To Write Or not to Write: Does Using a Word Processor Assist Reluctant Writers?

This paper describes a pilot study of the effect of using a word processor on the writing of children with learning difficulties. A small sample of children enrolled at the Macquarie University Special Education Centre wrote two stories each week, one handwritten and one using a word processor. The effect of using a word processor seemed to be related to the specific problems that the children were experiencing in their written work. The children with severe spelling problems made fewer errors in their word processed stories while the reluctant writers whose handwritten were usually only a few sentences in length, tended to write more. However, on average the children did not write longer stories when they used a word processor.