Has Your Handwriting Changed With Age?

[nitelite]

Due to arthritis in my hands, my writing has significantly changed. I usually print now and only write in cursive when signing my name and that is not as neat as it was in my younger years. Just coping with aging.

 

[Aunt Marg]

I've lost a lot of ground with my handwriting.

I don't write anywhere near as often as I used to, especially back in my school days, so my writing has gotten somewhat sloppy, which doesn't doesn't make me happy, because in all the years I was in school I was always complimented on how nice my handwriting was, and in elementary school won an award for my handwriting.

As Ruth n Jersey, mentioned, my handwriting is much better later in the day than first thing in the morning.

 

[Pepper]

My mother would say "I can't read my own handwriting!" and now I say the same thing

 

[katlupe]

Mine has gotten bad, but if I take my time it is good. Not like it used to be though. The same with my mother. Her writing was beautiful and people would comment on it. In her later years, I would cash checks for her and you could hardly make out who signed it.

 

[MarciKS]

I've always had neat penmanship and good handwriting. I remember looking at my mothers handwriting as she became older, and it was larger and larger script. I asked her about it once when I was a teen, and she said it was because her eyesight was getting poorer, so her writing was naturally bigger so she could read it.

Well, now I find the same thing happening with myself. I seem to be writing bigger than I did when I was young, and it is partly because of eyesight issues with reading. How about you, has your handwriting changed now that you're older? :magnify:

Mine has gotten larger and I don't use pencils at all because I can't hardly see the writing then. Also my world has gotten busier and with arthritis I don't write as neat anymore. I don't have time to be that tidy at my penmanship these days.

 

[Aunt Bea]

Retirement and the computer have taken a toll on my ability to write and spell properly.

I find that I even have trouble signing my name. I sort of choke when the pen meets the paper and have a moment of hesitation before I can start my scrawl. The good news and perhaps the bad news is that so far no one has challenged my signature when I make a purchase or write a check.

 

[MarciKS]

Retirement and the computer have taken a toll on my ability to write and spell properly.

I find that I even have trouble signing my name. I sort of choke when the pen meets the paper and have a moment of hesitation before I can start my scrawl. The good news and perhaps the bad news is that so far no one has challenged my signature when I make a purchase or write a check.

I think most of us know that older folks struggle with handwriting so they probably don't even question it.

 

[Pappy]

I don’t like to write anything any more. I use to have good hand writing, but now it looks like I’m using a heart monitor signature. My hand is to shaky.

 

[hollydolly]

I write a diary out longhand a couple of times a week.. It used to be every day when I was employed but , no it's less often.. but since I retired, I have developed slight OA in 3 fingers in my right hand and 2 in the left and after about 10 minutes writing, I find it too painful to continue.. . I'm not as bad as some of you , but not quite as good as I once was....

 

[Pinky]

I half-print, half-write. My handwriting is legible, as long as I focus. I also have arthritis in my hands, and in particular, my right hand.

 

[Sassycakes]

Because of problems with my hands, my handwriting isn't as good as it was before. Sometimes I can't even tell what I have written.

 

[asp3]

I rarely write anything anymore other than my signature and I'm not nearly as careful with doing that as I was in the past. Part of that is because signing on electronic devices made it very variable so I just got less interested in being consistent with a pen.

I do occasionally write when I'm on a plane or on public transportation and reviewing music and taking notes I want to save later. I'll also take notes on a wine tasting sheet when we're out wine tasting and we're not doing it at a table leisurely. Those are about the only times I actually take notes on paper these days. Most other times I have a computer and use the keyboard.

My writing has gotten larger over time. When I was in college and we used to get to take in one page of notes to exams I got very good at writing extremely small to fit everything I wanted on a page. I also used multiple colors of ink when doing that so the info was distinctly separated. However now I need glasses to read and even with glasses I often can't read extremely small text.

 

[Camper6]

My handwriting may have changed slightly but basically when I'm writing longer than 10 minutes at a clip as I tend to get lazy and get a bit more sloppy. I think many people type because it's faster than writing by hand. I can type around 100 words a minute while hand writing is probably closer to half that.

100 words a minute? That's professional quality.

 

[Camper6]

Getting smaller is more worrisome than getting larger. It's one of the signs of Parkinsons.

 

[Pinky]

Although arthritis in one's hands may make a difference - I'm not sure if age necessarily changes one's handwriting skills. Both my sisters are older than I am .. by 3 yrs. and 9 yrs. They've always had extremely nice handwriting, and theirs hasn't changed one iota.

 

[Lakeland living]

No change, couldn't read it before, still can't read my writing.
Typing works for me....

 

[fuzzybuddy]

Yeah, my handwriting has gotten really sloppy. It used to be fluid, and "important" looking-like something you'd see on the US Constitution. Now, it looks like it was written during an earthquake, and in Chinese.

 

[Jules]

It’s dreadful. Never was great. My list of meals is all in short form, or so it appears. That’s about the only thing I write down. Grocery lists go directly onto the phone. It won’t be left on the counter.

At in her 90s my mother’s was shaky but still better than most people’s.

 

[RadishRose]

Mine has also deteriorated.

I only write for a grocery list if I actually go to a store which is rare these days. Ordering online with delivery or pickup has become the new normal.

 

[debodun]

Yep - I can't read my own writing now. I'm good for the 2 or 3 first letters in a word, then I just start making circles or squiggles. At least in cursive. I do better printing, but find that tiresome after a while.

 

[horseless carriage]

 

[Lewkat]

Even thought I am a leftie, I was taught the Palmer method so I do no write with my hand curled around like most southpaws do. My handwriting was always legible. In nursing, we had to print everything so that doctors could read what we wrote. Too bad they didn't have to do likewise as decoding their writing was another discipline in itself. A couple of years ago, I broke my left wrist and there is a slight displacement of ulnar bone, so my writing is now challenged due to finding a comfortable way to place my wrist. Also, I have neuropathy and sometimes cannot even feel the pen or pencil in my hand.

 

[horseless carriage]

Even thought I am a leftie, I was taught the Palmer method so I do no write with my hand curled around like most southpaws do. My handwriting was always legible. In nursing, we had to print everything so that doctors could read what we wrote. Too bad they didn't have to do likewise as decoding their writing was another discipline in itself. A couple of years ago, I broke my left wrist and there is a slight displacement of ulnar bone, so my writing is now challenged due to finding a comfortable way to place my wrist. Also, I have neuropathy and sometimes cannot even feel the pen or pencil in my hand.

That sounds quite uncomfortable. Some forty years ago I broke my right arm, while it was in a splint, healing, I learned to use my left hand and to quite an efficient dexterity too. Once my arm had healed and the splint removed I just went back to using my right hand.

Our English teacher was a very forward thinking fellow, he it was who taught us the Italic style, by writing vee shapes in a line across the page. Having mastered the easier shapes he went on to teach us how to form a curve and finally, how to add flourishes. He helped left handers, there were two in our class, by ordering nibs designed for left handers. There are many styles for those left handed, the one that he encouraged the boys to use had a slightly curved nib. The resulting handwriting was brilliant, I'm sure it gave those two boys much more confidence. The left hand nib looked like this.

 

[charry]

Oh yes, mine is more sloppy now, as I try to rush so much,
So I now use a ruler .........

 

[Lewkat]

That sounds quite uncomfortable. Some forty years ago I broke my right arm, while it was in a splint, healing, I learned to use my left hand and to quite an efficient dexterity too. Once my arm had healed and the splint removed I just went back to using my right hand.

Our English teacher was a very forward thinking fellow, he it was who taught us the Italic style, by writing vee shapes in a line across the page. Having mastered the easier shapes he went on to teach us how to form a curve and finally, how to add flourishes. He helped left handers, there were two in our class, by ordering nibs designed for left handers. There are many styles for those left handed, the one that he encouraged the boys to use had a slightly curved nib. The resulting handwriting was brilliant, I'm sure it gave those two boys much more confidence. The left hand nib looked like this.
View attachment 144913

Yes, Horseless, when I was in grade school, in penmanship class, I was issued a left handed nib for my pen. We inserted our own nibs. My father finally bought me a bunch of my own to practice my writing at home. He and my mom both had beautiful handwriting.