Writing is a highly complex process requiring skills that are not possessed by all students. In some cases, students may have been taught writing skills before they were developmentally ready for them, thus diminishing their future ability to learn those skills. Some students may have specific learning disabilities, sometimes affecting only the process of writing, that prevent their written work from reflecting their true intellectual ability. Among the patterns of deficiency that may be seen in students' work are misspellings, which may be phonetically based, "bizarre," or reflective of an inablity to differentiate between sounds; problems with copying or revisualization of words or letters; problems with formulation and syntax that do not occur in oral language; and such errors as word omissions, incorrect word order and word usage, and lack of punctuation. To discover students with written language disorders, teachers should watch for discrepancies between oral and written work. Unless teachers are aware of the possibility of language learning disabilities, students with such disabilities may be labelled stupid, careless, or lazy and may be denied a chance at college educations. (GW)