Epilepsy and Handwriting

[brain]

This poll is open to everyone, read the Questions carefully.


My mom and I had a debate going on; she does not believe
that Epilepsy and Handwriting are related to each other and
believes that it's all "psychological". Even though having
provided her proof throughout the years of my handwriting
being in this fashion, it's the way I write. I have done some
research and there's some disputes and debates regarding
Epilepsy & Handwriting.

This debate between my mother and I have been going on
for quite some time, years actually. While she now realizes
now I have Epilepsy, but she doesn't fully comprehend all
that is within or as sociated with it. (It's additional stress
imposed upon me, because of her 'arguments' - for she
doesn't see it in this manner for she lacks the understanding
of Epilepsy, for to her, everything is 'psychiatric & psychological',
even though when Doctors have told both of my parents (my
father's deceased) that I had Epilepsy, I'm unsure if they
are in denial, or do not want to accept the reality of it, for
they are very difficult people to understand.)

So I am curious as far as with individuals with Epilepsy if it
has impacted you in any shape, form, manner, and degree,
and if it really is pertaining to Temporal Lobe or Mesial Lobe
Epilepsies. Some have remarked it is solely T L E, others have
remarked it's MLE, and others have remarked it's both T L E
and MLE; and that is through the multitudes of journals,
articles, et cetera, I have read ---> the OLD and MODERN,
and I want to compare with the reviews of what had been
written altogether ---> Past & Present in their findings and
conclusions.

Thanks for your time and feel free to make any comment
you wish!

[brain]

The main complaint I get is that I write very,
very small and difficult to read; which is why
people request me to type everything down so
they can read.

[epileric]

I have more of a scribble that even I have trouble reading sometimes but I have no clue if it's connected to E. or my anti-epileptic drug's. It's just how I've always written.

In massage class we often corrected each others quizzes. After marking them a classmate handed mine back & told me that I should be a doctor .

[Meetz1064]

before..........

Actually, I think my writing's IMPROVED. I don't know that for sure though; I'd really have to go back through my things and look. That would take some time.

HOWEVER, I sometimes write very sloppily, to a point that it looks like a doctor's writing, especially if I'm in a hurry to get a thought down on paper.

So, I don't really know............Hmmmm..........

[stilldancing_98]

I would say it depends on my mood. I have kept life journals and shown my Dr.s my hand writing. "not what I wrote mind you lol" At the epilepsy center in Seattle. Back to the age of 18. After my surgery 6 years ago or something like that. My hand writing was atrotious! My signiture wasn't even close to the same. I had to work on it. Now I just have fake nails. So I write by moods again.lol

[alivenwell]

My handwriting is awful when I do script. I can print something neatly.
I think the awful handwriting may originate from my left-handedness. I cover my writing as I write.

[RobinN]

I am seeing an increase in legibility in Rebecca's printing since neurofeedback. Also an increase in the quality of note taking too.

[CJR]

I answered for my daughter. Her handwriting has always been a bit sloppy because she too is a lefty. But as she started to learn cursive her handwriting improved dramatically. YEAH! And she loved writing cursive. We celebrated... BUT THEN...for no apparent reason (about nine months ago) she stopped writing cursive, and her printing took a turn for the horribly sloppy.

Hindsight being 20/20: Nine months ago is when her seizures went from being just absence seizures to include eye fluttering/rolling, hand jerks, etc. I truly believe that E. has effected her handwriting.

[BuckeyeFan]

I have always had coordination issues since birth (possible VERY mild cerebral palsy). My handwriting always sucked. Since the advent of E at age 20, I believe it has become much worse. I don't know if it is from the E or meds, but I have a lot of shakiness in my hands. Also, usually thinking two or three words ahead and not paying attention to the individual letters as I write them.

The advent of computers hasn't helped either, because I can avoid much more writing and thus have less practice at it.

[BIGMAN131307]

I'm not really sure if I can just blame Epilepsy for my hand writing. It is quite possible that I may suffer from " Dysgraphia ".

Dysgraphia is a neurological disorder characterized by writing disabilities. Specifically, the disorder causes a person's writing to be distorted or incorrect.

Throughout my school years I would get term papers and other writing assignments back with numerous errors. Does Epilepsy cause this, I don't know.
But IMHO it may be linked to it.

[PurpleAngel]

Answering on behalf of Kater.. I really can't say one way or another that it has made a difference since she was 4 when she was diagnosed, and well her writing has gotten better since then, but that has to do with her getting older and better at it. The one thing I have noticed is that this year she holds her pen/pecil/marker very hard. Pushes down like she is going to write right through the paper and desk. Had to replace her markers at school since she had worn the tips off of them. A friend said that her son who has Dysgraphia does the same thing. I am pretty certain she doesn't have that since she LOVES to write. She will take a 30 page book and copy it, just to do it.

[skillefer]

Me too Purple! I squeeze my pens and pencils like I'm choking them. And I have a tendency to push down very hard. My parents used to buy me those rubber pencil grips that are shaped like traingles to try to break me of the habit. It didn't work. My writing is neater than my hubby's, but my signature does look like a doctor's writing...

[RanMan]

In my 29 yrs w/ epilepsy, the anti-epileptic drugs have severely affected my handwriting as well as my dexterity and overall co-ordination.
Now I type out most of my notes on the computer.
My anti-epileptic drugs have also affected my hand/eye co-ordination (among other things)
As well as messy handwriting, I write very slow. (didn't used to)

Randy

[LynnW]

I'm not really sure if I can just blame Epilepsy for my hand writing. It is quite possible that I may suffer from " Dysgraphia ". Throughout my school years I would get term papers and other writing assignments back with numerous errors. Does Epilepsy cause this, I don't know.
But IMHO it may be linked to it.

Sounds just like my 14 year old son! (doesn't have epilepsy). He has a very brilliant mind, but his handwriting looks worse than a 1st grader's. He has never mastered cursive. It's not that he's lazy or writes too fast, as his teachers think; it's just that he CAN'T write any better. There's another boy in his class who is also very, very smart, and I have seen his handwriting. It also looks horrible. Maybe it's just a sign of genius?

[BuckeyeFan]

IMO school's place way too much emphasis on perfect handwriting. Some people just do not have the hand/eye coordination while others minds are more focused on what they are writing than how they are writing it.

Bottom line is the writing MUST be legible to facilitate communication, however it does not need to be pretty. This used to be an entire grade when I was a kid equal to reading. Sorry - pet peeve.

[hawke86]

My handwriting is kind of sloppy that's what some people tell me. Some say it's neat. Some people tell me I write worse then a doctor. Everyone has their opinion.

[alivenwell]

I started to do more printing when I had to do more advanced math courses. There was little room for a misprint of a variable or a missing exponent, or pair of parenthesis.

I honestly think playing piano has really helped my hand-eye coordination.

My script is absolutely horrible. It's a great thing you guys aren't reading it. My dad also has horrible writing, but no E. His signature basically starts with the first letter of a name, and practically ends in a squiggly line.

[Zoey H.]

For me, it depends what I'm writing. If I'm taking notes, then my handwriting is really sloppy. If it's for a big project, then I write neat.

[Georgiagirl88]

In general I think my writing isn't too bad..but I have posted a few notes on here and written myself notes to remember symptoms to tell the Dr. right after seizures and it is pitiful. Bad writing/typing and total nonsense. Absolutely confusing and spelled incorrectly etc.

Michelle

[hawke86]

My handwriting looks like a doctors handwriting. Some people have told me it looks worse.