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At about 4 years into this adventure I realized
that writing was becoming a major problem for
me.  I could no longer take meeting notes at
work. I thought about using a pocket recorder but
that had little appeal since I would have to
listen to the entire meeting again.

So, I decided to teach myself to write with the
opposite hand. I'm naturally right handed and pd
has limited the fine motor skills with my right
side. But, fortunately, my left side is affected
very little at this stage. So I started the
journey to becoming left handed. I have a few
observations that I'd like to pass on to others
that may be in a similar situation.

I've been at it for almost 6 months and now write
exclusively with my left hand. I can take meeting
notes which has been a great accomplishment. I'm
slower with my left hand than I was before pd
with my right hand but speed is coming.

I got a theme book for writing practice so I
could see my progress. I began using a pencil.
This is a MUST. Pens are too difficult to start
with since the angle of contact with the paper is
critical with a pen but not with a pencil.

I made a pact with myself to practice my
handwriting daily regardless of how discouraged I
got. And, initially, I was very discouraged. It
seemed an impossible task.

I drilled myself on printing upper case letters
then lower case letters (printing, no script
yet) followed my numbers. I did four line of the
upper case alphabet; four lines of lower case
alphabet; four lines of numbers 0 through 9. At
the end of this drill I wrote a half page essay
on any topic.

Letters were very difficult when I started but
got easier with time. Initially, I had to
experiment to figure out how to write a letter.
I would write the letter right handed, try and
remember the order of the strokes then repeat it
with my left hand. Its not exactly "Rocket
Science" but it took some concentration.

Script seemed to come naturally as I wrote the
essays. I began printing but slowly a cursive
style just naturally occurred.

At about four months I realized I was no longer
thinking about letters but, rather, I was
writing words. That was the major breakthrough!
Since then I have shifted to using a pen (which
was very difficult at first) and now write a
full page essay after the same alphabet and
number drills. I continue to practice daily.

Writing with the opposite hand has helped
immensely. I can now write checks again! Speed is
improving and, most of the time, I can read what
I write.  :-)

Gray
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