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ChristinaK
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| Posted: Sept 08 2006 at 10:50am | IP Logged
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Has anyone had occupational therapy for handwriting for their children? DS is in 3rd grade and his handwriting is pretty illegible unless he really takes his time. It takes him a long time to write the letters and spacing is a problem. All of his words tend to run together and he has difficulty writing up against the red line on the notebook paper. There are also some issues with his punctuation and capitalization but I think that is because he's concentrating so hard on trying to physically write the letters.
He is in PS and his teacher is concerned about the legibility of his handwriting and the length of time that it takes him to complete his assignments and has suggested that she speak with the principal about the possibility of having him evaluated by the occupational therapist. He was slow to learn to ride a bike on 2 wheels and to tie his shoes. I don't know if the handwriting issue will eventually click like the other things did and his handwriting will improve or if it is a motor skill delay that needs to be addressed. If I were homeschooling him, we'd switch to HWOT and give it some time. But since DH is opposed to that I need to work within the school's expectations and framework. The school is using D'Nealian.
I am interested in what was involved in the occupational therapy if your child had it and I am also open to any suggestions on how to work with DS on this issue.
TIA!
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KC in TX
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| Posted: Sept 08 2006 at 11:32am | IP Logged
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My son has fine motor delays among other things, but occupational therapy has helped a lot in this area. We do use HWT and it's been wonderful. One of the things that has helped is using paper that has raised lines to help get a tactile sense of where the lines are. I've even found some now in stores like WalMart and Target.
__________________
KC,
wife to Ben (10/94),
Mama to LB ('98)
Michaela ('01)
Emma ('03)
Jordan ('05)
And, my 2 angels, Rose ('08) and Mark ('09)
The Cabbage Patch
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ALmom
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| Posted: Sept 08 2006 at 4:19pm | IP Logged
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I would make sure there aren't any vision issues. It is pretty simple to do if you have a qualified optometrist nearby and if you have vision plan/medical plan that will cover the testing (our vision covered the initial exam and then our medical kicked in for the extensive testing we did once we knew there was some sort of problem), you should be able to get the evaluation covered as long as this is done at the same time as he would be due for his eye exam anyways.
I'm not saying this is the case, but these subtle vision problems do impact the areas you are asking about (taking longer to ride a bike, spacing issues, slowness in writing, delayed fine motor, etc.). There may be other signs as well. If you go on the pavevision.org website they may give you some other things to look for, how to find the right optometrist, etc. By the way, our children with problems had been evaluated by the same optometrist that tests for the public schools here (supposed to have had some experience) but never found the problem even when I had extensive descriptions of all their struggles, etc. They kept telling us our dd vision was perfect. We found the problem once we went with a fellow from the College of Optometry Vision Development.
We had a minimal period with an occupational therapist and, in our case, it was not very helpful. However, I think this was because they were simply addressing the fine motor - and totally missed the vision issues. They addressed the brain - muscle connection somewhat but in our case there was a muscle problem in the eyes that was giving our dd funny input in the first place and until that was addressed, nothing really helped that much. Our child could not make progress fine motor wise, until the vision was corrected. She was utterly frustrated with the exercises from the occupational therapist and we basically gave up on them after a while. This person might have been helpful later, to speed up fine motor progress once vision was corrected - but our vision therapist worked in this area as well (and we didn't see a need then for another therapist), and suggested real activities (piano, cut and create activities) that were in our dc line of interest and also re-inforced the fine-motor more. We, personally, found the specialized optometrist with the vision therapist a much thourough approach for our child. If this had not addressed the problem completely, then an occupational therapist may have helped, but we never needed to go there.
Just another experience.
Janet
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ChristinaK
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| Posted: Sept 08 2006 at 4:44pm | IP Logged
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I have spent most of the afternoon doing research on this. DH and I have decided to pursue the occupational therapy evaluation and I put my request to the teacher in writing. I've also ordered HWOT to start with him. I looked at the pavevision.org site and the only other symptom that he has besides the ones I listed is that he does sometimes skip lines when he is reading. He reads above grade level so I have thought that a vision problem was probably not the issue. However, there is a behavioral optometrist locally so I think we will pursue having an eye exam. It certainly can't hurt and I would be very upset later if we found out it was a vision problem and we didn't address it.
Thanks for the input ladies. I am still open to any other suggestions.
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ALmom
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Sounds like you have a great plan that covers all the bases. I will pray extra hard for you all that God guides the various people evaluating your dc so that all goes well and you get a completely accurate view and great support!
Janet
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organiclilac
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| Posted: Sept 11 2006 at 5:47pm | IP Logged
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I ran across the Callirobics program once a long time ago, and while I have not used it (ds is only 5), I think it looks like it would be a lot of fun.
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TracyQ
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Our son has this problem too, and it ended up being a part of his vision learning problems. He had a tracking problem, a visual sequencing problem, and the writing skills are definitely lacking.
Funny thing is that he has the BEST handwriting out of all three kids now,since his vision therapy, and can space pretty well! But he still is very slow, because he is very precise. We're working on that.
It does sound like you have a good plan set. 
__________________
Blessings and Peace,
Tracy Q.
wife of Marty for 20 years, mom of 3 wonderful children (1 homeschool graduate, 1 12th grader, and a 9th grader),
 homeschooling in 15th year in Buffalo, NY
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booklegger
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| Posted: Sept 11 2006 at 7:27pm | IP Logged
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I've been going through this for years. My 11 year olds handwriting looks like a 1st grader's. It hurts me when I see hall displays with something written from all the students in his class. I struggle to read what he shows me, it is usually all one long word. Looking at his handwriting you would think he has a disability. He resists all handwriting and although he enjoys artwork and drawing it is yet another area where we can see a huge disparity between him and children his own age.
His IQ is very high according to the Wechsler test they gave him. If he were to vocally explain what he knows to someone he is very impressive, the knowledge is in there. But for him to put it on paper means low grades. His last school finally allowed him the time it takes to write things out and longer to finish tests and so on. Still, it's like his brain is so far ahead of his hand he just gets frustrated and quits.
An occupational therapist took a look and she said she saw no problems other than he hates the process and mechanics of handwriting because it is too slow for him. They offered for him to key-pad his school work but that meant using something different from his classmates, one more thing to make a kid feel different from everyone else. Anyway, his typing is a problem, it isn't a faster or more effective way for him to express or work. He still has the same problem....pretty much with anything involving his hands. Even things like holding a fork or a sandwich. How that doesn't indicate a physical/motor problem I can't figure out. But, they say it isn't the problem.
What the school says is the problem is ADHD. He is on medication for this and the improvement in his focus and grades have been dramatic. He is the text book case for medicine and ADHD, and I am only adding that because sometimes I take a beating for having him on meds at all. My husband and I resisted it as long as we could, but after an incident that could have cost us his life because of how long it takes him to hear us and respond we knew he needed more than just time and prayers that it could be outgrown.
This is long but this issue is part of what led me to this site to begin with. I know I am not a home-schooler but I am looking into ways to help him from home, and I may well be home-schooling him next year since the 7th is in the high school here and I hear a lot of complaints about that exposure from our friends. Still, this type of problem makes me worry, what if I make it worse rather than help? What if the trained professionals at his school are the ones who could help?
I have a meeting at his school tomorrow with the special services coordinator. After reading this thread I am going to be a lot firmer about therapy, if they offer it and he still has an issue it can't hurt them to work with him on it for now. Maybe we can keep each other posted on what is working or any new ideas? I would appreciate that very much.
What I have to say next may sound very sappy but I cried the first time I read through this site. I have been so moved by the faith and the living Catholic and Christian examples I see on here. What a legacy you have created!
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ChristinaK
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| Posted: Sept 11 2006 at 10:01pm | IP Logged
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Thank you ladies for sharing. DS was sick and didn't go to school today. I'm waiting to hear back from his teacher on the OT. She has approved accomodations for him in his homework while I am working with him with the HWOT program. We are going to concentrate his spelling practice on activities that do not involve writing and he will not be required to do the lengthy handwritten spelling activities. He will also be excused from the cursive handwriting practice sheet. I'm still working on setting up the eye exam. I found a behavioral optometrist that is covered by our medical insurance so I will hopefully be able to get that appointment scheduled pretty quickly.
Booklegger, thank you for sharing your story. My DS is also very bright and did well on the IQ test they gave him at school. He is in a pullout program for gifted students. So far the handwriting situation has not affected his grades but I am concerned that it will begin to do so as he gets older. Later this year and then next year in 4th grade they will be required to do a lot more writing and it will be difficult for him to keep up with the work level if he is still having difficulty with handwriting. I am a major wannabe homeschooler but DH has said no every time we have discussed it. I frequent several homeschooling sites because I do a lot of things to work with DS at home. Since he is bright, he is often bored with school and we have found that he is happier at school when I do extra things with him. I just tell people I afterschool/summer school him. :D I have never had anyone be unfriendly to me because I was not a homeschooler.
I think you should definitely push for the school to pursue the therapy with him if they offer it. I think that sometimes with services like that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. I would be happy to keep in touch with you regarding this and to share any information that I come up with that might help you. Please feel free to pm me any time.
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ChristinaK
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| Posted: Sept 13 2006 at 5:20pm | IP Logged
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update... the teacher emailed me today and said the principal told her that the OT was only available if a child has a diagnosed learning disability. I'm really frustrated by that because I know if he was reading below grade level they'd be all over him with services because of the TAKS test. The teacher said she was going to discuss DS with the OT and see if she could give her some suggestions on how to help him.
I am hoping to use this as an opening to discuss with DH again the possibility of homeschooling. I'm already supplementing literature, social studies, science, art and music appreciation because there's not enough of that at school to keep him interested, plus math help when he needs it and now I'm going to be doing handwriting remediation. That doesn't leave much for the school to cover.
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booklegger
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| Posted: Sept 13 2006 at 9:27pm | IP Logged
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Hi Christina,
I had my meeting yesterday. I know I had difficulty with the stateside school my son attended in CT so I know your frustration. So, this DoD school is such a relief for us. They couldn't be more involved and accessible.
The services coordinator is getting in touch with the OT. He seems to think therapy can't hurt and could help, something to pursue since nothing else has helped. The teacher is also going to work with my son.
I know the way some schools structure themselves makes it difficult for some children to get the help they need. CT had the duty to identify my son as gifted, but are not under any obligation to provide gifted settings for the gifted children. Why bother to identify them then? I could not understand it.
I hope you are right and that this can work for you while you approach your husband about HS. If not, start educating yourself about 504 right now. Your son has the right to receive the help he needs to have a succesful school year.
I'll let you know exactly what they do with my son, just in case it works.
Tracey
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Cathmomof8
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| Posted: Sept 18 2006 at 7:52am | IP Logged
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I'm an Occupational Therapist and got to say that I am sad to hear the response that some of you are getting from therapists themselves and also the schools. If you have insurance coverage, you might also want to pursue getting an order for an OT eval at an outpatient clinic that specializes in pediatrics. Just like every field/profession, not all therapists are equal in skill, knowledge, etc. You know your child best. Do not settle for what any professional says if you are still not content. Something like handwriting relies on so many things to be done well, so many systems are involved.
Sounds like your kids are the lucky ones to have the Mom's they have. ;) Keep fighting for them!!
Theresia
Mom of 8 in my real life, PRN OT on occassion 
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Willa
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| Posted: Sept 18 2006 at 10:16am | IP Logged
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Also, I don't know what area you live in but here in CA the Elks will evaluate for occupational therapy and if the child qualifies, will do home visits for free. That's how my Aidan gets his OT. She has him using HWOT and offers supplementary suggestions.
Here's our regional Elks and it looks like they offer similar services in other US regions. Just to add to all the other suggestions you have gotten so far.
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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ChristinaK
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| Posted: Sept 20 2006 at 7:53am | IP Logged
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We saw the behavioral optometrist yesterday. DS doesn't have any eyesight or vision problems. They also screened him for processing issues. All they found was that he performed slightly below 3rd grade level on the copying test. He is a young 3rd grader with a late May birthday. The optometrist was not concerned by his performance on the test at all.
The optometrist said that he had an improper pencil grip and poor writing posture along with later developing motor skills. Basically the dr said that what is happening is that the more DS is told to write neat and slow down the tenser he gets and the worse his hand grip and posture become. DS wants to please the teacher and do a good job so he gets tenser and tenser trying to do a good job. The dr said that because he didn't have the fine motor skills to hold the pencil properly he had developed the improper grip and that his large muscle groups are taking over and doing the work. The dr said he thought I was right on track with working with him on his handwriting with HWOT. He also said that it was important that DS not be pushed.
I will be emailing his teacher shortly about all this. I am still really wanting to pull him out and HS because I know I could tailor his program to meet all his needs and not have to worry about the school undoing things I am doing with him on his handwriting and motor skills but DH isn't there yet.
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4Real Forums : Special Blessings
Topic: occupational theraphy for handwriting?
