Writing A Wrong

Are We Overselling the Benefits of Handwriting?

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

The promotion of handwriting, once a cornerstone of education, has made a comeback in recent years. I keep reading well-meaning bloggers, educators, parents, and even psychologists extol the holy virtues of putting pen to paper, pointing to new studies claiming it boosts creativity, improves memory, and enhances learning, giving you and your kid that special edge over others. Blah blah blah. (Let’s just cut the crap. Remember Baby Einstein and Baby Mozart?) That said, the rise in performance psychology and the marketing of pseudoscientific bio-hacking over the past decade often overlook the profound insensitivity toward individuals with dysgraphia and other writing-related neurological disabilities, now recognized under the broader umbrella of neurodiversity.

While studies indicate that handwriting can improve motor skills and may aid in certain types of memory retention, these effects are specific cognitive benefits—not an overall boost in intelligence…