about Kate Gladstone
Hello, world! I repair handwriting.
I used to have rotten handwriting, because of a whole bunch of innate neurological disabilities (which I still have, despite the fact that I now also have good handwriting.)
In 1987, at age 24, I dug into the history and ergonomics of our handwriting on order to learn how to help myself,then others.
Today, I teach/re-teach handwriting, and help people become aware of its continuing importance today.
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(What kind of handwriting do I teach? I teach and advocate a simplified, "back-to-basics" handwriting method based on my own research and experience in this area.)
Read on for some of what I've done with handwriting in my life so far — or CLICK HERE for a full, current resumé/CV.
- I've put in two years as New York State Director for the Annual American Handwriting Competition (under its founder and first national director, Charles "Chuck" Lehman), during which I researched and successfully employed media/PR outlets for increasing public knowledge of, and interest in, this competition. Owing to these and other efforts, I attained the position of national director for 1997 and subsequent years - becoming worldwide director in 2000 when I upgraded the competition into an annual World Handwriting Contest.
- I also spent a year honing high-schoolers' handwriting and literacy skills via a "Calligraphy Club" in a hard-bitten area of Brooklyn, NY (my home town).
- And, from 1995 through 2000, I conducted long-term by-mail handwriting-improvement programs for young men in a Missouri correctional institution (for which I received a 1995 Missouri Correctional Systems commendation).
- At times, I have taught a course on handwriting improvement for the Schenectady City School District Continuing Education Program.
- And ... in 2002 and 2003, I presented at the free Handwriting Celebration (educational credit available) given annually under the sponsorship of the educational publisher Therapro, Incorporated. (at the John Hancock Hall -- where else? -- Boston, Massachusetts) in mid-January each year. Since each year's workshop typically seats 80 guests, reserving early will ensure your seat. To receive additional information on this and other Therapro workshops, contact kcotr@therapro.com or (in the USA/Canada) via toll-free phone at 800/257-5376.
- I am listed in Who's Who in America (2011 edition).
- On March 3, 2014, I received an award from the WebTeam Corporation. for my contributions leading to the development and success of WebTeam's award-winning technology for autism management.
I've provided handwriting help to individuals and groups since 1992.Until the coming of electronic prescriptions and medical recordkeeping, my work focused on mending the penmanship of physicians (permitting greater legibility at emergency-room speed). Today, most of my work involves sharing my knowledge of handwriting instruction with parents, teachers/school-administrators, occupational therapists, remedial/rehabilitation specialists, and other educators. (For more information, and to arrange for services, reach me via e-mail at handwritingrepair@gmail.com, by phone at 518/482-6763.)
Here follows a short list of some of my works on handwriting and how to improve it (published articles and more):
- "STAGE WRITE Handwriting Practice Paper" (available in 6 formats from Therapro) a six-stage series of handwriting paper that gets it right for writing! Students begin with clearly defined writing spaces and perceptual cues in Stage One - then, the perceptual cues fade in successive Stages as the student gains mastery. Stage Six helps the student make the final transition to conventional lined notebook paper. The high-quality paper erases easily, and the distinctive lines and spaces make success easy for every student. To order STAGE WRITE directly from Therapro, or just to learn more, click here.
- In addition to the above works, I created (as "Karen S. Gladstone") US Patent 5,018,208, "Input Device for Signature Verification," which concerns an electronic signature-verification device that evaluates handwriting form, speed, and quality.
- On occasion, I do custom handwritten calligraphic items for special events: addressing envelopes, place cards, and more. Prices provided on request.
These days, I'm busy preparing for
the October 2020 launch of
my first published textbook:
READ CURSIVE FAST
from National Autism Resources.
For pre-order info,
re-seller/distributor info,
and special promotions info,
contact National Autism Resources.
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Credit must go to my loving husband, Andrew Haber, a retired lawyer and occasional web-site designer. He designed this web site for me. Without him, I might not have made it as far as I have done.
For some reason, people at times have asked my precise birthdate, birth-time, and birthplace: March 19, 1963 - 7:23 a.m., Brooklyn, New York, USA.
My parents named me "Karen Sue Gladstone" - I changed my name to "Kate" because I liked that name - I never thought of myself as a "Karen Sue." Also, far too many other people my age had the name "Karen."
<(In any case, people who marry lawyers should not have "sue" for a middle name.)
I have a living sister (Alisa Gladstone-Brown, M.D.), a deceased sister (Jessica Gladstone), and a brother (Steven Gladstone).
Some of the places I've attended school:
- East Midwood Jewish Center / Rabbi Harry Halpern Day School, Brooklyn, NY
- Saint Anne's School, Brooklyn, NY
- Stuyvesant High School, New York, NY
- University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA - BA, 1988
- Long Island University (New York City/New School campus), Greenville, NY -- MS-LS (Master of Science - Library Science), 1990
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Here follows a short list of newspaper, magazine articles blog listings about my work. The articles include some by me, and some by others:
Handwriting Review (the journal of the Handwriting Interest Group (University of Reading, UK), "Handwriting Hints," 1995 annual
- Junior Scholastic April 24, 2017 p.23 quoted in article Should kids learn cursive in the digital age?
- The Online Pen Company posted on March 25, 20013 an illustrated article about me, In its blog WRITE ON…— HANDWRITING MATTERS
- JetPens.com (a pen store) runs an illustrated interview with me, on its blog—
Pen Pals Interview: Penmanship Expert Kate Gladstone On How to Improve Your Handwriting
- New York Times, "In a Scribbler's World, The Fountain Pen's Flourish Gets Some Glory" - July 26, 2004 - section E, page 1.
- StudentBMJ (student publication of the British Medical Journal), "Thou Shalt Write Legibly," September 2003 - pages 324 - 325; also see this article's sidebar
- Hospital Doctor, "The Write Stuff," 17-October-2002, page 36 - available on web-site, or contact site-owner for original hard-copy version
- Writing Matters (the journal of the Society for Italic Handwriting [SIH] - contact SIH Secretary Nick Caulkin for original hard-copy version), "Teaching Doctors to Write Legibly," Summer 2002.
- Old Farmer's Almanac, "Cursive - Foiled Again!" - 2001 edition, pp. 246ff.; also see this article's sidebar
- Martha Stewart's Living, "Learning Penmanship", November 1998, pp. 166-172
- Brooklyn (NY) Brooklyn Daily Eagle, "Brooklyn Born Woman Preaches The Virtues of Good Penmanship", 4-February-1998, pp. 1 and following
- Albany (NY) Capital District Business Review, "Street Talk: A Slip of the Pen", 27-October-1998, pp. 1 and following
- Detroit (MI) Source, "The Write Way", 5-October-1997 (not on the Web - call 1-810-731-1000 for back issues), pp. B1 and following
- Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), "Poor Physician Penmanship",1-October-1997 (PULSE section), pp.1116-1117.
- Chicago (IL) Daily Southtown, "Different Strokes", 27-April-1997
- Schenectady (NY) Gazette, "From Chicken Scratch to Lazy Loops, Most of Us Can Use Help with Our Handwriting", 16-March-1997
- Calgary (Alberta, Canada) Sun, "Writing No Longer One of Three R's", 17-February-1997
- Los Angeles (CA) Times, "Write of Passage?", 26-January-1997.
- Riverside (CA) Press-Enterprise, "The Curse of Cursive", 19-June-1996.
- Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram, "Good Handwriting may be Endangered in the Keyboard Era", 12-June-1996.
- Albany (NY) Times-Union, "The Lost Art of Handwriting", 9-June-1996.
- New York (NY) NYPress, "The Handwriting Is On The Screen", 13-September-1995.
- Handwriting Review (the journal of the Handwriting Interest Group (University of Reading, UK), "Handwriting Hints," 1995 annual
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If you have:
- questions ...
- comments ...
- links you'd like me to add to this page ...
- other things I should consider adding ...
- anything else you'd like to bring to my attention ...
click here to e-mail me!
Things I'd specially welcome:
- samples of your handwriting (to display in upcoming Handwriting Gallery section) - you can e-mail any graphics format, or simply use snailmail.
- personal stories/recollections/observations about handwriting and how you have seen people teach and learn it
- comments on specific problem areas (such as left-handedness, dyslexia, attention deficit disorder with or without hyper-activity, autism, Asperger's syndrome, learning disabilities, and/or physical disabilities) as these affect the learning and performance of handwriting
- comments and/or writing-samples from anyone who has improved (or otherwise changed) his or her handwriting style, for any reason, at some time. (I particularly enjoy seeing samples from people who have changed to the Italic style of handwriting.)
- comments/experiences of those who've grown up writing the Italic way
- Lefties' Lounge page here - with left-handed readers' writings, links to cool lefty sites, handwriting help. and much, much more ...)
- anything else that you think I might like to read, view, add, or just think about
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Click here for a map showing my location.
Note: I work by appointment.
In-person individual or group work generally takes place during by video or (under normal cirmstances)one or more visits to the client's site ...
For more information, or to make other arrangements, please phone or e-mail.
Kate Gladstone-
The Handwriting Repairwoman
Kate Gladstone
165 N. Allen Street
First Floor
Albany, NY 12206 USA
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