Whose kid has done OT for handwriting?

[KB]

DS starts Kindy in two weeks. He has an IEP and will be getting OT for fine motor/handwriting once a week. Right now we play a lot with legos and play-doh for a stronger grip and fine motor practice. I have a kindy workbook for handwriting but I want to keep things fun and not turn it into a chore for him. Did anyone have success with handwriting practice a la worksheets or workbooks? Am I overthinking this and he'll do fine once he gets to K?

[UMaineTeach]

I'm betting he will be fine, but if you want:

you could get some of the Handwriting Without Tears stuff or see if the OT/school uses any. They have a workbook, and the teacher's guide is not too expensive and it will teach you handwriting from an OT perspective.

I've also seen OTs have the kids clip clothes pins on a line, use small tongs to move cotton from one plate to another, and drop coins in a bank if any of those sound fun.

[hopecounts]

Second the above.
HWOT is the go to for kids with fine motor issues.
do tongs/kid chop sticks (the kind that are joined) to pick up things and put them in a bowl/jar.
use a colander and spaghetti/cut q tips/etc to practice sticking them in the holes.
lots of playdough play (rolling/pushing/cookie cutters) or theraputty to strengthen fingers/hands.

[readyin07]

I did. My DS started in Pre-K due to some issues with pencil grip. Honestly, I don't think his 3yo class really stressed proper grip and he started off behind. I definitely think it helped. When he was tested by the OT in fine motor skills, he tested in like low 4yo range when he was 4 1/2 so it wasn't a huge deficit, but I didn't want to wait and see.

I would wait and see what the OT recommends. We did a few weeks of exercises designed to develop neuropathways that would lead to functional writing and then went straight into Handwriting without Tears. There are tons of exercises you can do, but honestly my kid saw through them haha. He did not find it entertaining to write letters in shaving cream and whatnot. The OT was really what we needed and he saw her for 45 minutes once a week and his handwriting is fine now.

[stephm0188]

Break crayons to encourage a tripod grip. Golf pencils are also great for writing and go along with the HWOT thing. Small rubber stamps. Writing on an easel is also great.

Legos were what really helped improve him fine motor skills. He's going into second and has the most funky pencil grasp ever, but his OT says it works for him and it stick with it.

[Deleted]

DS was supposed to start a class this week at a local PT office. When I talked to them they explained that they will be going step by step through HWT and break it in to 8 sections. I decided to pull DS from the class and order my own HWT books and try it at home first. They seem to be having success with this method, from what I hear.

[auntie]

TBH, I'd wait until he starts working with the OT and take your suggestions from her. HWOT is great, but if she's using some other program you could impede his progress by confusing him.

Maybe he'll be fine, maybe he'll need OT for a couple years. Hard to say.

I avoided worksheets. We did a lot of writing on a chalkboard, writing in wet sand with a stick and lots of Legos, small gauge trains and drawing supplies. We started working on keyboarding skill games in kindie.

[sushi]

tres3

[KB]

Thanks for the input. I do appreciate it. I think we'll keep up with what we're doing and see what the OT suggests for grip and fine motor work.

[auntie]

kb

I see that your DS has an ASD dx. Specific to that, some more specific suggestions-

1. Make sure his OT vets his writing set up. Often kindie kids sit at tables, make sure his table/desk and chair combination sets him up to reduce fatigue. If he has low tone in his core, he'll likely find sitting upright producing written work very tiring- movement breaks can help with that.

2. If his tone issues are also in his hands, writing can be painful with cramping from holding too tight. You OT should have a range of grips to work with. 

3. Watch for issues with crossing the midline; this is an ASD glitch that can interfere with handedness and with using both sides of the paper. DS was almost ambidextrous for a long while; he would write on the left side of the paper with his left hand and the right side with his right hand. 

4. Watch for letter formation, especially if he's not yet a reader. The directionality of English is left to right/top to bottom. His letters should be formed in that order.

5. Should he start to draw his letters, shut that down. Sometimes perfectionist kids will painstakingly draw instead of writing which is laborious, does nothing to cement graphomotor skills and is just exhausting. DS's fine motor skills have always been amazing; he only had issues with graphomotor skills. Maturity did a lot to improve them.

6. We never did OT; DS did get a special handwriting program at the reading school he attended. Expect glitches. DS went through a short phase of mirror writing. He still has wonky letter formation, but he can writing legibly and quickly. 

7. Keyboards are your friend. If he doesn't resolve his writing issues quickly, and especially if he's a bright kid being held back by writing, have the school do an assistive technology eval and get him on an Alphasmart sooner rather than waiting.

[tres3]

My kid gets OT. We really had to fight for it and didn't get it until middle of 2d grade. He has #5 on Auntie's list. He also forms his letters bottom to top.

Our private pay OT said the only way we were going to fix his handwriting at this point was to teach him cursive, which we've been trying for a year and half but he still doesn't use it regularly.

I didn't do OT this summer and I'm now really regretting it. He really regressed this summer and homework and everything has become a real challenge. His ASD specialist is suddenly having to spend time with him in the classroom which she hasn't had to previous years.

Our OT had lots of recommendations for classroom like pencils, using a foam mat to stop him from pressing down so hard on the paper and breaking pencils, etc.

[KB]

Aug 19, 2015 5:42:17 GMT -5 auntie said:

kb

I see that your DS has an ASD dx. Specific to that, some more specific suggestions-

1. Make sure his OT vets his writing set up. Often kindie kids sit at tables, make sure his table/desk and chair combination sets him up to reduce fatigue. If he has low tone in his core, he'll likely find sitting upright producing written work very tiring- movement breaks can help with that.

They are at tables, in small groups. We wrote in his IEP to reconvene with the team after a month in school to see what tweaks (movement breaks, set-up) would be needed. No low-tone in his core, which is good. he does get discouraged easily when he can't get it. He can be a perfectionist. No surprise there. 

2. If his tone issues are also in his hands, writing can be painful with cramping from holding too tight. You OT should have a range of grips to work with. 

He's definitely going to need some sort of a grip. His default right now is a full fist. 

3. Watch for issues with crossing the midline; this is an ASD glitch that can interfere with handedness and with using both sides of the paper. DS was almost ambidextrous for a long while; he would write on the left side of the paper with his left hand and the right side with his right hand. 

So far that hasn't been an issue, but handwriting is still a relatively new skill for him. 

4. Watch for letter formation, especially if he's not yet a reader. The directionality of English is left to right/top to bottom. His letters should be formed in that order.

5. Should he start to draw his letters, shut that down. Sometimes perfectionist kids will painstakingly draw instead of writing which is laborious, does nothing to cement graphomotor skills and is just exhausting. DS's fine motor skills have always been amazing; he only had issues with graphomotor skills. Maturity did a lot to improve them.

I'll keep a look out. 

6. We never did OT; DS did get a special handwriting program at the reading school he attended. Expect glitches. DS went through a short phase of mirror writing. He still has wonky letter formation, but he can writing legibly and quickly. 

Yeah, he isn't a fan of handwriting at all but I know it's a skill he has to learn. I'll be excited if he can just keep letters in the lines on the page.

7. Keyboards are your friend. If he doesn't resolve his writing issues quickly, and especially if he's a bright kid being held back by writing, have the school do an assistive technology eval and get him on an Alphasmart sooner rather than waiting.

I'll look into this. Thanks!