There is also a big difference between "acceptably legible" and "beautiful" penmanship.
The former is really the best that many people can hope to accomplish and maintain over a lifetime. Personally, I draw the line at functional handwriting when looking at whether or not there's something that needs addressing.
My DD's handwriting never really improved much even with a lot of practice and reinforcement, and she tires VERY quickly-- though she definitely has good automaticity while her hand strength lasts.
She will probably need to take notes even in college via a laptop or other mobile device. Longhand for an hour isn't going to happen, legibly or otherwise.
On the other hand, she CAN push herself to write legibly for a standardized test (state testing, ACT/SAT, etc.) when timed and when it counts.
At six years old, though-- she had the handwriting of a fourth year med student... or Sasquatch. Which is what my DH (lovingly) called her handwriting, frankly.
Because she didn't write (it was painful) she was quite slow to develop automaticity. She has it now, but it's been a long slow road.
