I used to have rotten handwriting, because of a whole bunch of innate neurological disabilities (which I still have, despite the fact that I now also have good handwriting.)
At age 24, I dug into the history and ergonomics of our handwriting on order to learn how to help myself,then others.
Today, I teach/re-teach handwriting, and help people become aware of its continuing importance today.
(What kind of handwriting do I teach? I teach and advocate a simplified, "back-to-basics" handwriting method based on my own research and experience in this area.)
I've put in two years as New York State Director for the Annual American Handwriting Competition (under its founder and first national director, Charles "Chuck" Lehman), during which I researched and successfully employed media/PR outlets for increasing public knowledge of, and interest in, this competition. Owing to these and other efforts, I attained the position of national director for 1997 and subsequent years - becoming worldwide director in 2000 when I upgraded the competition into an annual World Handwriting Contest.
I also spent a year honing high-schoolers' handwriting and literacy skills via a "Calligraphy Club" in a hard-bitten area of Brooklyn, NY (my home town).
And, from 1995 through 2000, I conducted long-term by-mail handwriting-improvement programs for young men in a Missouri correctional institution (for which I received a 1995 Missouri Correctional Systems commendation).
At times, I have taught a course on handwriting improvement for the Schenectady City School District Continuing Education Program.
And ... in 2002 and 2003, I presented at the free Handwriting Celebration (educational credit available) given annually under the sponsorship of the educational publisher Therapro, Incorporated. These yearly events feature a range of speakers and approaches on the subject of handwriting. They normally take place in Boston, Massachusetts (at the John Hancock Hall - where else?) in mid-January each year. Since each year's workshop typically seats 80 guests, reserving early will ensure your seat. To reserve a seat at the next workshop, or to receive additional information on this and other Therawpro workshops, contact Therapro's director, Karen Conrad, at kcotr@theraproducts.com or (in the USA/Canada) via toll-free phone at 800/257-5376.
In many other ways, too, I've provided handwriting help to individuals and groups since 1992. Most recently, my work has focused on mending the penmanship of physicians (permitting greater legibility at emergency-room speed), and on sharing my knowledge of handwriting instruction with parents, teachers/school-administrators, occupational therapists, remedial/rehabilitation specialists, and other educators. (For more information, and to arrange for services, reach me via e-mail at handwritingrepair@gmail.com, by phone at 518/482-6763, or via the Medical Education Speakers' Network which lists me as a speaker on handwriting in the medical workplace.)
Here follows a short list of some of my works on handwriting and how to improve it (published articles and more):
PUBLISHED ARTICLES:
"Calligraphy: Rx for illegible writing?" in ADDendum (a quarterly for those with Attention Deficit Disorder), Spring 1992
"Handwriting Hints: advice from an uncoordinated writer of italic" in Handwriting Review (the annual of the Handwriting Interest Group at the University of Reading, England), 1995
"Handwriting: the perspective of a survivor" in Their World (the annual of the National Center for Learning Disabilities), 1995
OTHER WORKS:
- "STAGE RITE Handwriting Practice Paper" (available in 6 formats from Therapro) a six-stage series of handwriting paper that gets it right for writing! Students begin with clearly defined writing spaces and perceptual cues in Stage One - then, the perceptual cues fade in successive Stages as the student gains mastery. Stage Six helps the student make the final transition to conventional lined notebook paper. The high-quality paper erases easily, and the distinctive lines and spaces make success easy for every student. To order STAGE RITE, or just to learn more, click here to enter the Therapro web-site. Type the words STAGE RITE in the search-area there and press the GO button.
These days, I keep myself busy putting together books and other materials/media to help people (young and grown) to learn handwriting and to improve their existing handwriting skills.
Credit must go to my loving husband, Andrew Haber, a lawyer and occasional web-site designer. He designed this web site for me. Without him, I might not have made it as far as I have done.
For some reason, people at times have asked my precise birthdate, birth-time, and birthplace: March 19, 1963 - 7:24 a.m., Brooklyn, New York, USA.
My parents named me "Karen Sue Gladstone" - I changed my name to "Kate" because I liked that name - I never thought of myself as a "Karen Sue." Also, far too many other people my age had the name "Karen."
(In any case, people who marry lawyers should not have "sue" for a middle name.)
Long Island University (New York City/New School campus), Greenville, NY - MS-LS (Master of Science - Library Science), 1990
Here follows a short list of newspaper and magazine articles about my work. The articles include some by me, and some by others:
Handwriting Review (the journal of the Handwriting Interest Group (University of Reading, UK), "Handwriting Hints," 1995 annual
New York Times, "In a Scribbler's World, The Fountain Pen's Flourish Gets Some Glory" - July 26, 2004 - section E, page 1.
StudentBMJ(student publication of the British Medical Journal), "Thou Shalt Write Legibly," September 2003 - pages 324 - 325; also see this article's sidebar
personal stories/recollections/observations about handwriting and how you have seen people teach and learn it
comments on specific problem areas (such as left-handedness, dyslexia, attention deficit disorder with or without hyper-activity, autism, Asperger's syndrome, learning disabilities, and/or physical disabilities) as these affect the learning and performance of handwriting
comments and/or writing-samples from anyone who has improved (or otherwise changed) his or her handwriting style, for any reason, at some time. (I particularly enjoy seeing samples from people who have changed to the Italic style of handwriting.)
comments/experiences of those who've grown up writing the Italic way
tips/experiences/links re left-handers & ambidexters (once I have enough stuff, I plan to add a Lefties' Lounge page here - with left-handed readers' writings, links to cool lefty sites, handwriting help. and much, much more ...)
anything else that you think I might like to read, view, add, or just think about
