has been observed that not all dyslexics have difficulty with auditory processing,, neither are these limited solely to concise or speedy stimuli (Snowling 2004).
The Magno-cellular Theory:

As compared to other theories The magno-cellular theory gives a holistic view taking into account all sensory, cognitive, and motor display of Dyslexia. This theory postulates that tactile, visual, auditory, motor and phonological deficits in dyslexics are driven due to basic problems arising
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from temporal working, free from acoustic, visual or motor modalities. Needless to say, these problems are connected to the magno-cellular structure of human brain and one of the apparent reasons seems to be cell failure along magno-cellular pathway.
Although there are sufficient proofs to back the magno-cellular theory, yet it fails to explain why in certain divisions of dyslexics there is complete absence of these physiological and psychological findings on which the theory is based. This theory also falls short of establishing and explaining the deficiency of motor and sensory disorders in other sub-domains of dyslexics (Olson & Datta, 2002).
Rosen (2003) carried out a study in which he tried to establish which of these theories was sounder. Adult patients of dyslexia were tried and tested for phonological, auditory and cerebellar tests. The results were as follows: a) Phonological tasks: Everyone experienced deficit but almost 30% seemed to have a entirely phonological deficit. Others suffered either from additional auditory, visual, or motor disorders.
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b) Cerebellar tests: 25% of the dyslexics displayed underperformance on the cerebellar tests and 12.5% in the sample seemed to have visual difficulties of a magno-cellular nature. c) Auditory trouble: More than half of the sample faced auditory trouble, but these could not be described as a swift auditory processing failure, contrary to predictions of the temporal processing theory or the magno-cellular theory. Taking the results of the above reports into account which support the phonological shortfall theory, Rosen (2003) concluded that phonological shortfalls can arise independently of any sensory or motor impairment.
The Double Shortfall Hypothesis:

Bowers and Wolf (1993) are responsible for formulating and refining The double shortfall hypothesis of progressal Dyslexia. The theory indicates that phonological skills cannot explain the entire variance within the span of reading measures (Carlisle 1998). It has been observed that ones speed at reading and converting a visual symbol into a verbal tag is independent of ones phonological capability and add unique variation to reading.
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This hypothesis postulates two reasons for Dyslexia, which is:

a) shortfalls in phonology and; b) Naming speed.
These two reasons or factors can be both independent of each other or can also occur together in a double shortfall.
Dysgraphia:
Dysgraphia is a particular impairment that is related to writing i.e. it manifests itself in the form of spelling and writing difficulties. It is also known as Agraphia. It is an authentic learning disorder that affects ones orthographical abilities in a negative way. This is because writing requires a multifaceted combination of motor skills.
Experts Opinions:
Below are a few definitions from various experts and researchers about Dysgraphia: It is a learning disability that affects peoples writing abilities. It becomes apparent in the form of people having difficulties with spelling, handwriting and expressing thoughts on paper. (National Center for Learning Disabled, 2009).
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Dysgraphia is the delayed progress in, or acquired loss of the skill of writing which may affect an individual at the age of twenty. Dysgraphia has links with DCD/Dyspraxia but has different roots. DCD/Dyspraxia is a disorder of motor planning but where the individual have idea what he wants to write down, has the imagination to formulate the semantics, can cope orally with the spelling and syntax but they are totally unable to grasp the actions of the hand necessary to produce this on paper, in a readable form commensurate with his age. Dysgraphic type difficulties are usually related to poor chronological in construction processing and poor motor/kinesthetic skills. This affects speed and quality of handwriting and also spelling. Dysgraphic behavior is a true disorder and may continue into adult life. It is common to find evidence of Dysgraphia in other members of the family, especially among males.
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Children with Dysgraphia usually can write down on some level and often be deficient in other fine motor skills judgment activities such as tying shoelaces difficult. It does not influence all fine motor skills. They can be lack in basic spelling task (common example having difficulty with b and d, p and q) and often will jot down the wrong word when attempting to devise feelings (on paper). Children with such disability might have some other sort of learning disorders but they typically have no social or other educational difficulties. Dysgraphia is a particular learning disability that affects writing abilities. It can manifest itself as difficulties with spelling, handwriting and expressing thoughts on paper (National Center for Learning Disabled, 2009). The International Dyslexia Association (2009) defined
Dysgraphia as a particular learning disability that affects how easily children acquire written language and how well they use written language to express their thoughts (p. 1). Dysgraphia is a word that has been taken from Greek language. The basic word graph denoted both to the hands function in orthographical and to the letters formed by the hand. The prefix dys is used to show any sort of impairment at any level. Graph refers to the production of orthographical expressions by hand. The suffix ia indicate to having a presence. Thus, Dysgraphia is the state of impaired letter writing by
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hand, that is, disabled handwriting, and sometimes spelling (The International Dyslexia Association, 2008, p. 1).
The Disability Discrimination Act defined Dysgraphia as a medical disorder applied to those who experience trouble associated with their fine motor skills and thus manifests in the form of poor handwriting and weak expression of thoughts in ones writing.
It has been described as writing skills (that.) are substantially below those expected given the persons..age, measured intelligence and age appropriate education (DSMIV, American Psychiatric Association 1994)
Dysgraphia vs Dyslexia:
Dysgraphia, as compared to Dyslexia, is a somewhat recent discovery. Records show that spelling disorders began to be noticed a long while ago, however, no one was interested in spelling at that time (Grashey, 1885; Lichtheim, 1885;).
It is common knowledge that people speak much before they learn writing. In fact even the most versatile and talented writers follow this order. On a further note, the reading and writing abilities are tightly connected to ones
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educational background. Not so long ago, advance spelling ability was achieved by hardly but a few amongst masses. These too, were barely noticed. Therefore, the discovery that an occasional development or rare skill could be harmed as a result of brain damage did not garner special attention. Thus research on Dysgraphia did not in fact focus on these features of the disorder as compared to the matter of the relations between the disorders of cognitive and linguistic functions with issues related to spelling.
During the eighties, for the first time, models based solely on the ideals of construction processing methodology e.g. Mortons model of 1969 etc., began to affect and dictate psycho-linguistic research on linguistics. This showed that such investigations could provide constructive means for the improvement, of theories, of standard cognition. Also, this helped better understand the mindbrain relationship, as well as the finding and cure of such people. Primarily, with the help of the new approach, researchers on Dyslexia profited the most. Afterwards cases of surface dyslexia and phonological dyslexia were diagnosed and filed accordingly. (e.g., Patterson, Marshall, & Coltheart, 1985) Such trends were associated to the selective impairment of mechanisms
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important for reading aloud familiar words and also to the selective impairment of sub lexical graphemephoneme conversion methods that are necessary to read aloud unfamiliar phrases or sentences. Throughout the eighties, empirical support for an analogous distinction in spelling was provided by analyses of Dysgraphia. Subjects with phonological Agraphia i.e. disproportionate problem in spelling new and unique words as compared to routine everyday words (Baxter & Warrington, 1986). Also, on the other hand, subjects with surface Dysgraphia i.e. the reverse pattern, consisting of more accurate performance on novel words than on familiar words (Hatfield & Patterson, 1982) were described. Such trends were associated to an unequal destruction of sub-lexical procedures and mechanisms. The independence of such lexical semantic methods from sub lexical conversion processes, that accumulate orthographic strings by conversion of a phonological input, also easily accounted for most of the vital features of errors traditionally found in surface Dysgraphia.
As the research progressed on Dysgraphia, the first obvious question addressed by modern studies was whether it was possible or not to substantiate an operational system parallel to that suggested for reading by
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cognitive analysis of Dyslexia. The answer was Yes. Motivated by the contrasting patterns of performance described in subjects with phonological and surface Dyslexia, the lexical-semantic methods and procedures were both selfgoverning and independent.
By the end of the eighties, a holistic framework of the spelling arrangement had been mostly finalized. To spell a common word, the subsequent stored structure is recovered in from semantic input. According to studies of Dysgraphia, when a new or a fake word has to be spelled, a mechanism is activated which is entirely independent and intakes the phonological input in the form of a string strictly based on context of constraints and available mapping options. Once again it should be appreciated that until the late eighties, investigation on spellings concentrated on the ability to display only and none of the techniques were involved as such in spelling. Later, however, when confirmation from other sources suggested that lexical semantic and sub lexical processes are interrelated, the previous views changed. Ever since then, study in this area has answered progressively more meticulous questions and continues to do so.
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What Causes Dysgraphia?

Different experts have different opinions about the causes and effects of Dysgraphia. Various researchers who had taken varying approaches to gain an understanding of Dysgraphia have offered different theories on the subject. Some of these have been shared below: Generally speaking, many researchers assert that Dysgraphia is a handwriting trouble which cannot be elucidated by intellectual deficiencies. It has been claimed by Ajuriaguerra & Auzias (1975) that tensional or affective difficulties or ignorance of a language can be provoked by unlikable circumstances and eventually leads to Dysgraphia. The opposite of Ajuriaguerra & Auzias is claimed by Maeland (1991). He claims that Dysgraphia reflects a maturational delay of a neurological or perceptual nature, thus preventing early specialization of language functioning. As a result this leads to language difficulties with regards.
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Sovik, another leading researcher, has said that the primary fundamentals of a child's writing includes in addition to other abilities, the child's previously acquired skill set in the linguistic field counts a lot. He claims Dysgraphia to be a psychomotor disorder. Malloy-Miller (1995), similarly to Sovik, describe Dysgraphia as bad handwriting that is mainly unreadable due to mild motor problems. Nevertheless, contrary to Sovik, they do not allocate the disorder to defect/s in cognition.
Students diagnosed with Dysgraphia quite often suffer from difficulties with arrangement, order and logical sequencing. There is also a tendency to mix letters and numbers in formulas, also writing mix-ups in terms of spelling, punctuation, etc. What seems to be a surface problem (poor handwriting, writing words backwards, reversing letters and numbers, writing letters out of order) actually is related to construction processing.
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Types of Dysgraphia:
There are three principle types in all and some people may even have a combination of two or all three:
Dyslexic Dysgraphia:
Dyslexic Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder in which the person suffers both the symptoms of Dyslexia & Dysgraphia. Due to lack of appropriate neurological coordination between head, arm, hand and eye movements etc., people have trouble in both writing and reading. Children mostly learn to deal with such problems in a number of ways e.g. by adjusting their position in a chair and aiding the arm to write properly. Although Dyslexia and Dysgraphia apparently seem to be unrelated but are often found to be together. In case of Dyslexic Dysgraphia, the finger tapping speed, a way of recognizing motor difficulties is normal. Childrens copied work may appear to be comparatively reasonable but on the other hand the spellings are bad very often. Writing may be muddled at times for e.g. in s typical case the same letter may be written over and over again. Another instance is the addition of strokes to a letter that arent required.
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Motor Dysgraphia:
This type of Dysgraphia is caused by a deficiency in ones motor skills. There are many symptoms of Motor dysgraphia including weak muscles, poor handiness etc. Simple Letter construction requires severe effort and a lot of time to accomplish such simple tasks. A key indication is that the finger tapping speed of such individuals is also below normal.
Spatial Dysgraphia:
A general definition of spatial Dysgraphia is that it is a deficiency in the understanding of space. The copied or written work of people who suffer from spatial Dysgraphia is unreadable however not fine motor based. People suffering from this form of Dysgraphia may write down illegibly because of a abrasion or wound on the right side of the brain. This case is evident also in the form of abnormal spacing between letters during cursive hand writing. Also, it has been observed that persons suffering from this type of dysgraphia may write down words at a slanting angle.
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Phonological Dysgraphia:
In this type of Dysgraphia people are unable to remember phonemes and mix them appropriately to produce the desired result. Normally this results in writing and spelling irregularities.
Lexical Dysgraphia:
Lexical Dysgraphia is more common in languages such as English and French. This type of Dysgraphia is uncommon in children. The characteristic of these languages that make them more vulnerable to Lexical Dysgraphia is that they are less phonetic than a language like Spanish. In this type of Dysgraphia a person can spell but for that purpose relies on standard sound-to-letter patterns.
Stress and Dysgraphia:

Stress is one of the factors that is most common and quite often associated with Dysgraphia. Quite often people diagnosed with Dysgraphia easily become frustrated with their writing. This aggravation can cause them a lot of stress and can further be the cause of related illnesses.
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Characteristics & Indications of Dyslexia:

Feeling pain in hands and arms during writing Unwanted use of erasers Students frequently mix up upper case letters with lower case letters Inconsistency in letters formation or incomplete letters Serious misusage of margins and lines incompetent speed of copying material from board Consistently required oral cues during writing The more emphasis on visual activities as compared to writing Orthographical skills may also create problem with spelling while writing lengthy passages Having great interpretation difficulty during writing May often complaint about pain in hands and arms during writing
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Deep Dyslexia:
Cannot read out fresh vocabulary words with their sounds May also commit errors due to inactive blindness and misuse the semantic, revolve becomes revolt Mostly commit derivational and inflectional mistake lovely might be lively Change the function of words example all and also May also suffer from problems when they have to read words in isolation Get confused or failed in the decoding of complex words Slow and inaccurate in reading Fear in the learning of new words and spelling
Pre-school
May talk slowly and with shyness Often suffer from great difficulty when encounter rhymes These students may have difficulty in the pronunciation of words like burger and bugler May also be found slow in the learning of new vocabulary words Commonly found as unable in the learning of right words.
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Often face problem in the memorization of digits and names of week days
May not be able to remember the color, shapes and directions
Kindergarten
Students also suffer from great anguish while learning words with their corresponding sounds Students really find it hard to remember the sounds of individual words in isolation Face problems in the learning of spelling with sounds Focus on text for recognizing the words.
High School and fourth grade

These students have records of reading and writing mistakes Show extreme hesitation in reading loudly Mostly read slowly and laboriously Always avoid extensive reading or reading for pleasure Children have great difficulty in spelling, cant use easier words successfully in writing due to spelling difficulty
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Dyslexia and Related Disorders

Read the content more than once for comprehension and need to read again and again for complete understanding Reading speed is abnormal and slow than standard and may also find difficulty in recalling whatever they have read. Difficulty in fluent reading, may add or omit words during reading Cant focus on one task, often derailed and start again Difficulty in focusing on the page, required a lot of effort in doing so and its really tiring Get confused in reading with similar words
Characteristics & Indications of Dysgraphia:

Handwriting is sometimes almost impossible to read Writing something with hand always required a lot of effort Letter construction is most of the time bizarre Steadily striving hard to make the pen, do what you want Abnormal hand and body posture Unnecessary use of erasers Severe irregularity in the formation of letters
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Irregular letter sizes and shapes Unfinished cursive letters Misuse of line and margin Poor organization on the page Insufficient pace in copying from board Slow speed of writing Extremely speedy way of writing Serious dependence on visualization to observe how the hands move while writing.
Firm, strange penmanship along with bizarre posture Unreadable orthographical expression Show hesitation while writing and drawing Incomplete words in sentences and paragraphs Trouble in the organization of ideas while writing Tight & awkward pencil grip
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pressing harder to compensate for loss of control illegible handwriting Unfinished work Avoiding writing activities Saying words too loud while writing Difficulties with grammar
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CHAPTER NO: 3 METHODOLOGY
This chapter defines the research method and the procedure of records gathering, that is required to investigate researchers own created hypothesis and theoretical structure that has been jotted down previously. This study identifies the nature of problems faced by dyslexic students in orthographical expression (dysgraphia) at primary level in Pakistani background. For the confirmation of accurate results, it is really important
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to select a precise line of action for the research. Next section of study is offering us gist of the study objectives. As far as objectives of this study are concern these are very clear in the researchers mind and researcher wants to make them vivid for viewers. First of all as the main topic has described that researchers study objectives to pinpoint the problems faced by dyslexic students in orthographical expression (dysgraphia) at primary level. Second important objective is how language is affected due to dyslexia and dysgraphia and what are the language areas that are manifesting the problems. Another objective is to find out how dysgraphia and to what extent it creates hindrances in the individuals writing. It explains how reading and writing are interrelated. One key objective of this study is to make people aware of such educational problems and motivate them that all such educational problems can be resolvable and curable .Special students can recover from such impairment with activities. That will help them in their educational career. The core intention of this research is to discover, what are the common features of dyslexia and dysgraphia .We can also say what comes first and what comes later ,which term reinforce the other. The methodology of this research is based on two approaches qualitative and quantitative approach. Through quantitative approach data is collected from instructors and parents by using a questionnaire. The numbers of
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participants from instructors are four and same on the other hand, (parents). All the questions are concise, well defined and related to the different aspects of the topic. The number of questions varies in each questionnaire and they have been set according to the objectives of the study. Both have same answerable options, called lickert scale.
Date has been collected by questionnaires which are quantifiable and results are mentioned in statistical form. The qualitative approach has been used in semi structure interviews, which has been conducted with four field experts out of ten. They have given best of their opinion on the given questions. The numbers of questions are approximately ten in interviews and all of them are open ended. . All data, quantitative and qualitative both has been analyzed separately and results have been) formulated for final conclusions.
Research design:
The priority of this research design is to give a support in a well organized way so that the researcher can accomplish the targeted goals with reliability and accuracy. The type of this study is descriptive that explore the problems faced by dyslexic students in orthographical expression (dysgraphia) at primary level in the Pakistani context. This sort of investigation requires the support in shape of statistical facts in relation to
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the sample that has been observed. It can explain with " how, where, when, what and who " of a state of affairs, not what reason is behind it. Consequently, most of the time descriptive approach of research is applied when aim is to offer the details of objectives in a well organized way.
Population:
Researcher has targeted population of three groups and each group has ten members. All of them are equally important in this study and are directly or indirectly related with this educational problem. First group is related to field experts of dyslexia and dysgraphia mostly head of special education department across the city. Data has been collected from them by semi structured interviews. Almost ten questions in each form and further probing in questions was need based .Experts cited their opinion in detail and this data has been later on used for the final results after comparing with other data .Second group of instructors who teach dyslexic and dysgraphic students. Questionnaires were used for data collection, more or less fifteen questions were in that and data is collected through it. All questions were close ended and with lickert scale options. Last group is based on parents of dyslexic and dysgraphic students. Parents questionnaire is following the same instructors pattern.
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Sample:
As above mentioned that researcher has three targeted groups and more or less in each group there are ten members. As a sample researcher selected four people randomly from field experts and same sample size from instructors group. Last group is related with parents of dyslexic and dysgraphic students and again only four members were chosen from parents group.
Instruments:
For this study, researcher has selected two approaches qualitative and quantitative. Through quantitative approach researcher has selected two close ended questionnaires in which, there are more or less fifteen questions in each. First questionnaire is for parents and second one is for instructors. Data has been collected in statistical forms this was the core purpose of this instruments. It gives accurate and valid information and on the other hand it is easy to represent the data via this approach after analysis.
Second instrument that researcher has chosen is from qualitative approach. The semi structured interviews have been conducted with field experts of
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dyslexia and dysgraphia. Ten basic questions were asked and further probing was done on the base of need. Answers of the questions were recorded on pages, information given by field experts. All these responses were in descriptions that are used as a result of the questions and this data is analyzed.
Unit of data analysis:

Data analysis is important part of any research and should always be decided in the earlier stages of it. It will make you confident and your actions prompt. In this research data is collected from three different groups, analyzed and represented separately. First group is based on field experts and data is represented in the descriptive form. Ten questions are presented in this questionnaire. Answers that are in shape of description are used as results. On the other hand we have four instructors group; data is collected from them in statistical form because questions are close ended. Data is analyzed and results are presented with the help of bar charts. Same process has been adopted in the case of third group. Parents answered in the same way as instructors did. Data is presented with the help of bar charts and line charts.
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CHAPTER NO:4 Data Analysis

After collection of data, the researcher prepared the statistics for analysis; organized it for maximum information; and analyzed the data both qualitatively and quantitatively.
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Research Tools
Two types of tools for data collection were used to make the process reliable and accurate, by the researcher.
QUESTIONNAIRE
Two different sets of questionnaires were prepared i.e. one for parents and the other for instructors. The questionnaire designed for both, consisted of close ended questions. The questionnaire designed for the instructors consisted of fourteen questions and also options were provided in the form of Likerts scale. The parents questionnaire is almost of the same design however, the number of questions here is twelve questions along with Likerts scale option. 1 strongly agree 2 agree 3 neutral 4 disagree 5 strongly disagree
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Interviews
The interviews were conducted in semi-structured form. Four field experts were asked to provide their responses to the researchers questions; and the responses were documented in written form.
Parents Questionnaire
1. Your child has poor penmanship.
strongly agree neutral disagree agree Numbers of 1 Response Percentage 25% 0% 25% 25% 0 1 1
strongly disagree
25%
In response 25% strongly agreed, 25% remained neutral, 25% strongly disagreed and 25% disagreed. This statement shows that poor penmanship varies from child to child.
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2.
Your child ever complains that it hurts to write.
strongly disagree agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 100% 0% 0% 4 0 0 agree neutral
strongly disagree
0%
All parents showed 100% consensus that their child complains that it hurts him while writing so its a genuine issue of dysgraphic children.
3.
Your child has great difficulty to convey message in writing.
strongly agree Numbers of 1 Response Percentage 25% 25% 25% 0% 1 1 0 agree neutral disagree
strongly disagree
25%
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In response 25% strongly agreed, 25% agreed and 25 % remained neutral and 25% even disagreed with the statement.
strongly disagree
0%
4. Your child fails to use capitals and punctuation correctly.
In response of this statement 75% parents agreed while 25% showed strong agreement.
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5. Your childs anxiety level rises up before writing the assignments.
strongly disagree
25%
50% agreed in which 25% responded strongly and 25%only agreed. On the other hand the situation is entirely opposite i.e. 25% strongly disagreed whereas the other 25% disagreed. So answers were 50% in yes and 50% in no.
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6. Your child feels difficulty to grip the pencil.
strongly disagree
0%
100% parents agreed that so it is an obvious and known problem.
7. Your child uses the keyboard easily as compared to written work.
strongly disagree
0%
50% parents agreed and the other 50% gave neutral answer.
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8. Your child averts to write the extended things like coloring and artwork
strongly disagree
0%
50% of the parents disagreed, 25% agreed and the last 25% were neutral.
9.
Your child feels tired quickly when writing.
strongly Disagree agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 50% 25% 25% 2 1 1 Agree Neutral
strongly disagree
0%
50% of the parents gave their answers in agreement, 25% were neutral and the remaining 25% disagreed.
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10. Your childs sitting posture is abnormal.
strongly Disagree agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 25% 25% 50% 1 1 2 Agree Neutral
strongly disagree
0%
50% parents disagreed, 25% agreed and the remaining 25% were neutral.
11. Your child is unable to use line and margin accurately.
strongly disagree agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 50% 0% 50% 2 0 2 Agree Neutral
strongly disagree
0%
50% parents agreed with this statement and the other 50% disagreed.
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12. Your childs orthographical expression is illegible.
strongly disagree agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 0% 0% 75% 0 0 3 Agree Neutral
strongly disagree
25%
All 100% respondents disagreed out which 25% strongly disagreed.
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Parents Responses
180 160 140 120 100 100 80 60 40 20 0 Strongly Agree Agree Netural Disagree Strongly Disagree 58.3 41.6 33.3 166.6
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Data Interpretation
Parents Questionnaire
The Parents questionnaires were analyzed to evaluate and interpret the parents responses. The findings were as follows:
In the answer of first question that child has poor penmanship 25% strongly agreed on the statement and 25% remained neutral,25% strongly disagreed with the statement and 25% only disagreed. The results thus establish that poor penmanship vary from child to child.
On the other hand responding to this statement, all parents showed 100% consensus that their child complains that it hurts him while writing so its a genuine issue of dysgraphic children.
The third statement had diverse responses. 25% of the parents agreed strongly and another 25% agreed that their child has great difficulty to convey message in writing. However 25 % were neutral and another 25% even disagreed with the statement.
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In response of this statement that your child fails to use capitals and punctuation correctly 75% parents agreed and other than that another 25% said they strongly agreed. This shows that this particular problem is 100% reported by parents.
In the analysis of the next question, the researcher found great variation. In response to the statement that childs anxiety level rises up before writing the assignments 25% responded by strongly agreeing and another 25% agreed only. One the other hand situation is entirely opposite since 25% strongly disagreed and the last 25% disagreed. So the responses were 50% in yes and 50% in no.
The statement whether the child feels difficulty in gripping the pencil was responded by parents in an over whelming 100%agreement. Therefore it is an obvious and known problem by parents.
In response to the next statement Your child uses the keyboard easily as compared to written work 50% parents agreed and the same amount i.e. 50% gave neutral answer.
In another statement i.e. Your child averts to writes the extended things
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like coloring and artwork, 50% of the parents disagreed, 25% agreed and the remaining 25% were neutral.
In response to the statement Your child tired quickly when writing, 50% of the parents gave their answers in agreement, 25% remained neutral and the remaining 25% disagreed.
In response to the statement question Your childs sitting posture is abnormal 50% parents disagreed, 25% agreed and 25% chose neutral .So parents did not agree with this statement-question.
50% of the parents agreed with the statement Your child is unable to use line and margin accurately and the other 50% were disagreed.
Last but not the least 75% of the parents disagreed and another 25% strongly disagreed with this statement Your childs orthographical expression is illegible. Hence the parents formed a consensus and unanimously denied this statement.
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Instructors Questionnaire
1.
These students are not poor speller:
strongly disagree
0%
50% disagreed, 25% remained neutral and the last 25% showed agreement hence it was concluded that these students are poor spellers.
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2.
These students write slowly and laboriously:
strongly agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 100% 0% 0% 4 0 0 agree neutral Disagree
strongly disagree
0%
Instructors showed 100% consensus with this statement and the statistics show that this is a serious issue of dysgraphic students.
3. These students do not mix up letters order in writing:
strongly agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 25 0% 75% 1 0 3 agree neutral disagree
strongly disagree
0%
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Almost 75% respondents disagreed with this statement and only 25% agreed. Therefore it was concluded that these students mix up letters.
4. These students get confused with reverses letters "b" for "d" or "p" for "q", even whole words:
strongly disagree
50%
50% instructors agreed where as the remaining 50% disagreed strongly.
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5. These students do not exchange the last letter of a word with the first letter:
strongly disagree
25%
The answer of this statement is divided into three parts: 50% were neutral, 25% strongly disagreed and 25% disagreed in response
6. Students do not spell a word in several different ways.
strongly disagree
0%
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50 % strongly agreed, 25% were neutral and 25% were in disagreement.
7.
Students can copy notes from the board accurately:
strongly disagree
0%
All respondents i.e. 100% disagreed with this statement.
8.
These Students do not mix up similar words like p, b, d, q, m, n,w :
Strongly agree Numbers of 0% Response Percentage 0% 25% 0% 50% 1 0 2 agree neutral Disagree
strongly disagree
25%
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50% showed disagreement, 25% strongly disagreed and only 25% agreed. Hence the result is clear that 75% disagreed while only 25% agreed with this statement.
9. Students do not feel difficulty with punctuation in writing:
Strongly agree Numbers of 2 Response Percentage 50% 0% 0% 25% 0 0 1 agree neutral Disagree
strongly disagree
25%
50% disagreed, 25% strongly disagreed and the remaining 25% disagreed. Therefore, the answer of this statement is still undecided.
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10. Students have lack of coherence in contents during writing:
strongly disagree
0%
Researchers found another statement where all instructors unanimously. One can understanding easily, these students have serious writing problems.
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11. Students often mix up capitals with lower case letters:
strongly disagree
0%
Once again 100% respondents were in complete agreement. 12. These students have Irregular letter sizes and shapes, unfinished letters in orthographical expression:
strongly disagree
0%
In response to this query, 50% of the instructors strongly agreed where as the remaining 50% strongly disagreed.
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13. These students answer the questions poorly in writing:
strongly disagree
0%
All of the instructors agreed out of which 50% displayed strong agreement.
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14. Students have difficulty with pencil grip:
strongly agree Numbers of Response Percentage 0% 0% 50% 50% 0% 0 2 2 agree neutral disagree
strongly disagree
0%
50% of the instructors remained neutral where as the remaining 50% disagreed with this statement.
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Instructors responses
180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Strongly agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly disagree Strongly agree, 35.7 Neutral, 42.8 Strongly disagree, 42.8 Disagree, 114.2 Agree, 171.4
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Data Interpretation
Instructors Questionnaire
The data from the instructors questionnaire was statistically analyzed and interpreted with the help of the various copies of the questionnaire. The first statement that was answered by the instructors was whether these students are poor spellers. 50% of the instructors replied in disagreement, 25% responses were neutral and the remaining 25% showed agreement. Therefore it was concluded that these students are in fact poor spellers. Similarly in response to the second query, instructors showed 100% consensus with this statement that these students write slowly and laboriously and thus it is considered to be a serious issue among dysgraphic students. Almost 75% respondents disagreed with the statement these students do not mix up the order of letters in writing and only 25% agreed. Hence the majority reported that these students do in fact mix up letters.
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The next statement is quite interesting i.e. students get confused with reverse letters e.g. "b" for "d" or "p" for "q", even whole words. 50% instructors agreed with this statement whereas the other 50% strongly disagreed.
Students do not exchange the last letter of a word with the first letter was the next statement-question. The answer of this statement is divided into three parts since 50% responses were neutral, 25% strongly disagreed and 25% disagreed in the response to this statement. In response to the next statement Students do not spell a word in several different ways, 50% agreed, 25% were neutral, 25% were in disagreement. Therefore the result can be simply concluded that these students spell the word in different ways. All of the respondents i.e. 100% disagreed with the statement that students can copy notes from the board accurately. Therefore it means that students cant copy properly from board. The next statement question was these students do not mix up similar words like p, b, d, q, m, n, w. Instructors responded to this query with 50% strong disagreement, 25% disagreed and only 25% agreed. Therefore it was inferred by the researcher that such students do have a tendency to
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mix up letters a lot.
The next statement-question was students do not feel difficulty with punctuation in writing. In response 50% agreed, 25% strongly disagreed and 25% were agreed. So the answer of this statement is undecided. The above was followed up with a question whether these students have lack of coherence in contents during writing. All responses were 100% in affirmation. One can therefore understand easily that these students have serious writing problems. Similar to the above all instructors were also found in agreement that Students often mix up capitals with lower case letters another unanimous verdict. Dysgraphic students have many orthographical issues; one of them is that these students have irregular letter sizes and shapes and unfinished letters in their orthographical expression. Upon asking this question the instructors showed 100% agreement, 50% of which in fact strongly agreed. To sum it all up, it was found that more than one statement generated unanimous and 100% agreement by the instructors. Another one of these observations was when enquired whether students answer the questions poorly in writing. All instructors confirmed this out of which 50% strongly
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agreed.
Last but not least in this statement we have mixed up responses like 50% were neutral and 50% disagreed with the statement that students have difficulty with pencil grip. Obviously, such responses can change due to number of factors.
Analysis of Interviews
First interview:
Researcher conducted an interview, with the field expert of dyslexia/
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dysgraphia at AMIN MAKTAB Gulberg, Lahore. Duration: 15 minutes
1. What is dyslexia? Ans: Dyslexia is a hereditary problem that hinders in the reading skills. 2. What is dysgraphia? Ans: Dysgraphia is a sub-branch of dyslexia but it is particular with orthographical expression. 3. Are these both terms interrelated? Ans: Yes both are inter-related and it was considered as a chicken egg question in the beginning.
4. Which area of language is being affected by dysgraphia? Ans: Dysgraphia mostly affects writing related area and we can locate them in language example punctuation, cohesion and coherence.
5. Are these students poor speller? Why or why not?
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Ans: No doubt these students are poor spellers and to my knowledge they have serious problems like memory short fall. 6. Do these students mix up capitals with lower case letters? Why or why not? Ans: Majority of dyslexic and dysgraphic students mix-up lower and upper case and I can quantify them up to 70% but reason behind this is still unknown to me. 7. Do these children have uneven letter construction, incomplete words, during writing, why or why not? Ans: I am refuting with the statement that has been given in question because I have never encountered with a dysgraphic student who has above mentioned disabilities. 8. Do these students have very abnormal pen grip, how do you look this issue? Ans: It is well known symptom of dysgraphia in which brain does not convey complete message to hands in shape of signals.
9. Do these Students complain that it really hurt when they try to write something in length? Ans: Such reports are often reported by students and their parents and especially when students try to write other than their usual routine.
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10. Any other language and behavior related phenomena that you consider to be highlighted in such students? Ans: These students frequently require encouragement and lack of practice makes them unconfident.
Second interview
Researcher conducted an interview, with the field expert of dyslexia/ dysgraphia at AMIN MAKTAB Gulberg, Lahore. 1. What is dyslexia? Ans: Dyslexia is a learning disorder that is totally misunderstood, its not permanent. 2. What is dysgraphia? Ans: Dysgraphia is same as dyslexia but it is solely related with writing.
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3. Are these both terms interrelated? Ans: Yes, both are interrelated but these can be separated on many levels.
4. Which area of language is being affected by dysgraphia? Ans: All activities that are related to writing are affected like drawing and painting.
5. Are these students poor speller? Why or why not? Ans: Yes, most students of dysgraphia are poor speller and reason is simply their disorder.
6. Do these students mix up capitals with lower case letters? Why or why not? Ans: Frequently they mix up lower case and upper case letters due to defect and irregular working of motor cortex. 7. Do these students have Irregular letter sizes and shapes, unfinished letters, in writing, why or why not? Ans: Yes students reflect such behavior and commit many mistakes and they are common as well.
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8. Do these students have very abnormal pen grip, how do you look this issue? Ans: They grasp the pen tightly and without doing this, they are not capable of writing and it is curable.
9. Do these Students complain that it really hurt when they try to write something in length? Ans: This may happen in particular context or situation but I have never experienced anything that has been mentioned above. 10. Any other language and behavior related phenomena that you consider to be highlighted in such students? Ans: These students should be taught in special school at least for considerable time. They should be given training how to respond.
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Third interview
Researcher conducted an interview, with the field expert of dyslexia/dysgraphia at RISING SUN, Defense, Lahore.
1. What is dyslexia? Ans: Literal definition of dyslexia is simple dys means not or difficulty,lex refers to lexical and the suffix ia denotes to something is present. So we can say dyslexia is a learning disorder that creates problem while learning of words.
2.What is dysgraphia? Ans: Dysgraphia is also self explanatory word as dyslexia but this disability is all about writing. 3.Are these both terms interrelated? Ans: In fact both are interrelated but dyslexia was considered to be mother of all disorder in the beginning.
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4. Which area of language is being affected by dysgraphia? Ans: Writing activities.
5. Are these students poor spellers? Why or why not? Ans: I agree they are poor spellers but we have not reached to any conclusion what are the reasons behind it. 6. Do these students mix up capitals with lower case letters? Why or why not? Ans: According to my experiences they mix up because they also have serious problem ADHD. 7. Do these students have inconsistency in letters formation, incomplete words, in orthographical expression, why or why not? Ans: Yes this problem exists and it is due to immature growth of brain.
8. Do these students have very abnormal pen grip, how do you look this issue? Ans: Nobody will deny from this fact that these students have abnormal pen grip but it get improve with time.
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9. Do these Students complain that it really hurt when they try to write something in length? Ans: It can be due to lack of practice. I have no record or evidence for this sort of problem. 10. Any other language and behavior related phenomena that you consider to be highlighted in such students? Ans: These students perform well in verbal communication but poorly in creative writing, so attention should be paid to both skills.
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Fourth interview
Researcher conducted an interview, with the field expert of dyslexia/dysgraphia at RISING SUN Defense, Lahore.
1. What is dyslexia? Ans: Dyslexia is a word, which is used to define learning disorder and that affects the comprehension, general understanding along with accuracy in reading. 2. What is dysgraphia? Ans: Its a cognitive disorder that reflects the lack of capabilities in writing. 3. Are these both terms interrelated? Ans: Dyslexia is broader term and dysgraphia comes under this but now dysgraphia itself is a comprehensible subject.
4. Which area of language is being affected by dysgraphia?
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Ans: Dysgraphia is all about writing disabilities so writing skills can most probably be affected.
5. Are these students poor speller? Why or why not? Ans: Of course these students are poor spellers because of neurobiological disorder. 6. Do these students mix up capitals with lower case letters? Why or why not? Ans: Due to poor perception students got confused and mix up upper case letters with lower case while writing. 7. Do these students have inconsistent letter formatting, incomplete alphabets, in writing, why or why not? Ans: Yes, these students have irregular size of letters mostly because of defect in motor cortex.
8. Do these students have very abnormal pen grip, how do you look this issue? Ans: Large number of students have abnormal pen grip and this is a great problem in writing. 9. Do these Students complain that it really hurt when they try to write something in length?
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Ans: Some children get hurt because they grip the pen firmly, so they get tired quickly as well. 10. Any other language and behavior related phenomena that you consider to be highlighted in such students? Ans: No.
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Interpretation of interviews
Four field experts were interviewed and a gist of all four interviews is being provided by the researcher in shape of description.
All experts defined the term dyslexia in their own words but the common word was disability and disorder. All experts were agreed that dyslexia is a disorder and disability that causes learning hindrances. While responding to dysgraphia experts opinion is almost same that its a subbranch of dyslexia and it is a particular disorder of orthographical expression.
When the researcher tried to find the inter-relation of both terms dyslexia and dysgraphia, experts responded by stating that they both are interrelated but in the beginning dyslexia was on front foot and considered to be a mother of all disorders. Now situation has changed and dysgraphia itself has become a complete subject. When enquired that which area is mostly affected by dysgraphia, experts gave unanimous decision that writing was the related area. Two experts mentioned some language area like cohesion and coherence along with punctuation.
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The researcher analyzed the questions that were related to dysgraphic symptoms and one of them was this, are these students poor speller and response was 100% yes and experts cited different reasons like memory shortfall, neurobiological disorder.
Same as above, in another question, experts responded that mostly dysgraphic student mix-up lowers case and upper case letters. No concrete reason is given by experts but one claim that it is due to ADHD. We have quite mix response about this statement that students have irregular letter size shapes and unfinished letters in writing. So two experts favored the statement and two experts refuted. So we can understand that above phenomena changed with situation and context.
All experts agreed with the statement that these students have a very abnormal pen grip and they grasp the pen tightly and it makes them tired and writing is challenging and troublesome for them. The reason is also given by experts that brain dont give proper signals to hands, that why students cant judge how much forcefully they need to grip the pen.
While answering the query regarding students complain that it hurts them
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when they try to write something lengthy, experts have great disagreement. Experts answered that it can be due to lack of practice or any other factor. Two experts recognized it as a problem of dysgraphic students.
When the researcher asked the field experts about their opinion in the matter of dysgraphic students behavior or any other phenomena that needs to be highlighted, expert gave a very insightful feedback like these students often need encouragement and regular practice is necessary for them as lack of practice makes them confused.
Another researcher highlighted the issue that these students should be taught in special school for at least three months and these schools make them learn how to respond towards new thing.
Last but not least another expert shed light on the behavior of these students that they can perform well in verbal communication but are quite poor in creative writing, hence equal attention should be paid to both skills.
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CHAPTER NO:5 CONCLUSION

This research is set out to investigate what are the problems faced by dyslexic students in orthographical expression (dysgraphia) at primary level. The topic of this present study is: the identification of the problems faced by dyslexic students in orthographical expression (dysgraphia) at primary levels.
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Findings
1. Parents showed 100% consensus that their children complain that it hurts them while writing, so its a genuine issue of dysgraphic children. To some extent instructors and field experts have the same opinion that writing is a difficult task for dysgraphic children and researcher found it curable in the opinion of experts. 2. Students fail to use punctuation correctly and 75% of parents agreed with it where as only 25% strongly agreed with this fact and instructors and field experts supported the parents opinion and declared it as a genuine problem of dysgraphic students.
3. One finding is that such children feel great difficulty in gripping a pencil and they cant perform well with it; on the other hand they can work well with the help of keyboard. Parents have supported this finding.
4. Not all of the findings are 100% accurate. During the course of research it was found that the responses were divided e.g. in case of whether children avert to write, drawing and painting. 50%
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disagreed, 25% remained neutral and 25% agreed, so researcher couldnt build ultimate conclusion based on such findings.
5. Students write slowly and laboriously and instructors completely agreed with this and researcher also found it, that dysgraphic students have serious writing disorders.
6. Dysgraphic students cant copy accurately from board and instructors totally agreed with this statement. Words seem to jumble up to these students and that why they cant copy material from board.
7.
Dyslexia and dysgraphia both are disorder and dyslexia affect reading and dysgraphia affect writing but both are curable according to our respondent field experts.
8. Both are interrelated and dyslexia was considered as a mother of all disorders but later on segregation was done on many bases and now dyslexia and dysgraphia are treated separately.
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9. In the response of dysgraphia characteristic, more or less field experts have same opinion, they consider them poor speller and often mix up lower and upper case letters.
10. Some children complain that it hurts them when they try to write something length here some experts refute and consider it as a coincidence.
11. All experts agreed with this statement dysgraphic students have a very abnormal pen grip. Experts express different reasons e.g. one considers it as a neurobiological disorder and rest of the experts call it a defect of motor cortex.
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Recommendations
1. An important factor that creates problems for writer beginners is pencil grip. New writers should be encouraged and taught to use a regular and proficient pencil grip. The space between the finger and the pencil tip should be at least 3/4 - 1 inch. Force on the pencil needs to be moderate, neither too light nor too heavy. The direction of the pencil should be about 45%. The page should be slanted towards the writing arm. For adults with long-standing poor pencil grip, instructors need to decide whether the effort to change their habit is valuable or not. 2. A word bank of key words or ideas created before writing is extremely valuable as a beginning pont for struggling writers. This list of spellings allows them to write with greater fluency. They will not get stuck on the spellings of words used frequently in their writing assignment. 3. Sequencing problems related to dysgraphia can cause spelling difficulties. As mentioned earlier, some learners may also have dyslexia, which can interfere with language processing and acquisition of the sound/symbol system. Adults with dyslexia or dysgraphia need direct, systematic and multi-sensory instruction in
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the code of English for both reading and spelling. If they can at least spell phonetically, they can use a spellchecker that recognizes phonetic approximations and provides suggestions of correct spellings.
4. After making a detailed study to identify the salient and common problems faced by dysgraphic students, it is suggested by the researcher that since some of these problems are due to disorder and others are related to behavior, such children should be dealt with care and patience and it should be kept in mind that this disorder is curable (to some extent).
5. Since parents, instructors and field experts, all confirmed and identified the language areas that are affected with dysgraphia, it is suggested that children diagnosed with dysgraphia should be helped in these areas. 6. Students face a range of problems that hinder their learning. Teachers should bear in mind that students are unable to grip the pen properly; they cannot copy accurately from the board and even get confused with similar shapes and words. Therefore all factors
104
contribute to their difficulty and require compassion and help from teachers and parents.
7. One key objective of this study was to make people aware with such impairments that are related with education and above all to convey this message that these disabilities are curable. You can teach affected children with activities.
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There are many remedies for helping the student of dyslexia and dysgraphia. Below is a list of accommodations, modifications, and techniques to assist the students.
1. Be tolerant and optimistic when your students are practicing handwriting. 2. Motivate them for proper grip, position, and paper positioning. 3. Allow the use of a word processor. 4. Use oral exams and allow students to dictate assignments to a score. 5. Avoid criticisms for sloppiness or illegibility. 6. Give extra time for writing tasks. 7. Use writing paper with raised lines.
8. Let students to use a line width that is most relaxed for them.
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9. Decrease the quantity of copying, desirable to complete an assignment. 10. Give confidence to them for using visual organizers to assist in outlining and brainstorming for complete writing assignments. 11. Encourage the student to use orthographical exercises when he/she becomes exhausted. 12. Have students complete writing activities in even small steps. 13. Do not mark poor spelling on first drafts, in-class assignments, or on tests. However, depending on age, student may be held
responsible for spelling in final drafts completed at home.
14. Remove Neatness as grading criteria, except on computergenerated papers.
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References
1. "Hudson, R.F., High, L. Al Otaiba, S. Dyslexia and the brain: What does current research tellus? The Reading Teacher, 60(6), 506-515.." n.d.: n. pag. Print. 23 January 2013.
2. Spies, K. "Dysgraphia Effects One's Hand Writing the Way Dyslexia Effects Reading." n.p., (Sep 19, 2007). Web. 11 December 2012.
3. M, Chivers. ""Definition of Dysgraphia (Handwriting Difficulty)." Dyslexia A2Z. Retrieved , (1991. Web. 11 December 2012. . 4. , D.V.M, Bishop, and M.J., Snowing. "Developmental dyslexia and specific language impairment: same or different? Psychotically bulletin 130:6, 858-886.." n.p., (2004). Web. 23 January 2013 5. Di Betta, Anna Maria, and Romani, Cristina. "Lexical learning and dysgraphia in a group of adults with developmental dyslexia." Aston University, 2000. Web. 23 January 2013.
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6. Mortley, Dr Jane, and Enderby, Professor Pam. "Using a computer to improve functional writing in a patient with severe dysgraphia." n.p., n.d. Web. 23 January 2013.
7. BINTIYAHYA, NURHIDAYAH. "Web Based Expert System to Diagnose Dysgraphia Symptoms among ChUdren Using Fuzzy Logic Algorithm." Universiti Teknologi MARA, 30 May 2007. Web. 23 January 2013. 8. Borjes, Jewell, Burns, Kayla, Grona, Dana, Hale, Robin, Keller, Lisa, and Smith, Nancy. "dysgraphia handbook for kerrville I.S.D 2010." n.p., 2010. Web. 23 January 2013
9. Capasso, Rita. "Spelling and dysgraphia." Gabriele Miceli Universita` Cattolica and Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Rome, Italy, and Harvard University, Cambridge, USA Rita Capasso Universita` Cattolica and Fondazione Santa Lucia IRCCS, Rome, Italy , 2006. Web. 23 January 2013.
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10. Naureen, Shazia, Sultana, Nosheen, and Drees Awan, Abou Bakar I. "A Case Study of Dyslexia Child at the Primary Education Level in Pakistan." n.p., 8 August 2011. Web. 23 January 2013. 11. R. Eilitz, MicheIle. "The nature of dysgraphic Handwriting in Grade 1 children." Faculty of Graduate S tudies The University of Western Ontario London, Ontario, 23 April 1999. Web. 23 January 2013
12. Hammond, Jill, Hercules, Fabian. "Understanding Dyslexia An Introduction for Dyslexic Students in Higher Education." Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, n.d.: n. pag. Print. 23 January 2013.
13. Deelstra, Helma. "Early Language and Motor Development of Dyslexic Children." Utrecht University, (2006): n. pag. Print. 23 January 2013. 14. Tanner, Kathleen. "The lived experience of adults with dyslexia: An exploration of the perceptions of their educational experiences." Murdoch University, 1 February 2010. Web. 23 January 2013
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15. "THE DYSLEXIA HANDBOOK REVISED 2007, UPDATED 2010." TEXAS EDUCATION AGENCY AUSTIN, TEXAS FEBRUARY 2007, UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2010, n.d.: n. pag. Print. 23 January 2013.
16. Wyn Jones, Manon. "Investigating which processes influence reading fluency in dyslexic and non-dyslexic groups." The University of Edinburgh 2008, (2007): n. pag. Print. 23 January 2013.
17. D. Davis, Ronald with, M. Braun, Eldon. "THE GIFT OF DYSLEXIA." n.d.: n. pag. Print. 23 January 2013.
18. "Special Font For Dyslexia?." December 2010, University of Twente, (2010): n. pag. Print. 23 January 2013.
19. MICHAIL, KONSTANTINA. "DYSLEXIA: THE EXPERIENCES OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS WITH DYSLEXIA." School of Education The University of Birmingham Edgbaston Birmingham B15 2TT UK, (2010): n. pag. Print. 23 January 2013.
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APPENDIX A
Questionnaire for parents
1. Your child has poor penmanship. Strongly agree Agree Neutral strongly disagree Disagree
2.
Your child ever complains that it hurts to write. Neutral strongly disagree Disagree
Strongly agree Agree
3. Your child has great difficulty to convey message in writing.
Neutral strongly disagree
Disagree
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4. Your child fails to use capitals and punctuation correctly. Strongly agree Agree Neutral strongly disagree Disagree
5. Your childs anxiety level rises up before writing the assignments. Strongly agree Agree Neutral strongly disagree Disagree
6. Your child feels difficulty to grip the pencil.
Disagree
7. Your child uses the keyboard easily as compare to written work. Strongly agree Agree Neutral strongly disagree Disagree
8. Your child averts to writes the extended things like coloring and artwork Strongly agree Agree Neutral strongly disagree Disagree
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9. Your child tired quickly when writing. Strongly agree Agree Neutral strongly disagree Disagree
10. Your childs sitting posture is abnormal. Strongly agree Agree Neutral strongly disagree Disagree
11. Your child is unable to use line and margin accurately.
Disagree
12. Your childs orthographical expression is illegible.
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
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APPENDIX B Questionnaire for instructor
1. These students are not poor speller:
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
2. These students write slowly and laboriously:
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
3. These students do not mix up letters order in writing:
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
4. These students get confused with reverses letters "b" for "d" or "p" for"q", even whole words:
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Neutral strongly disagree Disagree
5. These students do not exchange the last letter of a word with the first letter:
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
6. Students do not spell a word in several different ways.
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
7. Students can copy notes from the board accurately:
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
8. These Students do not mix up similar words like p,b,d,q,m,n,w
Strongly agree
strongly disagree
Disagree
Agree
Neutral
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9. Students do not feel difficulty with punctuation in writing:
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
10. Students have lack of coherence in contents during writing:
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
11. Students often mix up capitals with lower case letters:
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
12. These students have Irregular letter sizes and shapes, unfinished letters in orthographical expression:
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
13. These students answer the questions poorly in writing:
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Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
14. Students have difficulty with pencil grip:
Strongly agree
Agree
Neutral
strongly disagree
Disagree
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APPENDIX C Question for field experts
1. What is dyslexia? __________________________________________________________________
2. What is dysgraphia? __________________________________________________________________
3. Are these both terms interrelated? __________________________________________________________________
4. Which area of language is being affected by dysgraphia? __________________________________________________________________
5. Are these students poor speller? Why or why not? __________________________________________________________________
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6. Do these students mix up capitals with lower case letters? Why or why not? __________________________________________________________________
7. Do these students have Irregular letter sizes and shapes, unfinished letters, in writing, why or why not? __________________________________________________________________
8. Do these students have very abnormal pen grip, how do you look this issue? __________________________________________________________________
9. Do these Students complain that it really hurt when they try to write something in length? __________________________________________________________________
10. Any other language and behavior related phenomena that you consider to be highlighted in such students?

DYSGRAPHIA - Usman Rasheed's MA ELT Thesis

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1

USMAN RASHEED (12133)

MASTER OF ARTS IN ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE JANUARY, 2013

CANDIDATE DECLARATION FORM

Third Methodology .............................................................. 38

Four Data Analysis ............................................ 44

Five Findings and Recommendations.......................87-88

CHAPTER NO: 1 INTRODUCTION

Background of dyslexia problem in Pakistan

expression (Dysgraphia) at primary levels?

Delimitation in present study

Objectives of Present Study

Significance of the study

CHAPTER NO: 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

Dyslexia: A Disability or Difficulty?

The Phonological Shortfall Theory:

Temporal Processing Theory:

The Magno-cellular Theory:

The Double Shortfall Hypothesis:

This hypothesis postulates two reasons for Dyslexia, which is:

What Causes Dysgraphia?

Stress and Dysgraphia:

Characteristics & Indications of Dyslexia:

May not be able to remember the color, shapes and directions

High School and fourth grade

Dyslexia and Related Disorders

Characteristics & Indications of Dysgraphia:

CHAPTER NO: 3 METHODOLOGY

Unit of data analysis:

CHAPTER NO:4 Data Analysis

Your child ever complains that it hurts to write.

strongly disagree agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 100% 0% 0% 4 0 0 agree neutral

Your child has great difficulty to convey message in writing.

4. Your child fails to use capitals and punctuation correctly.

5. Your childs anxiety level rises up before writing the assignments.

6. Your child feels difficulty to grip the pencil.

strongly disagree agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 100% 0% 0% 4 0 0 agree neutral

100% parents agreed that so it is an obvious and known problem.

7. Your child uses the keyboard easily as compared to written work.

Your child feels tired quickly when writing.

10. Your childs sitting posture is abnormal.

11. Your child is unable to use line and margin accurately.

12. Your childs orthographical expression is illegible.

strongly disagree agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 0% 0% 75% 0 0 3 Agree Neutral

All 100% respondents disagreed out which 25% strongly disagreed.

These students are not poor speller:

These students write slowly and laboriously:

strongly agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 100% 0% 0% 4 0 0 agree neutral Disagree

3. These students do not mix up letters order in writing:

strongly agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 25 0% 75% 1 0 3 agree neutral disagree

strongly agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 50% 0% 0% 2 0 0 agree neutral disagree

50% instructors agreed where as the remaining 50% disagreed strongly.

6. Students do not spell a word in several different ways.

50 % strongly agreed, 25% were neutral and 25% were in disagreement.

Students can copy notes from the board accurately:

strongly agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 0% 0% 100% 0 0 4 agree neutral Disagree

All respondents i.e. 100% disagreed with this statement.

These Students do not mix up similar words like p, b, d, q, m, n,w :

9. Students do not feel difficulty with punctuation in writing:

10. Students have lack of coherence in contents during writing:

strongly agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 100% 0% 0% 4 0 0 agree neutral Disagree

11. Students often mix up capitals with lower case letters:

strongly agree Numbers of 0 Response Percentage 0% 100% 0% 0% 4 0 0 agree neutral Disagree