Handwriting can be more than a representation of a person’s character. It can indicate a psychological condition.

A pen invented by researchers from the University of Santo Tomas and presented at the 2024 National Science and Technology Week in Cagayan de Oro City has a built-in “microcontroller” that transmits data to a mobile application.

In a pilot test of the Intelligent Stroke Utilization, Learning, Assessment and Testing (Isulat) pen on 6 to 10-year-old elementary students from three schools, the user’s letter alignment, spacing, and consistency were recorded and transmitted to a phone app for analysis by occupational therapists.

Engineer Jomel Herras, manager of the Isulat project, said a child may seem “lazy” or “unenthusiastic” in writing or in jotting down notes when he or she may really have an underlying condition, including neurological disorders like autism, attention deficit, hyperactivity disorder, or dyslexia.

After diagnosis, the appropriate intervention is prescribed, including handwriting therapy to improve penmanship.

Meanwhile, a judge in India took the drastic step of addressing a bail application by an accused rapist that was made more difficult because of bad handwriting.

Justice Jasgurpreet Singh Puri of the Punjab and Haryana High Court found incomprehensible a medico-legal report accompanying the bail application that was written by a government doctor who examined the alleged rape victim, BBC reports.

A two-page prescription included in the report also had the doctor’s unreadable scrawl.

“At a time when technology and computers are easily accessible, it is shocking that government doctors are still writing prescriptions by hand that cannot be read by anybody except perhaps some chemists,” Puri complained, according to BBC.

The judge then ordered that “all doctors must write prescriptions clearly in capital letters.”