Of my various learning disabilities, dysgraphia probably messes me up the least. Sure, I can’t write reminders for myself, or write grocery lists, or any of that good stuff, but I have computers and SMS for that sort of thing. Technology is my friend. It keeps my hands from falling off when I need to write.
But maybe it’s better to say that dysgraphia messes me up in the least obvious ways. I’ve realized that certain types of dysgraphia can actually be kind of a bummer for a visual artist. You see, there are three subtypes of dysgraphia — dyslexic, spatial, and motor. Dyslexic dysgraphia manifests as language expression problems with normal finger tapping speed. Spatial dysgraphia creates difficulties staying within lines or boxes on a piece of paper but finger tapping speed is also normal. Motor dysgraphia (that’s me!) causes problems in letter formation and size, and writing is often painful; finger tapping speed is slow, which indicates neuro-muscular problems.
Yup. I’m a visual artist with “low finger tapping speed”, and all the challenges to dexterity implied therein. Did I mention I’m also a musician? I play piano and harpsichord. Not enough for me to make use of my low tapping speed to play one voice; no, I gotta use it to juggle three or four voices! In counterpoint, too, so they’re all independent of each other! Good times.
I started an art class on Monday night, and to warm ourselves up for the term we did a drawing exercise. Now usually I paint instead of draw, and I’ve learned the hard way that I need to paint on hard surfaces instead of stretched canvas, otherwise my hands will cramp something fierce with the effort of controlling my brush on a springy surface. Monday night reminded me of why I don’t draw much. Pressing against a hard surface for color saturation … trying to achieve fine detail with a stubby drawing implement … Ouch.
The problem is that I wound up starting a project that I’d really like to see through — but at this point, alas, I’m committed to drawing the rest of the series of images. Another problem is that in order to keep my hands from killing me, I need to work slowly … which gives me time to over-think. $#&*(@! dysgraphia.
Talk To Me