I know there are several parents here who have kids with dysgraphia or other handwriting difficulties. DS has dyspraxia (motor planning disorder), which affects his gross, fine, and oral motor skills. Handwriting - both printing and cursive - is very difficult to him. It's painstakingly slow, and his writing is very difficult to read. It looks like the writing of a much younger child. He's 9 and just started 4th grade. When he writes paragraphs for homework, I have him type it on his iPad with a bluetooth keyboard. When he has worksheets, it takes forever for him to complete them and make them legible. At school he handwrites, but I know it takes a long time and he has to concentrate on letter formation instead of composition. I'm wondering if it's time to request that he type his work at school. I've heard about the Alphasmart Neo and Dana, are those still used by a lot of schools? Or are they considered "old technology" is this modern age of tablets?

If your child uses technology to help with handwriting problems, please share your experiences. Especially what device your child uses, how you and the school decided to start using it, and what age/grade you started. How has it helped your child? Do you feel that using a device is somehow "giving up" on your child learning good handwriting?

Thanks.