If a person cannot read or write cursive, are they "functionally illiterate?"

[Ms. Toad]

43. Why?

Should a person be required to be able to drive a manual transmission car in order to be licensed to drive?

This is coming from someone whose 34 year old daughter refuses to drive anything BUT manual transmission. I prefer manual transmission (although my left foot doesn't). But that skill falls into about the same category of knowledge as reading/writing cursive. Essential if your job requires driving manual transmission (such as being a valet for whatever car is dropped off), but not generally essential in this era - even if your job requires driving a company vehicle.

If the job requires reading hand-written notes, it should be part of the application process. Our law firm didn't require reading handwritten notes - but it did require that the administrative staff be able to transcribe dictated long dictated content because two partners "write" all of their content by dictating it. We included a test of essential skills as part of the application process (including transcribing handwritten notes and word-processing skills).

If it wasn't part of the application process (including the advertisement for the job, assertions on the application that the applicant can read/write cursive, and the interview process) then it is the obligation of the company to accommodate the employee. (That could be by teaching the employee to read/write cursive as part of the on-the-job training, or requiring the partners to communicate in a manner other than cursive notes. Most people can read hand printed notes - so even requiring the partners to print the instructions would likely suffice.)