The rites of righting writing: Homophone remediation in acquired dysgraphia

Abstract

A homophone retraining program was implemented with a surface dysgraphic patient. Extensive pre-therapy testing suggested that lexical processing was impaired in writing but not in reading, resulting in difficulties in writing homophones and irregular words. The treatment procedure involved the pairing of the written homophone with its pictorial representation in order to link the orthography with the corresponding meaning and to enhance direct lexical access. A series of exercises and practice techniques were introduced to strengthen this route. Results revealed significant improvement in writing treated homophones and untreated irregular words but minimal generalisation to untreated homophones. Theoretical explanations for the changes are offered and the efficacy of the treatment program is demonstrated.