I do feel that handwriting is very important. No, we don't need handwriting for the majority of things we do any more, but it's the little things...jotting down a phone message or a quick reminder note, writing a message on a birthday card.
I do think our children should be encouraged to use accomadations such as keyboarding, but I don't think handwriting instruction should be abandoned. With that said, there are many levels of dysgraphia...so if a child is profoundly dysgraphic, it may be appropriate to abandon handwriting instruction.
My issue with accomadations has been that my son refuses to use them. He doesn't want to stand out from the rest of the class. He would rather turn in sloppy, illegible work that try to keyboard.
I agree with passthepotatos. DS has been in weekly OT for 15 months, with daily fine motor exercises and regular handwriting homework. It is just in the last several weeks that he has begun printing in a legible form.
