The Dysgraphia Life team recently came across a composition by Greater Alexander entitled
Dysgraphia Disappears When I Hear the Notes and reached out to the artist to learn the story behind the song.
Alexander confirmed for us that there are struggles with written expression that inspired the reverberating piano track.
Greater Alexander (originally known as Alexander Vlachos) came to the United States from Greece shortly before he turned seven and was immersed in the Greek and Russian language at home. This song is the 9th track on his album, Spilled Love, because it relates to a memory from when he was 9 years old.
"I remember starting to learn to play the piano on a small keyboard and found it was easier to find musical notes that I heard in my head as opposed to writing my daily 'notes' from the English alphabet".
Fast forward to a few decades later, Alexander was involved in a car crash around 2016 and that prompted the writing of the album "Spilled Love". He tells us,
"My writing had become more challenging after receiving a concussion from the crash and I was having a lot of difficulty holding a pen."
[Science note for our readers: Loss of written expression due to a traumatic injury is known as agraphia while the developmental problems with written expression are known as dysgraphia.]
Alexander learned the term dysgraphia in a course he was taking. He recalls, "It explained how dysgraphia in children is becoming more prevalent with digital technology coming into the forefront. Children are holding pencils and pens and crayons less, making it more challenging for them to write things down manually. I felt the word "dysgraphia' fit the context of what I was trying to feel after the trauma."
Alexander's episode with his loss of writing skills reminded him of his early experience turning to music and inspired the track. He goes by Greater Alexander because he feels music is his way of "creatively expressing the greater part of himself."
This is a success story that many in our community can relate to...how do you express the greater part of yourself in ways other than writing?
Learn more about Greater Alexander and his music by visiting his website at www.greateralexander.com. You can also find the album, Spilled Love, and the track, Dysgraphia Disappears When I hear the Notes, on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.
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