I have always believed that handwriting is much more important than simply conveying beauty (We are slaves to the printed word, but only handwriting conveys real beauty, 20 August). Apart from its aesthetic and emotional values, handwriting has an essential role in promoting brain health and activity.
This was brought home to me when I was rushed to hospital with a suspected stroke. Although this proved not to be the case, I was left with problems with my speech, reading and writing and was unable to use my right hand and arm. My thought processes were quite clear but I had difficulty communicating them.
In order to help myself I indicated that I wanted lined paper and a pencil. I proceeded to write, joined-up, pages full of every lower case letter of the alphabet. I then progressed to simple combinations of letters, again in joined-up writing. As a result I found my right hand again. From there I started to write down in simple sentences my thoughts on anything and everything that occurred to me. These exercises helped me organise words, structure complex sentences and compose them in a given limited space that in turn enabled me to speak effectively and hold conversations.
It also helped me regain movement in my hand and arm and improved my reading aloud and clarity of diction. The interaction of all these ways of communication, physical exercises and speech practice have speeded up my recovery and allowed me to return with confidence to my creative work which sometimes involves designs using cursive script.
I do use a computer, which I find useful for editing, but it is no good for my spelling and in order to remember correctly I have to write out the word in joined-up writing to recall its proper pattern and associated spelling. I would not be without the handwritten pages.
Pauline Littlewood
Buckie, Moray
• In his article, Simon Jenkins praised some aspects of handwriting but inevitably ignored others. Learning to write and continuing to do so develops co-ordination of eye, brain and hand; it reinforces correct spelling better than does the use of a keyboard; it requires no external source of energy and the product can be archived for centuries; as a learned reflex, handwriting is a powerful identifier of the person producing it and one that is more secure than a password.
John Welch
Sevenoaks, Kent
