If your child finds handwriting difficult, they’re not alone. Here’s how learning to touch type could help them succeed — in school and beyond.
By Wendy Petersen
When I attended the National Handwriting Conference recently, I was fully expecting to hear a lot about pencil grips, cursive vs. print, and how to support fine motor skills. What I didn’t expect was just how often typing came up. Again and again, experts highlighted how typing can help children who struggle with handwriting, especially those with special educational needs (SEN).
This echoed what we see in our work with families at Type IT. For many parents, handwriting is a daily concern, it’s slow, messy, or even painful for their child. And while school support varies, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: touch typing isn’t just helpful, it’s essential.
Just to be clear, most of the research refers to ‘typing’, although at the conference, touch typing was mentioned a lot. But there’s a big difference. Touch typing is the ability to type accurately and efficiently without looking at your hands, using the correct technique. It’s this structured skill that builds confidence, fluency and independence, and it’s exactly what we teach at Type IT.
In this article, I’ll explore what the latest research says about handwriting and typing, what I learned at the conference, and what we see every day in our work with families. From emotional wellbeing to exam readiness, and everything in between, it’s clear that touch typing has an increasingly important role to play in helping children with SEN succeed.
The Real Challenge of Handwriting
Gerard Van Galen’s model of handwriting (1991) shows us just how complex a task it really is. Handwriting combines a series of highly demanding processes:
- Thinking of what to say
- Spelling and word choice
- Choosing the letter shape and size
- Controlling the muscles in the hand to write clearly and at speed
These steps must all happen simultaneously. Unsurprisingly, this puts huge pressure on children with dyslexia, dyspraxia, or ADHD.
As Van Galen and later researchers like Dr. Carolyn Dunford (Mind The Gap project, 2019) note, children with SEN often struggle with both the cognitive and motor demands of handwriting. Yet while handwriting difficulties are common (around 27% of children), most schools lack consistent training, guidance, or resources to deliver high-quality handwriting instruction. There’s no national standard, and commercial handwriting schemes vary in style, terminology and effectiveness.
Enter Typing
Research by Berger and Lewandowski (2013) explored how students with specific learning difficulties (SpLD) perform when using a word processor instead of writing by hand. Their findings were striking:
- Typing was faster and more efficient than handwriting Students wrote more when typing
- Typed work scored more highly in tests
- Students reported less frustration and greater motivation
Typing helped students focus on what they wanted to say, not just how to write it. With regular practice, typing fluency improved, and with it, the quality and quantity of written work.
The Test That Proved It
In a study of 156 students across six UK state schools (75 with SpLDs, 81 without), students completed a persuasive writing test under three conditions:
- Handwriting baseline
- Handwriting with 25% extra time
- Typing with a word processor
The results:
- SpLD students wrote 24wpm by hand, 28wpm typing
- Non-SpLD students wrote 30 wpm by hand, 41 wpm typing
- Typed answers were longer and more detailed, and, crucially, scored higher.
- 69% showed improvement in their scores using access arrangements
- Typing led to a 27% improvement in marks compared to handwriting
The only factor that directly improved test scores was typing fluency. Even with extra time, handwriting didn’t significantly increase the amount of writing for SpLD students. But switching to typing did.
The Hidden Struggles Behind Writing
Dr. Olivia Afonso at Oxford Brookes University has done extensive research into why writing is so difficult for children with dyslexia. Her work shows that the difficulties go far beyond spelling mistakes or messy handwriting.
Children with dyslexia often experience a breakdown in the flow of writing due to the intense mental load involved. They may pause mid-sentence, not because they don’t know what to say, but because their brain is working overtime trying to spell each word, recall how it looks, and control the physical act of writing. This overload can be exhausting and disheartening.
One key finding in Dr. Afonso’s research is the role of orthographic working memory, which is a child’s ability to hold and manipulate the correct spellings of words in their mind while writing. For many children with dyslexia, this memory is under strain, which slows them down and disrupts their ideas.
Where Typing Can Help
This is where typing can be especially helpful. Typed writing reduces the physical demands of forming letters and can support spelling through features like word prediction and spellcheck. When children type, they are often able to maintain the flow of their thoughts, write longer pieces, and express more complex ideas. It gives them the breathing space to focus on what they want to say, rather than how to get it down.
Dr. Afonso recommends that spelling, handwriting and typing should not be taught in isolation. Instead, these skills should be integrated in a way that supports each child’s learning profile, helping them build confidence and fluency across the board.
Dr. Afonso also acknowledges the role of phonics in writing development. While phonics instruction is essential, children with dyslexia often find it particularly challenging, especially when phonics is taught in isolation without enough reinforcement of spelling, memory, and writing skills together. This is why integrating phonics with typing practice and writing instruction can be much more effective.
Typing allows these children to use their phonics knowledge in a supportive environment, where spelling tools can reinforce word recognition and written expression can happen without the physical strain of handwriting.
These academic findings are supported by what families experience every day.
What Parents Say
In a 2019 study, researchers spoke to 15 parents about their child’s struggles with handwriting. The stories they shared were emotional and familiar:
- Many felt upset, frustrated and unsure what to do
- They tried to help at home and pushed for support in school
- Provision varied from school to school, some allowed laptops in primary, only for this to be removed later on
Some children were allowed to type but hadn’t been taught properly, so they were too slow. Others didn’t want to look different from their friends, so they avoided using the help they were offered. One parent said their child wrote as little as possible just to avoid embarrassment.
This echoes what we hear from the families we work with. Parents regularly tell us their child struggles with phonics-based tasks, and how hard it is for them to apply that knowledge when writing by hand. Many of them say they’ve tried everything, and it’s a relief to find that structured touch typing can be the breakthrough their child needs.
What the Professionals Are Seeing
Occupational therapists like Caroline McHugh highlighted the emotional symptoms that children often experience due to handwriting difficulties:
Hand pain, tummy aches, or avoiding writing altogether Anxiety, low confidence, or frustration when asked to write Feeling like it’s their fault when they fall behind
In many cases, handwriting interventions focus on repetition without addressing the underlying motor or cognitive barriers. Worse, teacher training often lacks any formal instruction on how to teach handwriting.
The Challenges Schools Face
Many schools care deeply and want to support their students. But the challenges are real:
- Tight budgets and limited time
- No clear, national guidance on how to teach handwriting or when to introduce typing
- Variation in teaching methods, both in writing and typing.
Even the terminology used in schools can cause confusion. Phrases like “continuous cursive,” “joined style,” and “pre-cursive” are interpreted differently by different teachers, and not clearly explained in national policy. As a result, handwriting instruction varies wildly across schools.
English Hubs across the UK are doing fantastic work supporting phonics and reading. But they don’t currently provide guidance on handwriting. This leaves a significant gap when it comes to teaching one of the foundational skills children need.
Touch typing is another area where provision is often lacking. From our own experience as touch typing providers, we’ve seen just how common this is. Many children come to us after trying to learn through school programmes or apps, but they haven’t had the structure, feedback, or guidance they needed. Once they start learning in a more supported environment, we see a big shift, not just in their typing speed and accuracy, but in their confidence and enjoyment too.
To truly make a difference, schools need to deliver structured, well-supported typing programmes, just as they would for any core skill.
Reducing Barriers and Building Confidence
There’s also the issue of stigma. Children don’t always want to use access arrangements if they think it will make them stand out. But when access tools like typing are introduced early and taught properly, they become part of a child’s everyday way of working, not something different or special. And that’s when we start to see real confidence build. Typing can give children the freedom to express themselves without fear of falling behind or being judged.
Writing in the Digital Age
A study from Oxford Brookes University, led by Dr. Fiona Tierney, Professor Anna Barnett, and Dr. Melissa Prunty, looked at how digital tools can help students with motor coordination difficulties (like dyspraxia).
They studied 95 children and found that:
- Fluent handwriting was linked to longer, better quality writing
- Typing gave students an effective alternative
- The way digital tools were used varied a lot between schools
They also found that 27% of children have handwriting difficulties, and this often gets worse in secondary school as the workload increases.
At the same time, there is a wider shift happening across the UK education system. Exam boards such as AQA are beginning to introduce digital exams, with a broader rollout expected by 2030. On the surface, this might seem like good news, after all, digital exams could reduce the impact of handwriting difficulties and give students access to helpful tools like spellcheck and adjustable fonts.
But this raised an important question for me. If all students begin typing their answers, could the bar be raised? Might examiners begin to expect longer or more detailed responses? And could students who struggle with typing speed or accuracy, often those with SEN, find themselves at a new disadvantage?
These are my own reflections, based on what we see every day in our work. It’s why I believe typing should no longer be viewed as just an access arrangement or workaround. It needs to be seen as a core skill, something all children, especially those with SEN, are taught properly, from the ground up.
For many of the families we support, learning to touch type confidently and fluently is not just helpful, it’s essential for exam access, classroom participation, and long-term confidence.
What Needs to Happen Next
To properly support children who struggle with handwriting, we need:
- Better national guidance on how to teach handwriting and typing More teacher training
- Early identification and support
- Access to structured, child-friendly typing programmes
- A more positive approach to using access arrangements like typing
- Support that continues through primary and secondary school
Final Thoughts for Parents
If your child finds handwriting difficult or upsetting, they’re not alone. And it’s not a sign of laziness or a lack of ability, it’s a sign that they need a different approach.
Touch typing could be that approach.
It’s not about replacing handwriting completely. Handwriting is still an essential skill, not just for exams, but for everyday note-taking, planning, and communication. In fact, I use a writing tablet myself. Even though I’m a proficient touch typist, I find that handwriting helps me think, plan and reflect. What’s clever about a writing tablet, is that it converts my writing into typed text, a perfect example of how digital tools can support rather than replace traditional skills.
With the new Writing Framework due to be launched soon, there’s real hope that schools and teachers will be better supported to deliver consistent, evidence-based handwriting programmes. If we get it right, children won’t have to choose between handwriting or typing – they’ll have both.
Let’s make sure they’re equipped for success in all areas of learning.
With the right teaching and practice, typing can give every child a skill that will last a lifetime.
*This article is informed by talks and presentations from the National Handwriting Conference. It was an excellent event packed with practical insights and research-backed guidance. If you’re interested in handwriting and writing support, I highly recommend becoming a member of the National Handwriting Association: *https://nha-handwriting.org.uk/
References:
Berger & Lewandowski, 2013
Van Galen, G. (1991)
Dr. Olivia Afonso, Oxford Brookes University
Dr. Fiona Tierney, Professor Anna Barnett, Dr. Melissa Prunty (2019) Braun & Clarke (2006)
Mind The Gap – Dr. Carolyn Dunford (2019)
Ofsted English Research Review (2022)
Reading Framework: Teaching the Foundations of Literacy (2023)
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