Temporal Characteristics of Handwriting in Children With Dyslexia in Transparent Orthography

Abstract

Research on dyslexia in children has largely focused on languages with deep orthography, limiting its applicability to transparent orthographies like Bosnian. This study examined handwriting characteristics in children with dyslexia, comparing them to a control group of typically developing children (CA) and a spelling level-matched group (SL). A range of tasks was used, varying from basic motor and graphomotor skills (e.g., writing names) to higher-level cognitive tasks (e.g., writing the alphabet). Dictation of isolated words was included to analyse the relationship between temporal handwriting features and spelling accuracy. Writing durations for real words, nonwords, and pseudowords were compared to identify cognitive strategies used by children with dyslexia. Results showed that children with dyslexia had significantly longer writing durations, slower pen speeds, more frequent and longer pauses, and fewer correctly written letters than both CA and SL groups. In the dictation task, they performed worse than the CA group across all word types. During text writing, they paused more often, especially between words. These findings offer important insights into the handwriting challenges faced by children with dyslexia in transparent orthographic systems and highlight the need for tailored support.