Therapy for handwriting

[isabel]

DS1 is in 2nd grade. His handwriting is pretty atrocious. Varying letter sizes, still putting capital letters where they should be lowercase (like in the middle of a word), large/small gaps between words, etc.

We and his teachers just kind of chalked it up to bad handwriting, but I’m starting to wonder if he would benefit from some sort of fine motor therapy. I don’t know if this is a hand strength thing or what.

He’s a smart kid and his teacher is having him tested for giftedness. I don’t think he is, but he’s definitely an advanced reader. All that to say, intellectually, he isn’t struggling.

Has anyone sought out therapy like this? Am I looking for an occupational therapist?

[deadwing]

Yes, an OT can work on handwriting/fine motor skills. My mom's best friend was an OT with a school district and I know this is something she frequently helped children with.

[orval]

My ds did OT for handwriting/motor skills. Learning cursive helps some kids. Unfortunately, none of it helped my ds - he has dysgraphia and dyspraxia. He has been using a computer and typing since 4th grade(now 10th). If it is just poor handwriting, OT should help.

[shauni27]

absolutely work with an OT. The school should have someone on site or a good referal.

[maudefindlay]

Yes, you can ask for the school OT to come by and observe to see if an evaluation is warranted. Eligibility will be determined based on the severity and impact, the cause, and what else is affected by the fine motor issues (can he do snaps, buttons, zippers etc).

[tealblue]

Yes, the school should be able to provide an evaluation. In my state, you can formally request it and they have 50 school days to do the evaluation and then meet with you to discuss what steps to take.

It may be quicker for your pedi to refer you to an external OT or therapy place. Ds goes to a children’s therapy place that does OT, speech and other therapies for children of differing abilities. They did a comprehensive eval and then asked me and DS what he wanted to work on.

[arehopsveggies]

School OT can be frustratingly hard to qualify for. And it is not a standalone service so kids have to qualify in another area first.

Both my children have IEP’s and were evaluated for OT but didn’t qualify.

[buckeyegirl]

My kiddo saw an OT from K - 4th grade for handwriting. There were no other issues or IEP. He just qualified for handwriting practice with the OT.

[MDmomof2]

We had my son tested for fine motor skill development but the range of normal is so wide that he did not qualify. We got some suggestions for working on his skills at home. He is now 12, in 6th grade, and really struggles with handwriting. I agree with arehopsveggies, that it may be very hard for him to qualify for services so you should consider if you're willing to pay out of pocket.

[Jalapeñomel]

My son did OT through school, and his handwriting improved a ton. It's still terrible, but at least I can read it now. LOL


EDIT: He didn't qualify for any other services, no IEP, just handwriting. 

[waverly]

Yes, OT. Our lower grade level OT honestly did everything she could to avoid taking on students/ caseload. The criteria is higher to meet in the schools. But DS failed his eval and instead of taking it at face value, she gave him another eval, and decided that he passed even though he was on the lower end. Then the pandemic hit, and the handwriting only got worse. The higher grade level OTs were much more accommodating and when he failed their test they took it at face value, and he finally got services in 5th grade.

When he didn't "qualify', I could still have OT push into the classroom and provide assistance, but that was more in the form of a few handouts and a desk reminder rather than actual writing help.  

We also did private OT which really has a lower bar for services. And, we did Handwriting Without Tears one summer where I learned that he had NO idea how to form his letters and greatly wondered what happened in 1st grade, but whatever. Anyway, he is finally on the right path with the school OT, and is now in 6th grade.

[abs]

Our district doesn’t offer OT as a stand-alone service. DD’s handwriting was legit awful until, uh, recently. I tried several times and never even got an evaluation because “she’s so smart” (words from the school). I will say now she’s in 6th and her handwriting will never win an award but is very neat now. She does prefer typing.

[macmars45]

Hopefully isabel private therapies in your area don't have months long wait lists. My DS(6) was on a wait list for 13 months for OT. If you go that route the pedi will give you a referral for that.
Feel free to reach out to your DS' school psychologist and ask for an eval. They are bound by law to fulfill that request.

[cville]

Has he been evaluated for dysgraphia? It may just be a fine motor thing, but if he is processing language a different way, he may need different intervention.


Eta: I know OT is used to help with dysgraphia, but I was thinking more like frame it up that way for the school.

[isabel]

Thanks guys. Will dig into this a little more this weekend. I appreciate the advice.

[jg183]

I would ask for a school OT eval but it is notoriously tough to qualify for services and they dismiss way too much. You can also call to get into private OT and hopefully the waitlists aren't awful in your area.

[krystee]

My son sounds very similar (bright/tested for gifted but poor handwriting). I think he’s used to rushing through because he knows the answer and is bored. I have decided to incentivize doing some handwriting exercises. I bought a handwriting guide that has you write out funny jokes because he LOVES jokes, and I’m giving him $1 each one for up to five per week.

If I don’t see improvement after two months, I’ll probably reach out to the school and try to get something set up for early in the year next school year.

[isabel]

Mar 14, 2023 14:31:10 GMT -5 krystee said:

My son sounds very similar (bright/tested for gifted but poor handwriting). I think he’s used to rushing through because he knows the answer and is bored. I have decided to incentivize doing some handwriting exercises. I bought a handwriting guide that has you write out funny jokes because he LOVES jokes, and I’m giving him $1 each one for up to five per week.

If I don’t see improvement after two months, I’ll probably reach out to the school and try to get something set up for early in the year next school year.

I like this approach. I considered asking him to journal or something, but I know he’d be pissed about it.

I think part of his issue is that his brain moves faster than his ability to write, so he gets frustrated with not being able to keep up while writing, if that makes sense.

But he does put capital letters in the middle of words sometimes and that’s a dysgraphia thing. I’m going to talk to my mom (special Ed attorney) about getting him evaluated by the school.

[fumbalina]

Mar 14, 2023 14:36:44 GMT -5 isabel said:

Mar 14, 2023 14:31:10 GMT -5 krystee said:

My son sounds very similar (bright/tested for gifted but poor handwriting). I think he’s used to rushing through because he knows the answer and is bored. I have decided to incentivize doing some handwriting exercises. I bought a handwriting guide that has you write out funny jokes because he LOVES jokes, and I’m giving him $1 each one for up to five per week.

If I don’t see improvement after two months, I’ll probably reach out to the school and try to get something set up for early in the year next school year.

I like this approach. I considered asking him to journal or something, but I know he’d be pissed about it.

I think part of his issue is that his brain moves faster than his ability to write, so he gets frustrated with not being able to keep up while writing, if that makes sense.

But he does put capital letters in the middle of words sometimes and that’s a dysgraphia thing. I’m going to talk to my mom (special Ed attorney) about getting him evaluated by the school.

You can also try alternatives to pencils/pens. Many students who do not like to write with those love writing with expo markers, grease pencils, regular markers, or more. I would stop by either a dollar store "teacher corner" or an arts and crafts. And if it is from poor muscle tone, it does not have to be directly writing for it to improve. Of course, that would require an evaluation to know. When I taught K one of the reasons there was so much cutting, pasting and coloring was to develop strength in the hands. So you could also try to get him interested in something like model building, origami, knitting, or anything that involves precise motions with the hands. 

[186momx]

isabel, does he hold the pencil correctly? DD had issues and we were told getting OT for handwriting was next to impossible but they gave us a handful of different pencil grips to force her to hold the pencil correctly. What is frustrating for me is that DD has horrible handwriting but can color the most intricate pictures. I will say forcing her to hold her pencil correctly has helped a lot.

[isabel]

Mar 16, 2023 16:01:13 GMT -5 186momx said:

isabel, does he hold the pencil correctly? DD had issues and we were told getting OT for handwriting was next to impossible but they gave us a handful of different pencil grips to force her to hold the pencil correctly. What is frustrating for me is that DD has horrible handwriting but can color the most intricate pictures. I will say forcing her to hold her pencil correctly has helped a lot.

I couldn’t tell you, which makes me think yes because I feel like I would have noticed. I’ll pay attention to it this weekend. I don’t see him write very often as he doesn’t get homework.