Is there a name for this type of stuttering while writing?

[KrisOhn]

While I had no intention of posting this here, but I cannot find anything on Google about it, and it's really annoying me today. This might be a shot in the dark, but it's better than nothing.

When I write, especially with certain letters and numbers, I stutter. When I start to write a letter or number, it almost seems like I cannot write it, my hand sits there at the beginning of the letter or number and almost jitters back and forth, like a stutter, except in writing form. I know this is a poor explanation, but I am just wondering if anyone out there has heard of anything like this, or knows of something that would help me get rid of it.

Common letters and numbers I stutter with: 5, 2, 8, 0, s, c, h, n, m

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

What is going on in your head at the time? Are you trying to visualize the letter and having trouble? Trying to remember where to start and which direction to move the pen?

I have mild dyslexia and the same sort of thing happens to me on occasion. I also have issues with 5, 2, s, sometimes 8, and the occasional h/n mix up. Its also possible that is something else I have simply chalked up to dyslexia since it seems related.

The only thing I know of that may help is simply writing more frequently and training your muscle memory. I currently write quite a bit on a daily basis for my job. At my last job we used computers for everything so when I started this one and had to write by hand it took a while for me to get used to it again. I still occasionally have a hiccup (or stutter) in my writing but it is much better.

 

[KrisOhn]

Well, I'm generally thinking of what I'm writing down, and no I don't have any problem with trying to remember what I'm writing down, or which direction to move the pen. I should note that it happens worse with pencils and higher frictional surfaces, for example, it doesn't happen at all with whiteboards, but it happens a lot with pencil and paper.

I didn't know there was such a thing as varying degrees of dyslexia. Interesting.

And I write a lot in my everyday life, I am a student, getting a physics degree, and I use a pencil and paper to write notes in all my classes except for one, which I use a netbook.

 

[zoobyshoe]

Trying to think what a neurologist might call this symptom, I googled "writing tremor" and came up with this:

Primary writing tremor
A selective action tremor Harold L. Klawans, M.D., Russell Glantz, M.D., Caroline M. Tanner, M.D. and Christopher G. Goetz, M.D.
Department of Neurological Sciences. Rush-Presbyterian-St. Lukes Medical Center, Chicago, IL.

Progressive difficulty in handwriting due to jerking movements precipitated by the act of writing beginning between the ages of 8 to 54 is reported in six patients. There was no rest tremor, but three had mild postural tremor. Specific muscle activity (especially pronation of the wrist or abduction of the fingers) elicited the tremors that persisted as long as the evocative posture or muscle activity was maintained. None had a family history of tremors, but two had a history suggestive of hypoxia at birth. Unlike benign essential tremor, the movements did not respond to propanolol HC1, but most patients were benefited both acutely and chronically by centrally active anticholinergic agents.

http://www.neurology.org/cgi/content/abstract/32/2/203

That paper is pretty old, and I happen to know that Klawans has past away, but I think if you search around "writing tremor" or "primary writing tremor" you'll possibly find more about this symptom. I'm not saying this is what you have, it's just what came upon google, but it does sound like a neurological symptom to me.

 

[turbo]

If I am tired or distracted, I tend to get keyboard dyslexia. I had to touch-type all my papers in college in 1970 so I am disciplined on the QWERTY

 

[KrisOhn]

Thanks for the input.

I found this wiki article today: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysgraphia
And this sounds very similar to what I am dealing with, I rarely mix up letters, and I don't have trouble spelling, but I do have the motor dysgraphia symptoms to a T.

I am going to a doctor next week to see if I can get a formal diagnosis. On the wiki page it also suggests a few treatments, such as shorter, wider, or triangular pencils; I am going to try each of these and note the results.

 

[BooGyrl13]

I thought I was the only person who did this... I am 38 and it started approximately 4 to 5 years ago.. I tend to be primarily a printer, and the letters/numbers I have difficulty with are S, R, P, D, 2, 3, & 5. It has gotten worse as the years have gone by to the point that I have begun intentionally trying to change the way I write some of these letters numbers. It is honestly, truly, like a stutter when writing.. It is very frustrating.. I have no idea what to do, and where or how to get help...

 

[berkeman]

I thought I was the only person who did this... I am 38 and it started approximately 4 to 5 years ago.. I tend to be primarily a printer, and the letters/numbers I have difficulty with are S, R, P, D, 2, 3, & 5. It has gotten worse as the years have gone by to the point that I have begun intentionally trying to change the way I write some of these letters numbers. It is honestly, truly, like a stutter when writing.. It is very frustrating.. I have no idea what to do, and where or how to get help...

Have you discussed it with your family doctor? That seems like a good first place to start. There are some conditions that can cause it that your doctor can look into.