Is Handwriting Necessary in This Modern Age?

I was surprised a few months ago to learn that the kids in our local public school do not learn to write cursive. After a couple of years of learning to write their letters in manuscript they go on to keyboarding.  One retired teacher was talking about how she felt it was so important for kids to write cursive so that they could learn to read cursive. She went on to talk about how all of our historic documents such as the Declaration of Independence and our Constitution are written in cursive and people need to be able to read them.
As a person who loves to delve into family history I know that most census records are written in cursive as well as notations written on the backs of photos and old birth certificates. Most old journals and correspondence are handwritten in cursive so it's essential to be able to read them if you want to know what is in them.
But some new studies are showing that there are even more reasons to continue in handwriting practice and learn to write cursive. This article was particularly interesting to me as a mother of a child with learning and neurological issues.

"Children not only learn to read more quickly when they first learn to write by hand, but they also remain better able to generate ideas and retain information. In other words, it’s not just what we write that matters — but how.
“When we write, a unique neural circuit is automatically activated,” said Stanislas Dehaene, a psychologist at the Collège de France in Paris. “There is a core recognition of the gesture in the written word, a sort of recognition by mental simulation in your brain.
“And it seems that this circuit is contributing in unique ways we didn’t realize,” he continued. “Learning is made easier.”

Fascinating stuff!