Rhythm in Handwriting and Phonology: A Study on Children with and without Developmental Dyslexia

The thesis focuses on two main aspects: one theoretical and the other experimental. Both are connected by a common thread: the rhythm of handwriting movements. The theoretical section begins with a critical review of existing literature and proposes a formalization of the Graphematic Module within a dynamic framework. This framework is constructed by borrowing and reworking assumptions and proposals from both symbolic and dynamic theoretical approaches. Specifically, inter-gestural motor coordination dynamics motivate the emergence, within the Graphematic Module, of structures that symbolic frameworks traditionally label as "suprasegmental". The experimental section examines graphomotor development in children with and without Developmental Dyslexia. Using kinematic recordings from a digitizing tablet, the study offers evidence of how the rhythm of handwriting is shaped by the progressive encoding of "suprasegmental" phonological and graphematical temporal units.