Will his handwriting ever get better????

[Heather in NC]

Ds 9yo (nearly 10yo) has atrocious handwriting. His manuscript is better than his cursive but not much. It is legible for the most part but letter size, space, choice (as in upper or lower case) are all terrible. My 4yo ds has MUCH better handwriting than my 9yo.

Now, in his defense, he didn't "choose" a hand until he was about 5 or 6yo (he was completely ambidextrous until that point). I have been doing HWT with him for several years now but it just does not seem to get any better.

Also, if he has a line to copy and he can copy directly under it, he can imitate the writing pretty well but with a lot of effort. But if the pieces are side-by-side and he has to copy it that way, forget it....it's all over the place.

sigh.... will he ever get better?

[Krista in LA]

It aggravates dh terribly. I try to get him to write neater, but he is always in too much of a hurry. When he truly takes his time, it's not too terribly bad. I keep hoping he will grow out of it but then I look at mine and realize it might be hopeless. I don't know if there is any hope, but I'll commiserate with you.

[Ellie]

Does he do lots of writing every day? Is it actual paper or in workbooks?

[beansprouts]

I am starting to worry about dd (almost 9)...

[kRenee]

Teach him to type and read up on dysgraphia, a fancy word for writing difficulties. I'm in the process right now of getting an occupational therapy evaluation for my ds9 who sounds just like your son (even the way he switched hands until age 6).

[strider]

We do still do handwriting several times a week, but I think I just have to accept that she has inherited her father's legendary, atrocious handwriting. She is 11yo--her 6yo brother already looks like his handwriting will be neater than hers. (sigh)

[beansprouts]

Teach him to type and read up on dysgraphia, a fancy word for writing difficulties. I'm in the process right now of getting an occupational therapy evaluation for my ds9 who sounds just like your son (even the way he switched hands until age 6).

I believe I may have dysgraphia. It actually hurts to hold a pen. I only recently learned this wasn't normal. My dd makes similar complaints.

[Heather in NC]

Teach him to type and read up on dysgraphia, a fancy word for writing difficulties. I'm in the process right now of getting an occupational therapy evaluation for my ds9 who sounds just like your son (even the way he switched hands until age 6).

I just did a search on dysgraphia and he has every single symptom. wow. The bad news is that it doesn't sound like something you can "cure"...just learn to work with, like typing intead of writing. I am going to look into it further.

So should I give up on handwriting lessons and just let him type or do both?

[claire at home]

I also have one with horrific handwriting. It sort of fits with her personality, though. She is a big picture kind of gal, not the least bit interested in the details. And in our case the apple doesn't fall far from the tree; her father's handwriting may be worse than hers. DH seriously cannot write in cursive and never could.
I'm not saying give up, but it truly may not get much better. I don't think that every mind is wired to be concerned about forming a letter correctly. There are many brilliant people in the world with horrible handwriting. I think they simply care about other things.
claire