How in the World did Chris learn to write?

  • 🔧 At about Midnight EST I am going to completely fuck up the site trying to fix something.
Still rather odd that in all his years of schooling no one took the time to correct how he holds his pen, it is an easy fix after all.
 
I give this thread :alog::alog::alog:1/2 out of
:alog::alog::alog::alog::alog:.

Got dang autistic teenagers holding their pencils wrong*yawn*
 
Sweet and Savoury said:
Still rather odd that in all his years of schooling no one took the time to correct how he holds his pen, it is an easy fix after all.
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The problem is Chris wouldn't be willing to change and at the time it wouldn't be a pressing concern. Just getting through the day without Chris having to be 'pinned down with them recording my screams' would be more important than fixing his penmanship.
 

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I remember back in '92 the teacher asking us all to write a zero (0) on a piece of paper. She came along and corrected anyone that started the circle at the bottom instead of the top. She also threw a shitfit when kids would draw a | and close it in with a c instead of forming a o and attaching a | to it.
They really don't spend time anymore on penmanship, and I think the downward slide started in the early '90s. I'd say if you had older, more experienced teachers, they'd berate the hell out of a kid back in the '90s for piss-poor penmanship. As you move into younger, less established teachers, more overwhelmed both by the newness of the profession and over-crowding, you just prayed keyboards would, indeed, take over the world.
Side note: I have a friend who went to school in the '60s-'70s, and there was a kid named "Teddy" in his class. A certain teacher would always ask the whole class "Who is Titty Lastname?" That is motivation to improve. Public humiliation with a faint hint of sexual undertones. Sure can't get away with that anymore, what are my tax dollars paying for, anyhow?
 
BillRiley said:
Long story short, Chris writes and draws the way he does because of dyspraxia, an underdevelopment of fine motor skills often associated with autism spectrum disorders. There's a good summary of dyspraxia here.
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I've got dyspraxia (I think it's more commonly called Developmental Coordination Disorder now (link to Wikipedia article)) and if Chris has this it makes sense, I've also got a weird pencil grip (I just hold the pencil/pen between my thumb and index finger), for many years throughout primary(Elementary) and the start of highschool I tried using special equipment* but ended up just going back to my weird grip since it was more comfortable / I could write for longer without my hand cramping up, I was later told by an expert odd pencil/pen grips are fairly common with people with dyspraxia since they just go with whatever grip they are most comfortable with.

From what I gather Dyspraxia isn't really well known outside of the UK, interestingly hypotonia (Low muscle tone) is a common associated disorder which might relate to Chris.

*These go over pencils and pens:
hand-writing_clip_image002.jpg
you can also get special triangular pencils.
 
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The Knife said:
I write with the pen held between my middle and ring finger, too. But then, I also taught myself to write when I was very very young--three or four--and I think people were too freaked out to call me out on it. None of my teachers ever made any effort to correct it, my handwriting's fine, and I don't get cramps or anything. But Chris is the only other person I've seen who writes that way.
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same! my mom tried to make me correct it i guess but aside from the fact that it looks a little odd it never made any problems for me either

the weird thing he is doing with his index finger looks a little painful tho
 
I had a real hard time with handwriting in 3rd and 4th grade when we were learning cursive. My printing was fine, but my cursive writing was a mess. It was due partly to impulsivity and not taking my time and partly to bad pencil grip. I gripped my pencil with just my thumb and index finger and I guess that gave me less control over what I was writing. Near the end of 4th grade I started using one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Write-Dudes-T..._sim_op_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=1869JG4GKFEEB93D9B8Y
and I was able to soon transition to holding my pencil the correct way.
It's kind of a shame that Chris did not get the help he needed when he was young. A few small changes might have made a big difference for him.
 
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