Abstract
First-grade teachers in Joetsu City were surveyed with a questionnaire that asked about the learning of handwriting in their students who had a disability in writing Japanese letters (hiragana) and the methods used to deal with this problem. The results were as follows: 1. The prevalence of a disability in writing Japanese letters was about 0.92% (15 children out of 1,638), with the prevalence in boys being about 3.7 times that in girls. 2. Of the 15 children identified as having a disability in writing Japanese letters, 12 could write 21 or more letters out of the 46 in the syllabary while the other three could write fewer than 5 letters. 3. In these children's writing, their letters were generally correct in shape, but not in fine details. 4. The acquisition of characteristics related to handwriting, such as intelligence, spatial cognition, and fine motor skills, was delayed in the children with a disability in writing Japanese letters. 5. Individual guidance was given to every child who needed it. 6. Individual guidance was generally done by having the children practice copying or tracing letters and observe demonstrations. 7. Some children did not learn handwriting in spite of the individual guidance. This result suggests that the methods of individual guidance for children with a disability in writing Japanese letters should be improved further.
