Cursive no more

[lets-retire]

Reading GregLee's post about writing left handed vs right handed, I always wondered why left handers made it look so difficult. Left handers I have seen writing seem to always crook their arm over the top of the paper, make it look like they're are writing upside down and then end up with the butt of their hand dragging over what they have written. It would seem like a mirror image of a right hander would be a more normal method, but I've never seen a lefty write like that. It's always looks like they are writing upside down.

From what I was told, the teachers back in the day were unable to flip the writing around in their mind to teach it to a lefty. As a result we lefties were taught to write upside down. I did that for a very long time then figured if my writing is illegible either way, then I'll just write like the rest of the people with my elbow at my side and wrist straight. Now I only write short annotations on my paperwork and most long writing is done on a computer.

 

[Nords]

... I really can't tell much difference between 1975 and 1989 writing.

I noticed that my father's handwriting (on his checks & checkbook) deteriorated dramatically from early onset of Alzheimer's. The month before he ended up in the hospital seemed clearly the worst, although I could be spinning my own hindsight on the data.

My block-printing handwriting hasn't changed significantly in over 30 years.

 

[Walt34]

My son isn't left handed, but one positive side effect of his dysgraphia was that he started regularly keyboarding work when he was 7. Ten years later he is a fast typist and rarely makes mistakes. That will probably serve him better in the work world at some point than being able to neatly write.

The fast typing probably will serve him better. One of the most practical and useful classes I took in high school was typing.

I'm not farsighted; I only took the class because I knew they couldn't make me buy a typewriter and therefore couldn't assign homework in that class, and I was one of two guys in a classroom full of girls.