Like some of you out there, I began with those worn out excuses for pens and inkwells. To add to the torture, we were given the cheapest grade of newsprint paper to use. The blotting and tearing was amazing. [This may have been why Sinatra left Hoboken as soon as possible.]

When I went to a different school system we were given more courses in cursive. In addition to the chart up at the teacher's station, we each had a book showing the direction of the strokes we were supposed to imitate to get the best results. My script never has gotten beyond barely readable.

My son had a totally miserable time learning to handwrite. In fact, he never got beyond a very minimal printing ability. At some point, in Junior High, he was diagnosed as disgraphic and, at my wife's insistance, went to a charter school devoted to kids who were classified as disgraphic. There, he flourished and is now in his sophomore year at Hunter.

The question, though, is whether he is better off or not. Even though he types away at a mad rate and communicates well by computer, his limitations will never be overcome. In truth, I believe I am also disgraphic to some degree but, because I was forced to learn the available technology, ie handwriting, I got lessons in perseverance and accomplishment which I probably would not have gotten otherwise.

I also believe that a certain amount of his disability is due to the syndrome of too many people tellin him he was a poor, disabled kid instead of telling him "learn it, kid, this is what we do" and making it stick.