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| Part of an art installation I did a while back. The light over the letter I signifies #iamdyslexic |
Good day to everyone hope you are all well and ready for the week end.
I have been talking to and reading on social media about other dyslexics experiences and parents of dyslexics with hand writing. I have to say some of what I hear and read it seems like a nightmare for many of us.
So I was wondering about anyone else's experiences with hand writing and being given hand writing practise at school?
It didn't matter how much school tried to make me learn a cursive handwriting style I just couldn't get it together.
Please leave me your thought and comments.
I know all the arguments for handwriting and hand writing remediation including developing fine motor control, learning spelling from motor memory etc.
But what about speech to text or even just the lowly computer keyboard etc. Surely the content of what is written is more important than how its being written?
So is having good handwriting as important as it once was?
Isn't the content of the writing the important thing not how it was written either by hand or speech to text or just by keyboard?
Speech to text software and assistive tech.
I personally don't get on with it because it gets in the way of my train of thought. But it can and does work for many other dyslexics. I have never been able to writing using a cursive style.
I believe handwriting will become like a lost art maybe 30 years from now. I read somewhere that emojs are the way forward for communication. Business will lead here because speech to text is so much more efficient than typing or writing by hand.
The computer keyboard freed me from that particular little handwriting nightmare. I left school with no qualifications mainly because of my hand writing. Now with a computer keyboard I have my masters degree etc. Without it I might still be driving fork lift trucks or carrying bags of cement for a living instead of a dyslexia and inclusion specialist, social entrepreneur, writer of musician.
The expectation that everyone should be able to write using cursive and neatly is disabling. It is a non dyslexic world expectation and its disabling. My job as a dyslexia and inclusion specialist is about enabling, finding ways that enable dyslexics to succeed. Its about finding solutions and enabling. If I can do that then I have succeeded.
Dyslexia is a difference that reflects diversity. We must enable that dyslexic diversity to thrive and achieve according to our strengths and talent. It is a non dyslexic society must to learn not shackle it to non dyslexic expectations such as we must write by hand using cursive.
many thanks for taking the time to read my blog.......if you think it has something to say please share it and or like it.
peace love and groovyness to all
Steve McCue (dyslexic dyslexia and inclusion specialist since 1995)
