Children with poor handwriting skills will also have difficulty in other academic areas. Recent research implies that handwriting is critical to the production of creative and well-written text (Graham and Harris, 2005).

Experts claim that illegible handwriting has secondary effects on school achievement and self-esteem (Engel-Yeger, Nagakur – Yanuv & Rosenblum, 2009; Malloy-Miller, Polatajko & Anstett, 1995).

Research literature extensively documents the consequences of poor handwriting on academic performance. Graham, Harris and Fink (2000) suggest that children who experience difficulty mastering this skill (handwriting) may avoid writing and decide that they cannot write, leading to arrested development.

Studies have estimated that between 10 to 30 percent of elementary school children struggle with handwriting (Karlsdottir & Stephansson, 2002, as cited in Feder & Majnemer, 2007).

The addition of handwritten components to many state standardized assessments and of a handwritten essay to the College Board SAT in 2005 further emphasize the importance of handwriting.

According to a study published in 1992 (McHale & Cermak), 85 percent of all fine motor time in second-, fourth-, and sixth-grade classrooms was spent on paper and pencil activities.

Handwriting is an essential skill for both children and adults (Feder & Majnemer, 2007).

Good penmanship is more than just a quaint skill. A new study shows that it's a key part of learning. A study by Vanderbilt University professor Steve Graham finds that a majority of primary school teachers believe that students with fluent handwriting produced written assignments that were superior in quantity and quality and resulted in higher grades—aside from being easier to read. The College Board recognized this in 2005 when it added a handwritten essay to the SAT—an effort to reverse the de-emphasis on handwriting and composition that may be adversely affecting children's learning all the way through high school and beyond. The Writing On The Wall, Raina Kelly, Newsweek, Nov. 12, 2007

Even in the age of technology, handwriting remains the primary tool of communication and knowledge assessment for students in the classroom. In addition, greater writing speed “lessens the burden on working memory,” enabling children and adults to “create good reader-friendly prose” (Peverly, 2006).