handwriting problems

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cursive is obsolete, and should be removed from the schools.
printing and typing should be required.
As an adult, I simply refused to read or write cursive.

I consider myself a compulsive writer. I find writing therapeutic, whether it is on paper or on the Internet. It helps for me to have a subject I am interested in, such as cats.

300 characters per minute, not 300 words per minute . By character I mean 1 keystroke. For example, typing 'hello there, nice to meet you' is 29 characters. Its not the fastest typing there is, but it is more then enough to compose Emails and papers. Compared to 30-40 characters per minute that I can write legibly it is definitely and improvement.

It remains the fastest and most personal form of handwriting. Most teachers use it on the chalk board, and you can't exactly tell a boss you aren't going to read a note he has written because he chose cursive.

I agree that it WILL be obsolete within the next 50 years, given the trends I see around me, but it is not obsolete yet. There is still plenty I come across in daily life that is written in cursive.

Ah, just like me (the mostly NT mom) to read something imprecisely

Don't despair, my son has never been able to write legibly. In fact, when he started college we got him a laptop because he said he couldn't read the notes he took in class. In CA they start touch typing classes in 3rd or 4th grade. He is a very fast typist now and thank God for spell check (he was a horrible speller also) he is able to get A's on his essays. Thankfully, his teachers throughout public school overlooked his writing problems and allowed him to type all his homework, except math.

Hang in there.

elenalb

I don't know where your son went to school in California - but I sure wish MY son went there!! In our district (so CA)....the kids do not ever have typing class - those were done away with because of all the budget cuts, and they certainly never get any exposure to typing in elementary school. It's left up to us here at home, which is fine, but it sure would be nice to have the kids actually get a class.

I am 17, an aspie, will be going to college this fall and have absolutely terrible handwriting(and spelling). I have never liked writing, especially if I am given specific guidelines, like an essay comparing The Crucible to the communist scare in the US back in (I think) the '60s and '70s. I still complain whenever my class is given a major writing assignment, though I am getting better.

Like your son I had some fine motor problems(I don't think I learned to snap my fingers until I had to for 5th grade chorus). What actually helped me get used to writing is that my parents gave me a journal for my birthday just after I started kindergarten(school started in September and my birthday is in November). They encouraged me to write in it, but they did not force the issue. I still keep a handwritten journal and have come to love creative writing so much that I am attepting to write a book.

Hi Kathy, my son has the SAME EXACT problem. He is 5 years old as well and his handwriting is horrific!! He has low muscle tone, can't multitask, is very clumsy and doesn't have a very good grip on anything. But he is sooo smart, he is starting to read and knows all of the alphabet and the sounds they make. He is also sooo creative so it makes me so sad that he can't draw or write like he wants to. He just learned how to zip his jacket (one jacket only) and he doesn't tie his shoes and just learned how to really twist a bottle open. He doesn't even want to try because handwriting is so hard for him. His OT is working on his grip. I mentioned this to her and she said I have to work on his finger strength, she says he doesn't have any muscles in his fingers so it just makes it harder for him. Cutting paper with scissors and gradually thickening the paper will help him with finger strengthening. using tweezers and making it into a game, playing with small legos, thera-putty (play-doh like substance that is really tough), beading, monkey bars etc will him him. OT and school isn't enough for him, I also try to work with him as much as I can at home. Yes he can type and I'm glad for computers but I also want him to be able to use his hands and fingers for self help skills.

Uh, what time is it? About 2:45 am? Yeah, the last time I wrote something by hand was like 10-12 hours ago, and I'll be writing again in about 7-8 hours.

You only write once or twice a month? What are you, a fry chef at McDonald's or something? I've got news for ya, but if the kid has any hopes of making it to and through college, much less the real world in a profession that actually pays more than "dirt" he's going to need to know how to write. Aside from writing pages of notes in class everyday (laptops are worthless for any science class), I also have to write for tests (can't type up your exam essays on a computer), I have to write when copying down data and jotting down notes when doing my lab research, I have to write when jotting down notes on the go, writing tends to be a good skill to have when sending in school applications (with some of the colleges I applied to I had to opt to use the physical, written form since the online version was nothing short of a total cluster****), people tend to like getting handwritten letters over typed ones when not conducting business, and so on.

And to those deriding cursive: it's nice to know. While it certainly is becoming obsolete there are still places where it's used, mostly in formal situations. However, there are times in normal daily life where you may need to know cursive. For example, my research mentor only writes in cursive so it's a good thing I know how to read it (it would, simply put, be very humiliating and would not look good for my image if I had to ask my mentor to read me something because "I don't know how to read cursive"). Cursive also tends to be a very influential writing style. If you write someone a letter in handwritten cursive it will come off as much more personal and powerful than a mere computer typed letter.

Anyway, I also had fine motor skill delays (didn't learn to tie my shoes until mid-way through 3rd grade along with delays in many other things such as snapping buttons, zippers, etc) and my handwriting was pretty bad (and my issues with handwriting combined with my OCD-induced obsessiveness over wording, sentence structure, and paragraph structure made me loathe writing until I got desensitized to it during my last year of high school and first year of college). That said, I still learned how to do all those things, I can write legibly enough for most people to read, I can write in cursive, so it's more than possible. You just have to keep working with your son on it. Maybe try writing exercises and other fine motor skills exercises that are more subtle/fun for your son. But I wouldn't be consumed with worry if he's not even in kindergarten yet. I don't know how kindergarten works these days (it's been 16 years since I was in a K class) but back when I was a kid you learned how to read and write in kindergarten, you weren't expected to come in knowing how to do much of anything really.

Actually I work as a Mechanical Engineer. Perhaps I should expand upon my explanation. I only take a pen/pencil and write something legibly for somebody else to read once a month or so. I will for myself more often. For example: making sketches, solving problems, leaving myself reminders, etc. But because this is just for me I dont need to worry about making it legible because I know what my own writing looks like.

There may be others who need to write more often, but for me I just use email, or talk to others. I never exchange any information via hand written notes or essays.

I can't comment on anywhere else but in California - it's pretty much expected that a child know how to write their letters these days. It's crazy. Kindergarten now is kind of like what 1st grade was back when *I* was a kid....which is about 33 years ago. I should have realized when my son was having a hard time with his letters back then that something was really not working for him - but his teacher just kept telling me that it was a developmental thing and that I probably should have held him back a year. Ha. I could have held him back 5 years and that wouldn't have made a difference in his handwriting. He was ready to start school and learn - but the small motor skills have always been a challenge.

Exactly..this is what my son uses in school.