The handwriting educator: an emerging profession

Abstract

Handwriting seems to be a declining ability. When, in the second half of the 19^th century, Italy was reunited, many school laws focussed on how to properly teach handwriting. As the decades went on, such rules became less and less strict, thus encouraging teachers to take on the responsibility of choosing the most appropriate methods and tools to teach handwriting. However, recent data show that the number of students with handwriting difficulties, often diagnosed with dysgraphia, is rapidly increasing. In order to cope, at least partially, with this arising problem, a new profession is emerging, whose tasks and activities have been recently standardised. The current paper aims at describing the normative, educational and professional aspects of this new profession, the handwriting educator.