Marion Wilm OTR/L C/NDT is the most experienced and tenured occupational therapist at Child and Family Development and works at our Pineville office.  Over her 20+ year career, written expression has changed a lot (from handwriting to typing to keyboarding to smart phones and more!).  She continues to put an emphasis on the importance and benefits of handwriting, printed and cursive. 

Recently, Handwriting Without Tears¬Æ (HWT) published an article by Suzanne Baruch Asherson, an OT and author of many pieces titled “Don’t Discount Value of Cursive Handwriting”. In the article,  Dr. Asherson reminds readers that cursive still has a place in many professional settings.  She notes research that shows kids with good cursive skills have higher scores in the classroom and also suggests that legible writing is a must for successful correspondence of any kind.  She emphasizes that these days is on legibility and efficiency notes that many of us develop a ‚Äúhybrid‚Äù printing and cursive style, as we develop our own personal handwriting.

Marion believes this article does a great job supporting the need for students to learn cursive writing and why this is still relevant in today‚Äôs technology driven world.  Cursive writing improves efficiency and critical thinking skills, which are important to be successful for today‚Äôs fast-paced education and job environments.  The HWT workbooks for grades 3-5 teach cursive in a way that parents could work with their children at home and perfect it even if the school programs are not teaching it. 

Read full article here.     

Several of our occupational therapists are trained in HWT and offer individual and group sessions.