The one thing that I thought I'd share with everyone is that when Jacob has a spelling test, he doesn't actually have to hand write it. Jacob's allowed to do his spelling test on the classroom computer. Our son's school uses this technique to help encourage Jacob to do his weekly spelling test. In the past when Jacob's been asked to print his test instead of typing it, he's just refused the test all together. For a time it was hard to determine if Jacob could spell at all. But when he became able to do his spelling tests on the computer(without spell check) we learned that he could spell quite well. Next year however, Jacob will be in grade 3. And that's when students start to learn cursive writing. I don't know how Jacob will respond.
I've read and heard numerous stories about the difficulties that autistic/Aspie kids have when it comes to hand writing. And Jacob is no exception. He has many issues when it comes to printing, and we do make him practise his printing frequently. We and the school feel that the extra stress of hand writing the test will negatively impact Jacob's ability to demonstrate proper spelling. But what about cursive writing? The big question is, does my son need to learn cursive writing?
Now I know that printing is very important and Jacob still needs to improve in that area, but does he really need to learn cursive writing? My writing is barely legible, but my printing is much better. Should my son be forced to learn something that isn't that relevant? As we all know this is the computer age and I can't remember the last time I wrote something in cursive. More and more schools seem to be adopting this approach. There are lots of debates on various websites about this very topic. Many people and parents feel that more emphasis should be put on printing and less on cursive. Some places have even eliminated cursive writing all together.
It's also evident that the younger generation has adapted to using computers. Jacob can do more things on the computer than we can. I remember when I was in grade 4, my school had the first dedicated computer room in the city. And this was a big deal. The local paper even did an article on it. Now every classroom has at least one computer and most households have a computer that a child can access. It's no wonder that less and less schools are focusing on cursive writing.
We're not saying that cursive writing should be eliminated, but it should more limited. Maybe they could have an elective course in high school for those that are interested in it. That way, it would be less of a focus early on. We're just glad that Jacob's school accommodates him as much as they do. We couldn't imagine how many meltdowns Jacob would have if he was forced to write cursively. He certainly wouldn't be getting as many stickers.
I found an interesting article about cursive hand writing and how it relates to those with autism/Asperger's. It can be found at http://myaspergerschild.com/ We hope you enjoy it.
He should, at least, be able to sign his name. As far as I know High Schools and Colleges do not require cursive for assignments or projects. I have forgotten how to cursive write most letters myself. If I remember correctly, learning cursive stopped in grade 5 for me and afterwards the teachers did not force it.
ReplyDeleteWriting will be the death of me. K hates it. Her penmanship is OK, but her hand gets tired very easily and begins to ache, and then that is just a huge trigger for a meltdown. When she broke her arm earlier this year, they let her use the classroom computer. Her behavior got a lot better at school, not having to write, but then when that cast came off---back to the pencil. It confounds me. She *knows* how to write, so that isn't an issue, or something she needs to learn, so imo she should just be allowed to use the computer instead. But no...that would apparently be too easy. I do write for her sometimes, at home, and the class aide will write for her, too, if she gets really upset, but I would still prefer she use the computer. I mean, what kid isn't going to need computer skills? How often do WE even write, paper and pen? And cursive? Please. All cursive did was turn me into someone who now has a hybrid printing/cursive style when I do write...ha! It's pointless.
ReplyDeleteI guess we're lucky that Jacob's school id willing to try anything. And your right, honestly I can't remember the last time I wrote something in cursive. It's just not needed beyond learning a signature. As long as kids like K and Jacob are able to write, then why push them into a meltdown?
DeleteI agree with you on the “Why cursive?” question ... and I teach/remediate handwriting, so I should know. (I’m a woman on the spectrum who self-remediated for the handwriting issues ... and I did NOT use cursive to get my remediation done for myself, and I do NOT use cursive to get it done for others!)
DeleteHandwriting matters — does cursive matter? Research shows that legible cursive writing averages no faster than printed handwriting of equal or greater legibility. (Sources for all research are available on request.) Further research shows that the fastest, clearest handwriters avoid cursive. They join only the most easily joined letter-combinations, leaving others unjoined, using print-like shapes for letters whose printed and cursive shapes disagree. (Many people who think that they "print" actually write in this practical way without realizing that they do so. The handwriting of many teachers comes close: even though, often, those teachers have never noticed that they are not at all writing in the same 100% print or 100% cursive that they demand that their students should write.) Teaching material for such practical handwriting abounds — especially in much of the UK and Europe, where such practical handwriting is taught at least as often as the accident-prone cursive that too many North American educators venerate. (Again, sources are available on request.) For what it's worth, there are some parts of various countries (parts of the UK, for instance, despite their mostly sensible handwriting ) where governmental mandates for 100% joined cursive handwriting have been increasingly enforced, without regard for handwriting practicality and handwriting research, In those parts of the world, there are rapidly growing concerns on the increasingly observed harmful educational/literacy effects (including bad effects on handwriting quality) seen when 100% joined cursive requirements are complied with: http://morrellshandwriting.co.uk/blog/
Reading cursive, of course, remains important —and this is much easier and quicker to master than writing cursive. Reading cursive can be mastered in just 30 to 60 minutes, even by kids who print. Given the importance of reading cursive, why not teach it explicitly and quickly, once children can read print, instead of leaving this vital skill to depend upon learning to write in cursive? Educated adults increasingly quit cursive. In 2012, handwriting teachers were surveyed at a conference hosted by cursive textbook publisher Zaner-Bloser.. Only 37% wrote in cursive; another 8% printed. Most — 55% — wrote with some elements resembling print-writing, others resembling cursive. When even most handwriting teachers do not follow cursive, why glorify it? Cursive's cheerleaders allege that cursive has benefits justifying absolutely anything said or done to promote it. Cheerleaders for cursive repeatedly allege research support — repeatedly citing studies that were misquoted or otherwise misrepresented by the claimant or by some other, earlier misrepresenter whom the claimant innocently trusts. What about cursive and signatures? Brace yourself: in state and federal law, cursive signatures have no special legal validity over any other kind. (Hard to believe? Ask any attorney!)
Questioned document examiners (specialists in the identification of signatures, verification of documents, etc.) find that the least forgeable signatures are the plainest. Most cursive signatures are loose scrawls: the rest, if following cursive's rules at all, are fairly complicated: easing forgery. All handwriting, not just cursive, is individual. That is how any first-grade teacher immediately discerns (from print-writing on unsigned work) which child produced it. Mandating cursive to save handwriting resembles mandating stovepipe hats and crinolines to save clothing.
Kate Gladstone
DIRECTOR, the World Handwriting Contest
CEO, Handwriting Repair/Handwriting That Works
http://www.HandwritingThatWorks.com
handwritingrepair+media@gmail.com
ReplyDeleteHandwriting matters ... But does cursive matter?
Research shows: the fastest and most legible handwriters avoid cursive. They join only some letters, not all of them: making the easiest joins, skipping the rest, and using print-like shapes for those letters whose cursive and printed shapes disagree. (Citations appear below)
When following the rules doesn’t work as well as breaking them, it’s time to re-write and upgrade the rules. The discontinuance of cursive offers a great opportunity to teach some better-functioning form of handwriting that is actually closer to what the fastest, clearest handwriters do anyway. (There are indeed textbooks and curricula teaching handwriting this way. Cursive and printing are not the only choices.)
Reading cursive still matters — this takes just 30 to 60 minutes to learn, and can be taught to a five- or six-year-old if the child knows how to read. The value of reading cursive is therefore no justification for writing it.
(In other words, we could simply teach kids to _read_ old-fashioned handwriting and save the year-and-a-half that are expected to be enough for teaching them to _write_ that way too ... not to mention the actually longer time it takes to teach someone to perform such writing _well_.)
Remember, too: whatever your elementary school teacher may have been told by her elementary school teacher, cursive signatures have no special legal validity over signatures written in any other way. (Don't take my word for this: talk to any attorney.)
CITATIONS:
/1/ Steve Graham, Virginia Berninger, and Naomi Weintraub.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HANDWRITING STYLE AND SPEED AND LEGIBILITY.
1998: on-line at http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/27542168.pdf
and
/2/ Steve Graham, Virginia Berninger, Naomi Weintraub, and William Schafer.
DEVELOPMENT OF HANDWRITING SPEED AND LEGIBILITY IN GRADES 1-9.
1998: on-line at http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/27542188.pdf
(NOTE: there are actually handwriting programs that teach this way.
Shouldn't there be more of them?)
Yours for better letters,
Kate Gladstone —
the handwriting consultant who is an Aspie
Handwriting Repair/ Handwriting That Works
and the World Handwriting Contest
http://www.HandwritingThatWorks.com
For what it's worth, I'm an Aspie who self-remediated her handwriting and rejected cursive along the way.
ReplyDelete