To All of You Who Keep Telling Me I Have to Write With Pen and Paper, Stop!

I have one word for you

Osteoarthritis. Mine has advanced (deteriorated?) to the stage where my thumbs don’t thumb anymore and my hands can barely hand: I can’t even hold a pen, pencil, or stylus.

But I persist.

I grew up in an era where everything that was written was generally typed. I took a typing class in ninth grade and have been hooked on it ever since. First my trusty Olympic portable typewriter and later a computer keyboard. Finally, I graduated to an iPhone and an iPad.

Yeah, yeah, yeah: I’ve done my research and I know what the studies say about the advantages of writing with pen/pencil and paper. But you folks who insist on writing that way often treat those of us who can’t write that way like second-class citizens for merely trying to write.

It’s bad enough that I’m faced with physical limitations; I don’t need people telling me I’m not a real writer because I struggle with those limitations every time I sit down to write.

So please: back off and quit pestering me when I’m simply using technology to do what it’s meant to do: empowering those of us with physical handicaps to overcome those handicaps.