Problems of Forensic Sciences 2002 Vol. 50 (L) 99-111
ANALYSIS OF THE WRITING OF A DISABLED PERSON. A CASE STUDY
Aurelia KOTARBA-PAWŁOWICZ
Institute of Forensic Research, Cracow
Streszczenie
This work deals with the analysis of the writing of a person affected by Little’s disease, the most typical type of infantile cerebral palsy (paralysis cerebralis infantilis). The disease is the result of damage to the central nervous system which, in turn, results in inborn paresis of upper and lower limbs, together with deformation of the trunk (chest), and often mental disability. Examination of the collected material, encompassing twenty years, focused on graphic properties chosen from five basic categories of features, and on the deformation of writing resulting from an inability to execute smooth, spontaneous writing movements. Deformations of this kind, resulting from the neurological origin of the disease were caused by co-ordination disorders, involuntary movements, high muscle tension and increasing tiredness while writing. Analysis of this unique graphism allowed neither to determine a set of features specific for Little’s disease, nor to assume that it would be possible to carry out identification examinations in the future (using writing samples from persons suffering from this disease). It merely revealed the kind (and extent) of disorders that one may expect in the writing of a person affected by this disease – who writes in an untypical way, i.e. with a foot.
Słowa kluczowe
Pathology of writing; Infantile cerebral palsy; Little’s disease; Writing with a foot; Atethosis.