You have all seen this scene: your child explains a complex concept with dazzling clarity, then you receive a test marked 12/20 where spelling has pulled their mark down by four points. Dysorthographia being what it is, you ask the fatal question: why does bad spelling sink a bright child’s mark? And even worse: should we really accept that their intelligence is judged on their silent ‘t’ mistakes? Spoiler: no. But wait before you protest, there are nuances.
The big myth: spelling = intelligence
Let’s start by debunking the most persistent myth. No, dysorthographia does not mean a lack of intellectual ability. Yet this is what the French school system seems to suggest, penalising spelling as if it were the beating heart of thought.
Here is the problem: spelling and intelligence rely on different neurological systems. A child may have:
- Brilliant logical and analytical thinking (comprehension domain)
- An excellent memory for concepts (fluid intelligence domain)
- An impressive creative capacity (problem-solving domain)
- AND yet still have dysorthographia (spelling coding domain)
These cognitive functions are not interconnected. It’s like saying a musician who has a perfect grasp of music theory but poor motor coordination is not really a musician. Absurd, isn’t it?
Yet the school holds back your dysorthographic child’s fine progress with spelling penalties that drag their French mark down, and sometimes their marks in other subjects too (science, history…). This is where it becomes unfair.
Why does school penalise spelling so heavily?
Before we grumble, understanding where this system comes from helps us challenge it intelligently.
Spelling has long been seen as a marker of culture and seriousness. In France especially, spelling is ‘the habit that makes the monk’. Someone who writes well was thought to be clever. Hence the idea that spelling errors reveal a lack of intellectual rigour.
Except that this view is historically biased and cognitively outdated. We now know that:
- Spelling is a technical skill, not a measure of IQ
- It varies according to the neurological areas activated (visual processing, specific memory…)
- It can be improved in some people, but is innate in others (dysorthographia)
- Since the spellchecker came along, its predictive value for success has collapsed
In other words: the school continues to penalise as if it were 1950.
The real problem: marks penalise twice
Here is where it becomes truly unfair. When your dysorthographic child writes a test:
1. It penalises the content. If there are spelling mistakes, the clarity of their argument may seem less brilliant. The teacher struggles to separate ‘the thinking’ from ‘the presentation’.
2. It penalises the form. Spelling directly lowers the mark, sometimes disproportionately (even though dysorthographia is a neurological difficulty, not carelessness).
The result? A child who understands maths and grammar, but writes ‘les livres’ instead of ‘les livre’ (a common grammatical confusion in dysorthographia), ends up with a mark that represents neither their understanding nor their potential.
It’s like marking an athlete on both their performance and the grace of their movements, even when that isn’t the sport in question.
Don’t fall into the perfectionism trap
Here comes the second dangerous myth: ‘If my child works hard, they can overcome their dysorthographia and get excellent marks.’
No. Dysorthographia is not laziness, and hard work does not make it disappear. Your child can make progress (absolutely), but reach the same standards as a child without dysorthographia? That is mathematically different.
Worse still: if you (or the school) create the expectation that marks must be excellent, you risk:
- Generating chronic school anxiety
- Creating harmful perfectionism (see our article on dysorthographia and perfectionism)
- Lowering your child’s self-esteem
- Making them believe that a mark equals their personal worth
This is the most common trap: confusing ‘making progress’ with ‘being cured’. They are not the same thing.
Why do some countries not penalise spelling as harshly?
A revealing international detour: in the United States or Scandinavia, education systems often separate the ‘content’ mark from the ‘presentation’ mark. Or they reduce the spelling penalty for pupils diagnosed with dysorthographia.
In France? We penalise first and adapt afterwards (if we think of it). This is the opposite of sound educational common sense.
Why? The French exception of the cult of spelling (which is not bad in itself, but becomes unfair when applied indiscriminately). And bureaucracy: adapting is complicated, penalising is easy.
What to really remember: marks are not the whole story
Here is the crucial point: a poor mark in French does not invalidate your child’s intelligence.
But it reflects how the French school system judges academic performance in a context where spelling carries a disproportionately heavy weight. This is very different.
A dysorthographic child can:
- Have an average mark in French
- Be brilliant at maths, science or philosophy
- Have a more creative and nuanced way of thinking than their peers
- Become an engineer, researcher, entrepreneur or artist of high calibre
Dysorthographia is only one variable in the equation of their success, not the deciding factor.
And if you want to know how to celebrate your child’s other strengths beyond poor marks, read our article on how to celebrate the hidden strengths of your dysorthographic child.
The small steps that make all the difference
If you are a parent, teacher or carer, here is what you can do:
For parents:
- Stop linking marks to personal judgement (‘You must do better’)
- Celebrate progress in spelling, even small steps
- Value the areas where your child excels
- Ask the school for formal support if this has not been done
For teachers:
- Separate the content mark (ideas) from the presentation mark (spelling)
- Reduce the spelling penalty for children receiving dysorthographia support
- Use digital tools (spellcheckers, word predictors) during tests where possible
- Focus on the clarity of the message, not the perfection of the writing
Frequently asked questions
My daughter has dysorthographia and an excellent mark for comprehension but a poor one for spelling. Does this mean she is not intelligent?
No, absolutely not. It means she has a good command of French (comprehension, functional grammar) but that the specific spelling system poses a problem for her. These are two distinct skills. Many very intelligent people have dysorthographia.
Should I let my dysorthographic child use a spellchecker during exams?
This is an excellent question to raise with the school or the school doctor. Many establishments now accept that dysorthographic children use a digital tool (Antidote, or even the Word spellchecker) during tests. It is a fair adjustment, not cheating.
My dysorthographic son says he is ‘rubbish at French’. How can I reassure him?
Always separate ‘being bad at spelling’ from ‘being bad at French’. He may be excellent at reading comprehension, developing ideas, analysis… and dysorthographic. It is a technical writing problem, not a problem of intelligence. Show him the areas where he really succeeds.
To find out more
- Fédération Française des Dys (FFDys): comprehensive resources on dysorthographia, school rights and educational adjustments
- Ameli.fr (Assurance Maladie): official information on school adjustments and reimbursed speech and language therapy assessments
- Réseau CANOPÉ: teaching guides on school inclusion and adaptations for dysorthographic children
