There are many new ways and new technology to help children with learning disabilities,

but cursive writing helps children to spell easier, have improved reading skills, and make less

errors when writing. Children with learning disabilities have challenges other children do not

have, or not as severally. Some things they struggle with include mixing up letters, reading the

letters backwards, and having difficulty spelling. Students use spelling every day and to spell,

they need to know how to properly write their letters. District Administration, a monthly trade

publication for educational leaders, reports, “But it’s not just about forming the letters, it is also

about linking letters into word units, and that helps a student learn to spell words” (De La Rosa

2017). Knowing the letters is not the problem for students who are struggling, it is putting them

into words in the correct order children find difficult. The spelling itself can be extremely

difficult for children with dyslexia who mix up the letters when spelling the word. The European

Scientific Journal illustrate how certain letters such as d,b,p, and q look different, meaning they

are harder to mix up. As opposed to the, “long d,b,p,q letters [which] look entirely different and

cannot be confused with each other” (Meadows and Roberto, 2016). The cursive letters all take

on a different looking shape, therefore, mixing up the letters because they look similar will be

less of a problem.

In addition to being able to spell easier, cursive writing also aids in reading improvement.

An experiment was done between teaching print only and cursive only which was analyzed by

PLOS ONE, “Achievements in spelling and word reading was higher in the experimental group

[cursive writing only group]” (Semeraro 2019). Between the print and cursive writings, the

results showed the cursive writing group was able to spell and read at a higher level than those

who only learned print writing. In the same experiment between print learning and cursive
learning, PLOS ONE reports the results based on reading improvement, “In addition, we

observed that children who only learned the cursive type made faster improvement in reading”

(Semeraro 2019). Having learned cursive, children show more improvements in reading

compared to the children who have learned only print writing. Physically, these two different

types of writing are completely different from one another. The Ellsworth American newspaper

portrays the visual difference between cursive and print writing, “Because cursive letters are

more distinct than printed letters, children may learn to read more easily, especially dyslexics”

(Sampson 2019). Due to the loopy letters of cursive writing, each letter is different from the next.

Whereas in print, all of the letters have either straight lines or circles in some way or shape. This

distinct difference makes it easier for children to read cursive writing because none of the letters

are similar to one another.

Not only does the difference in letters help the children to make less errors when writing,

but the unbroken stroke also helps children while writing. As a continuous stroke, The European

Journal explains how cursive writing can be revised as it is being written, “Cursive letters are

easier because they are made with one continuous movement which can be corrected and refined

as you go” (Meadows and Roberto, 2016). The movement for writing cursive is the same, so

when you accidentally start writing one letter, it is easy to switch to the correct letter because the

movement is the same. The letters do not look the same, but they both require the same

movement in the writing. The European Journal goes on to explain how in print writing the

pencil is lifted from the paper many times, “Each time you pick up the pencil from the paper, in

order to draw another part of a letter or separate print letter you increase the potential for error”

(Meadows and Roberto, 2016). The more you lift the pencil, the higher the probability there will
be a mistake. Children with learning disabilities would benefit the most from cursive writing

because when they realize they are writing the wrong letter, they will be able to easily fix the

problem. These errors are why the cursive writing continuous movement is advised to children,

who tend to make the most mistakes. Cursive writing is important in helping children with

learning disabilities by helping with their spelling, reading, and potential errors.