Why is cursive writing included as part of the intervention when working with Dyslexic students?

Question

How can cursive help students with Dyslexia?

Answer 1

Echoing what Lisa Y. helpfully added, the same logic behind cursive (unbroken and easily decodable letters) applies to print as well. I’ve worked with students who needed sans serif (“without edges”) fonts, such as Calibri and Comic Sans, as opposed to serif (“edged”) fonts, such as Times New Roman and Georgia. By removing the edges, you remove the visual clutter that can make it harder for dyslexic readers to decode words.

Additionally, especially when working with virtual mediums like Google Docs through Google Classroom, I would change the background color of the page to something dark like black or charcoal, and changed the text color to white. This reduces the changes of letters blurring and reduces the strength of full white light entering the eye (which can be draining for any learner)—all while maintaining necessary contrast between background and foreground text.

Answer 2

The reason cursive is used to help students with dyslexia is because: cursive provides an flow of unbroken letters for better encoding. This helps with powerful motor and muscle memory. In addition, it gives the reader / writer fewer opportunities to get confused with directionality. For example, reversals such as b/d or u/n are impossible with cursive. 

When using cursive, words become a single unit, rather than a group of disconnected letters, helping to ensure that proper spelling is aided by muscle memory.

If your student would like to learn cursive, please schedule a lesson today!